Google's Secret Plan to Hook Kids into Its Ecosystem for Life
A damning internal document, recently surfaced as part of a child safety lawsuit, appears to show Google has been working on a long-term strategy to "onboard kids" into its ecosystem through schools. The plan, which is heavily redacted but provides some insight, suggests that getting children into the Chrome OS early on can lead to brand loyalty and trust for life.
The presentation, dated November 2020, was initially reported by NBC News in December of last year. It reveals a study on how laptop brands used in schools influence purchase patterns and quotes Google from a 2017 New York Times story saying that getting kids onto its operating system early can lead to "loyalty early, and potentially for life."
The documents suggest YouTube is also playing a crucial role in this strategy, with the goal of creating a "pipeline of future users" and creators. However, they acknowledge challenges such as schools often blocking YouTube and efforts to make it safe have yet to be successful.
In response to these revelations, Google has issued a statement claiming that its documents are mischaracterized, stating that YouTube does not market directly to schools and that administrators maintain control over platform usage.
As jury selection for the social media addiction trial begins on January 27th this year, these internal documents raise serious concerns about Big Tech's influence on children.
A damning internal document, recently surfaced as part of a child safety lawsuit, appears to show Google has been working on a long-term strategy to "onboard kids" into its ecosystem through schools. The plan, which is heavily redacted but provides some insight, suggests that getting children into the Chrome OS early on can lead to brand loyalty and trust for life.
The presentation, dated November 2020, was initially reported by NBC News in December of last year. It reveals a study on how laptop brands used in schools influence purchase patterns and quotes Google from a 2017 New York Times story saying that getting kids onto its operating system early can lead to "loyalty early, and potentially for life."
The documents suggest YouTube is also playing a crucial role in this strategy, with the goal of creating a "pipeline of future users" and creators. However, they acknowledge challenges such as schools often blocking YouTube and efforts to make it safe have yet to be successful.
In response to these revelations, Google has issued a statement claiming that its documents are mischaracterized, stating that YouTube does not market directly to schools and that administrators maintain control over platform usage.
As jury selection for the social media addiction trial begins on January 27th this year, these internal documents raise serious concerns about Big Tech's influence on children.
Google trying to hook kids into its ecosystem from a young age? that's some messed up stuff right there! they're basically creating a lifelong customer base and who knows what kind of info they'll be collecting in the process... it's like they think we wouldn't notice if they just casually got our little ones hooked on Chrome OS from the get go 
it's like they're playing a giant game of manipulatio- wait, what's that even called?
anyway, gotta stay vigilant and make sure our kids aren't being used as marketing guinea pigs 
like if ur hooked to chrome from a young age how r u supposed to make decisions about ur own life? 
and this is just the tip of the iceberg, dont even get me started on youtube's role in all this... its like, we gotta be super careful about what we're letting our little ones expose themselves to 
... I mean, what's wrong with wanting brand loyalty from our future generations? It sounds like a super solid business strategy to me 
. But at the same time, it's kinda creepy that they're using this tactic without even directly marketing to schools, and now we have parents freaking out about their kids being "onboarded" 
... I mean, shouldn't we be promoting critical thinking over brand loyalty? Wait, no... maybe this is just a clever way for Google to stay ahead of the curve in education tech 
. Ugh, my mind is all mixed up about this one 
it makes total sense when you think about it - they want those kids to be loyal customers for life, right? 
but seriously though, it's kinda creepy. schools are supposed to be places where kids learn and grow, not where they're indoctrinated into buying products from one company. 
and what's up with youtube being a part of this plan? i mean, isn't that just an excuse for them to collect all our kid's data? 
but like what's the point of having a loyalty program if they're not gonna make sure those kids are safe online 
. 
. i mean, we know that once you get someone hooked on a thing, it's hard to get them to quit 
.
They're basically saying that if you introduce a kid to their ecosystem early enough, they'll love it and come back to it for life. That's creepy, right? 
And YouTube is supposed to be the key to all this... it's like they want us to think of our kids as little Google consumers from birth! 
and it's not even just chrome os, they wanna get them hooked up with youtube too which is wild considering how much parents hate youtube already 
. i'm all for innovation and tech progress but this feels kinda shady, especially when you consider the impact on kids who might not be able to critically think about the ads and stuff they're seeing online 
. anyway, it's gonna be super interesting to see how this whole thing plays out in court 