CHILDREN'S ADVOCATES ASK FTC TO INVESTIGATE GOOGLE FOR TARGETING ADS TO KIDS

Children's advocacy groups including Fairplay and Common Sense Media are asking the Federal Trade Commission to investigate Google, saying the tech giant serves personalized ads to kids on YouTube despite federal law prohibiting the practice.

The letter follows a report from The New York Times last week that found that ads on YouTube may have led to the online tracking of children. The federal Children's Online Privacy Protection Act, or COPPA, requires kid-oriented websites to get parents' consent before collecting personal information of children under 13.

In response to the Times report, Google said last week that it did not run personalized ads on children's videos and that its ad practices fully complied with COPPA. When ads appear on children's videos, the company told the Times, they are based on webpage content, not targeted to user profiles.