Bloomberg is reporting that YouTube may be finalizing plans to end "targeted" advertising on videos that children are likely to watch. The Federal Trade Commission (FTC) has been looking into whether YouTube violated the Children's Online Privacy Protection Act (COPPA). The agency is rumored to have reached a settlement with YouTube though terms of such a deal have yet to be released.
Currently YouTube offers two types of ads: one is contextual solely based on the content of the video and the other is targeted, based on a user's behavior. The latter requires companies to obtain parental consent before doing. According to reports from Bloomberg, the proposal would only end targeted ads. The rumored proposal, would not please complainants who submitted a complaint asking that YouTube move all content to a designated app for children. Joseph Simons, the FTC chairman asked in July if the groups would be satisfied if YouTube disabled ads on such videos. This rumored proposal would not even go that far. According to Jeff Chester, if this were the case, he and other organizations would likely challenge the decision.
Visit Bloomberg to read more about the YouTube settlement with the FTC.