Chromebooks train schoolkids to be loyal customers, internal Google document suggests
Internal documents revealed in a child safety lawsuit hint at Google’s plan to “integrate children” into its ecosystem by investing in schools. In this November 2020 presentation, Google writes that engaging kids in its ecosystem “leads to lifelong trust and brand loyalty,” as NBC News previously reported.
The heavily redacted documents, which surfaced earlier this week, are linked to a massive lawsuit filed by several school districts, families and state attorneys general, accusing Google, Meta, ByteDance and Snap of creating “addictive and dangerous” products that have harmed the mental health of young users. (Snap set earlier this week).
Google has spent more than a decade investing in products designed for education, while making Chromebooks a classroom staple. The 2020 paper also includes a study on how brands of laptops used in schools “influence purchasing patterns.”
Another slide in the presentation highlights a story from 2017 The New York Timesbolding a quote that Google is part of a battle to “attract students as future customers.” This quote appears several times in the presentation: “If you get someone on your operating system as early as possible, you get that loyalty early on, and potentially for life.” The paper also suggests that YouTube in schools could create a “pipeline of future users” and creators.
Meanwhile, other slides discuss some of the challenges associated with bringing YouTube to schools, including how the platform is “often blocked” and how “efforts to make YouTube safe for schools have yet to bear fruit.” The documents also acknowledge YouTube’s potential impact on mental health, with a 2024 presentation showing a slide that says “many regret wasted time when they ‘unintentionally go down the rabbit hole'” or that YouTube “has ‘distracted’ them from work or even going to bed on time.”
In a statement emailed to The edgeGoogle spokesperson Jack Malon says the documents “misrepresent” the company’s work. “YouTube does not market directly to schools and we responded to meet the high demand from teachers for high-quality, curriculum-aligned content,” says Malon. “Administrators maintain full control over use of the platform and YouTube requires that schools obtain parental consent before granting access to YouTube to students under 18.”
Jury selection for the social media addiction trial will begin on January 27, 2026.
