Google has agreed to pay $30 million to settle a long-running lawsuit by parents and their children claiming its YouTube video app collected data from millions of U.S. kids under 13 so it could target them with ads.

The Mountain View digital advertising and search giant “manipulated children using their personal information into extending their time on YouTube, which in turn increased the number of targeted advertisements shown to them, and increased the revenue earned by Google,” according to the lawsuit filed in San Jose U.S. District Court.

Google admitted no wrongdoing under the settlement. However, in a court filing last year, it argued that the case failed to claim specific losses or allege the YouTube data collection went beyond “routine commercial behavior into highly offensive conduct.”

The company, whose annual profits reported to regulators ranged from $12.7 billion in 2013 to $40.3 billion in 2020 during the period covered by the lawsuit, did not respond to questions about the lawsuit and how it currently treats data from YouTube children’s videos.

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Parents and guardians brought the 2019 lawsuit on behalf of 34 children from 17 states, including California, shortly after Google agreed to pay a $170 million settlement with the U.S. Federal Trade Commission and New York State over its harvesting of data from YouTube videos made for kids.

Under the settlement agreement filed Aug. 18, which requires court approval, an estimated 35 million to 45 million children who were under 13 while watching children’s content on YouTube between July 1, 2013, and April 1, 2020 would be eligible to receive funds. Because only a small fraction of people in such cases submit claims, lawyers for the plaintiffs calculated that those who do make claims will receive at least $30, the document said. The lawyers said outreach including online ads and a news release would reach more than 70% of potential claimants.

The lawsuit noted that after Google’s settlement with the FTC and New York, the company said it would “limit data collection and use on videos made for kids only to what is needed to support the operation of the service,” and that it would, “stop serving personalized ads on this content entirely.” Before the settlement with parents and children, Google referred to that stated change in court filings seeking to throw out the case, contending the “allegedly wrongful conduct has been addressed.”

Google is fighting another lawsuit over its gathering of children’s data via its education products, including those found in many Bay Area schools. In April, a group of parents and others claimed Google secretly uses its Workspace for Education offerings such as Gmail, Chat and Gemini generative AI to identify students individually, track their online activity — including sites they visit and links they click — and “steal” their personal data for profit.

According to the lawsuit filed in San Francisco U.S. District Court, Google converts “vast troves” of data from millions of pupils into “intimately detailed” student profiles it uses to market products and services to schools, creating “significant economic value” for the company.

In an earlier statement, Google acknowledged it gathers data from its education products, but denied the lawsuit’s allegations.

“None of the information collected in Workspace for Education services is ever used for targeted advertising and we have strong controls to protect student data and require schools to obtain parental consent when needed,” Google said.

The company said in a July 14 court filing that under guidance from the FTC, Google can rely on schools, not parents, to provide consent for data-gathering from students.

In 2020, New Mexico sued Google over data collection from children, including via its school products, and Google, in a settlement, agreed to pay $3.8 million to set up a privacy and online safety initiative for children in that state.

Last week’s settlement came as Big Tech’s treatment of child users fell under a harsh spotlight after revelations earlier this month that Menlo Park social media titan Meta’s rules for its AI bots on its Facebook, WhatsApp and Instagram apps allowed the software to have “romantic or sensual” chats with kids under 13.