Illustration by Alex Castro / The Verge
Google will no longer allow ad targeting of children based on their age, gender, or interests as part of a new series of measures designed to protect kids under 18 using its services, the company announced today. Other changes include a new option for anyone under the age of 18 to ask for their images to be removed from Google’s image results, while YouTube uploads from children will also gradually default to the most private setting.
The changes are similar to what Facebook introduced last month when it said Instagram accounts for kids under 16 will be set to private by default, meaning users have to choose to make their profiles public. It also banned ads targeted at children based on their interests or their activity, although it…