Advertisers are discreetly targeting your children via apps.

Your children's smartphone games may be selling things behind your back.

About 95 percent of downloaded apps for children ages 5 and up use at least one type of advertising tactic, according to a study from the University of Michigan, Mott Children's Hospital, released Tuesday. These researchers, many of whom boast of being educational games, have contextual video ads, characters persuading kids to make in-app purchases and banner ads, have discovered researchers. The study, published in the Journal of Developmental & Behavioral Pediatrics, examined more than 135 applications.

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These marketing strategies were used in 100% of the free apps analyzed in the study and in 88% of the apps that cost money. They were used at similar rates in both cases. Video ads were in a third of the apps analyzed and more than half of the free apps.

In-app purchases, which allow users (in this case, kids) to pay for an upgrade when they use the app, were present in one-third of apps and 41 percent of free apps. "Our results show that the app market for early childhood is a wild west, with many apps appearing more focused on making money than the child 's gaming experience," he said. said Jenny Radesky, lead author, behavioral expert and pediatrician at Mott.

Some games contain hidden advertisements, while others interrupt the game with a video that children must watch to continue playing or gaining credit.

Children do not understand marketing as adults do, which makes them more vulnerable to advertising. "It's very difficult for them to recognize advertising, but it's even harder to understand when it's part of the game," said Josh Golin, executive director of Campaign for a Child Without Advertising, a national coalition composed of health professionals, educators and parents. .

The organization sent a public letter to the Federal Trade Commission calling for an investigation of applications aimed at young children. The CCFC, as well as the Center for Digital Democracy, argued that the marketing practices of these apps – aimed at parents but introduced to young children – are unfair and misleading for both. "Until we have a regulated application market for children, [parents] should ignore these things, "said Golin.

According to a 2017 study titled "The effect of advertising on children and adolescents" published by the American Academy of Pediatrics, many children are not able to detect "persuasive intent" In advertising before the age of 7. Even though preschoolers can identify marketing, they might not be able to effectively defend themselves against this, the researchers noted.

"The willingness of children to learn from their social world makes them vulnerable until they develop skepticism," the researchers wrote. "However, even in adulthood, we may be able to be skeptical, but not always use our critical thinking skills at all times."

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Advertising regulations do not directly address the use of smartphones or games, said Golin, although the use by children of multimedia platforms has increased dramatically in recent decades.

Advertisers spend more than $ 12 billion a year reaching the youth market and children watch 40,000 ads each year. In 2000, the FTC enacted the Children's Online Privacy Act, which focuses on the collection of personal information about children under the age of 13 on the Internet, but it does not govern how advertisers can sell to children online and on television.

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