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Kids' Apps Are Flooded With Ads (reuters.com) 123

Posted by BeauHD from the frightening-findings dept.
An anonymous reader quotes a report from Reuters: Those cute little apps your child plays with are most likely flooded with ads -- some of which are totally age-inappropriate, researchers have found. A stunning 95 percent of commonly downloaded apps that are marketed to or played by children age five and under contain at least one type of advertising, according to a new report in the Journal of Developmental & Behavioral Pediatrics. And that goes for the apps labeled as educational, too, researchers say. Often the ads are intrusive, spread across in a banner or even interrupting play, said study coauthor Dr. Jenny Radesky, an assistant professor of pediatrics at the University of Michigan and the University of Michigan C. S. Mott Children's Hospital.

Perhaps the most insidious ads are the ones you need to click a little "x" to get rid of, Radesky said. "The little 'x' doesn't show up for about 20 seconds," she explained. "If you're a 2- or 3-year-old you might think the ad is a part of the game. And you don't know what to do. You might click on the ad and that could take you to the app store. Many of these ads require you to do things before the 'x' will appear." Some ads are for products that aren't appropriate for kids, Radesky said. "I've seen banner ads for bipolar treatment in some of these apps," she added. One of the problems with these ads is that kids often can't tell where the game leaves off and the ad begins. "There's science to show that children aged 8 and younger can't distinguish between media content and advertising," Radesky said.

The researchers surveyed 135 of the most downloaded free and paid apps in the "age five and under" category in the Google Play store and found that 95 percent of them "contained at least one type of advertising, which included use of popular cartoon characters to sell products, teasers suggesting the purchase of the 'full' version of the app, and advertising videos that interrupted play to promote in-app purchases or purchases of other products," reports Reuters.
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Kids' Apps Are Flooded With Ads

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  • Hmmm... Why might a psychological doctor and researcher's kids be served ads for bi-polar treatments?
    Nothing immediately comes to mind...

    Unless, maybe, could it be that the psychological doctor and researcher was the actual target of the AI targeted ad?

  • Yep (Score:1)

    by Anonymous Coward

    Kid applications are horrible. Its hard to find decent ones. We basically ended up ditching android, getting a reasonably cheap ipad on a Christmas sale and only loading it with PBS Kids and then paying for ABC Mouse. The iPad is easier for them to hold, and the little home button is very intuitive for kids. This then allows apps to take the whole screen and not having the other UI elements on the edge for an accidental hit.

  • Nintendo's Super Mario Run follows the same shareware model as Idthesda's Doom, putting up the paywall after a few levels. If "teasers suggesting the purchase of the 'full' version of the app" are objectionable, then what's the least dishonest way for a game studio to both allow a parent to evaluate a game and keep a roof over the heads of its programmers and artists?

    • Re: (Score:2)

      by Luthair ( 847766 )
      You might have noticed how they haven't made another :)

      • Re: (Score:2)

        by tepples ( 727027 )

        I'm not sure what you meant by that, so I'll reply to each of two plausible interpretations:

        Idthesda's Doom

        You might have noticed how they haven't made another

        Doom II, Doom 64, Doom 3, and Doom (2016) exist.

        Nintendo's Super Mario Run

        You might have noticed how they haven't made another

        Fire Emblem Heroes exists.

  • my almost 4 year old year old clicks skip, and clicks x''s on Ads

  • Why is anyone surprised? (Score:3)

    by BlacKSacrificE ( 1089327 ) on Wednesday October 31, 2018 @08:36AM (#57567749)

    Adult apps are riddled with ads. Why is anyone surprised kids apps are as well? Why anyone would be deploying apps to children without playing enough of it to get a feel for how much junk it pumps should be beyond me, but considering how many parents just hand these things off as virtual babysitters without a second thought, sadly it is not. Pile on the fact that the populous seems to be blind to intrusive, oversaturating and pervasive advertising and it's not really shocking at all.

    Pony up for quality content, or enjoy your child getting indoctrinated. If you're not paying for the product, you are the product, and so is your child.

  • Comment removed (Score:5, Insightful)

    by account_deleted ( 4530225 ) on Wednesday October 31, 2018 @08:41AM (#57567777)
    Comment removed based on user account deletion

    • Case in point. My son thought commercials were mini-documentaries. So when at the store and sitting in the cart, he would say something like "no mommy, we need to by Tide to get the whitest of whites", "only ZipLock bags hold freshness in", and "I want a healthy heart, so I need Cherrios." None of this is true, but for kids that grow up in homes where lying is not the norm, they see all advertisements as truthful.

      You started out brilliantly there and then wound up in a big pile of crazy. Lying is the norm in your home, because you let your child watch commercial-supported TV, and commercials are all based on lies. (They may contain some truth, but that's not their thrust.) And on average, young children have an inability to distinguish the difference between commercials and programming. It's not whether lying is the norm but the intellectual development of the child that determines whether they believe everything th

      • I didn't realize they couldn't tell the difference on average... we don't watch much broadcast, so the kids were exposed to children's cartoons on Netflix first, then eventually we would turn on things like PBS and even the interstitials there (not even real commercials!) bug the hell out of them for not being the program. We watch sports on broadcast, and there they find real commercials disinteresting except for movie trailers.
  • Devices aren't babysitters, take some responsibility and don't leave your kid unattended playing random shit.
  • Water is wet.
    The sky doesn't have a color.
    The gov sucks more than every vacuum cleaner sold in the last 50 years combined..
    Apps have intrusive inappropriate ads.

  • It's shameless (Score:3)

    by stealth_finger ( 1809752 ) on Wednesday October 31, 2018 @08:57AM (#57567867)
    My 4 year inherited an old phone that had literally nothing but the youtube app so he could watch stuff. Within a day there was a couple games on it and within a week there was loads. Now it has all kinds of pop up shit and ad loaded screensavers going on. There's no payment or personal information or anything on it, it was wiped before he got it so whats the harm really but it is mad the amount of shit that can get on them. Before that he managed to subscribe to some service via a one touch thing on youtube on the wifes phone. I never let him touch mine.

  • Don't stick a tablet in your kids' arms to "entertain" them (another word for "keep them quiet and have some peace" for many parents). Play board games with them. Buy them Legos or Playmobiles. That will develop their curiosity and their imagination - something electronic games don't do.

    Only when they're old enough to understand the ugly world of big data, online scammers, profiteers and pedo predators, and you've tought them a healthy dose of cynicism and paranoia on the internet, should you introduce them

    • That will develop their curiosity and their imagination - something electronic games don't do.

      Variety of activity for children is important. Some games DO develop curiosity and imagination- more than traditional toys might. Limiting time on tablet is important- completely removing it from their lives isn't helping- it hurts. Most adults who are competent with technology grew up with some technology. There's a reason why your average 60 year old needs help setting an alarm on their phone.

    • Some exposure is fine, it really sparks some inventive storylines when they're doing imaginary play with the toys and blocks when they begin to understand narrative structure. But yes, it is a bit more addictive than the magnatiles are so on, so if you don't set limits it wouldn't be good.

  • Buy this magazine or we'll kill this dog marketing (Score:4, Insightful)

    by theodp ( 442580 ) on Wednesday October 31, 2018 @09:15AM (#57567983)

    NYT [nytimes.com]: "In apps marketed for children 5 and under in the Google Play store, there were pop-up ads with disturbing imagery. There were ads that no child could reasonably be expected to close out of, and which, when triggered, would send a player into more ads. Dancing treasure chests would give young players points for watching video ads, potentially endlessly. The vast majority of ads were not marked at all. Characters in childrenâ(TM)s games gently pressured the kids to make purchases, a practice known as host-selling, banned in childrenâ(TM)s TV programs in 1974 by the Federal Trade Commission. At other times an onscreen character would cry if the child did not buy something."

  • Adults' Apps Are Flooded With Ads
  • Call it what it is.

  • Well, that's why I monitor and regulate my kids' networked computer use (yes, phones/tablets are computers). And educate them about what they see.

    But I thought that made me an evil helicopter parent who is messing up my kids. So which is it?

    • I've met some children in chat rooms that tell me they want to learn to program a computer, but their parents impose harsh screen time limits, such as six hours per week, even if all homework is complete or school is on vacation, and even if the child purchased the computer himself. If one of your children shows an interest in learning to program a computer, then at what approximate age would you allow enough screen time to make this practical?

      • If they're motivated enough to buy their own computer I'd say let them have at it... otherwise I'd think you'd want them to be at least 12 to have manage the social morass and time management of the internet.
  • Comment removed based on user account deletion

  • Is anyone surprised? (Score:3)

    by KixWooder ( 5232441 ) on Wednesday October 31, 2018 @10:06AM (#57568301)
    To preface, I was a dual major in college, chemistry and marketing. Granted this was a few years ago (graduated in 2006), but I remember a class studying marketing and associated laws to various age groups, and childrens ads had the least amount of regulation. There have been efforts, but all have failed so far.

    If I recall, the companies fight against regulation aimed at marketing towards children higher than any other group because they can get a customer for life. There are some regulations on ads aimed at adults (alcohol, cigarettes, gambling in some states, etc.).

  • All the Cool kids eat them. Are you a "Cool Kid"?

  • the Atari 7800 out of the attic. It still mostly works and not once did it steal my private data, body-shame me, demand I purchase an in-game widget, or send me to a dubious website that would install all sorts of horrible malware on my TV. And, Pitfall 2!
  • They break stuff anyway and 'screen time' is bad for their development. Get them nice cheap dumbphones instead. Then 'apps' won't be an issue anymore, they won't learn to be distracted by a phone, and they might even (shocking!!!) learn to be social and actually pay attention in class, do their homework, have real hobbies, be physically active, etc.

    • Re: (Score:2)

      by stdarg ( 456557 )

      The choice isn't between A) give a child a smartphone and let him be on it every waking moment to the detriment of his health and social development or B) no smartphone.

      I don't see anything wrong with some screentime. Putting on some Youtube Kids videos is good for car trips. My son is 4 now, learning to read, and is actually enjoying some of the reading-related apps like learning sight words.

      It is really disappointing how some apps targeted at kids abuse ads so much. I don't think your solution of "don't l

      • It isn't "don't like it? don't use it", it's "can't trust 'em, don't use it", really. I watch tech news all week long and what I see is that even the most benign-seeming companies seem to end up doing something questionable (or just plain stupid), and it's even worse with smartphone apps. One of the myriad reasons I refuse to have a smartphone at all. If they were going to listen to consumer complaints they wouldn't do evil things in the first place. There are alternatives. If you want to keep your son amus
  • i dont understand why?

  • My kids (6 and 8) have their own little Linux machines (Pocket Chips) on which I've put some DOS games via Dos Box. So they need to boot the thing, open a terminal, start Dos Box, navigate to the game directory and type in the name of the .exe file to start it. It takes a few minutes...

    The love it! They play the usual DOS goodness: Commander Keen, Duke Nukem, Populous etc. Currently they're hooked on Dune 2... now they want me to read them the book...

    One day, when they do get their smart phones, they'll kno

  • My kid (~ 3) has an Amazon Fire 8 for Kids. It has a huge selection of apps and videos. I have never seen an ad on it or any inappropriate apps or videos. It requires zero policing on my part.

    What kid's device has this problem? Are parents actually letting their kids use adult devices or something?

  • If your digital media has ads, it is doing something you are not directly in control of. Ads should be seen no differently than seeing people around you throw up - your computer is infected and should be investigated/cleaned. If children are being exposed to ads, that's a sign of parental neglect. Don't use proprietary software, you won't have this problem.

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