Harvard Study Reveals Underage Users Contribute $11B To Social Media Platforms, Including YouTube And Instagram

The latest report from Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health reveals that various social media platforms, including YouTube and Instagram, generated a staggering $11 billion in U.S. ad revenue from users under the age of 18 in 2022.

What Happened: Published on Wednesday, the study showcases how advertisement revenue from minors significantly contributes to the earnings of social media companies, as Business Insider reported. This finding raises alarm, considering the ongoing debate about the adverse effects of these platforms on young minds and privacy concerns, as per the study.

The researchers developed a simulation model to calculate the ad revenue from underage users. It used data from sources like the U.S. Census, Common Sense Media, Pew Research, Insider Intelligence, and Qustodio, a parental control app.

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Harvard professor Bryn Austin, one of the senior authors of the study, stressed the importance of government intervention.

“Although social media platforms may claim that they can self-regulate their practices to reduce the harms to young people, they have yet to do so, and our study suggests they have overwhelming financial incentives to continue to delay taking meaningful steps to protect children,” Austin commented.

The study found that YouTube raked in the highest ad revenue from users 12 and under, totaling $959.1 million, while Instagram followed with $801.1 million. For the age group 13-17, Instagram took the lead with $4 billion, followed by TikTok with $2 billion.

Among all platforms, Snapchat derived the greatest percentage of its overall 2022 ad revenue from users under 18 (41%), followed by TikTok (35%), YouTube (27%), and Instagram (16%).

Why It Matters: Earlier in May, YouTube’s new chief, Neal Mohan, disclosed that the platform’s aggressive pursuit of ad revenue had generated a whopping $40 billion in the past 12 months.

However, YouTube’s struggle with ad revenue took a turn when it waged a war against ad blockers in October. This led to a surge in uninstalls of these tools, reflecting the users’ resistance. With ad revenue constituting nearly 80% of YouTube’s earnings, the platform’s strategy to coerce viewers into disabling their ad blockers creates a complicated dynamic in the sphere of digital marketing and user experience.

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