I do agree that singling out YouTube is strange, but it definitely got people to click.
[0] https://support.google.com/youtubekids/answer/6130541?hl=en
That app was, at least when my kid was in that market, a hobbled app with its own significant problems.
YouTube’s issue here are all about how they funnel kids to profitable content.
What do you mean "singling out"? They're the biggest advertising company in the world.
So if YouTube puts a big ad in an app exclusively for kids then how is it not their problem if clicking that ad then tracks the child? Who cares what website does the tracking if YouTube deliberately sends the child from an app meant for children to a website that tracks them.
The path would always be clear, but the steps would vary. Click 3 would be one of those gross people who pimp out their kids to making toy opening videos, etc.
I would not see the same mix of suggestions when I’d use my account on that device. The journey of recommend content is the key.
I could accept that Google didn’t engineer that experience with the intention of targeting my kid. But I don’t find it plausible that they didn’t understand why that pattern monetized so well - YouTube is too good at printing cash. If they didn’t know, they chose not to ask.
Correction/Edit: I didn’t realize that google was fined for this behavior in 2019. Presumably it has changed.
*As with children’s television, it is legal, and commonplace, to run ads, including for adult consumer products like cars or credit cards, on children’s videos. There is no evidence that Google and YouTube violated their 2019 agreement with the F.T.C.*