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Android apps marketed as appropriate for young kids engage in a host of
questionable advertising practices, including encouraging children under the age of 6 to shop, according to a coalition of watchdogs in a new complaint filed Tuesday at the Federal Trade
Commission.
"Using a business model based on integrated purchasing revenue and targeted data-driven marketing, these apps regularly engage young children to shop and shop.
watch advertisements, "say the Campaign for a Child Without Advertising, the Center for Digital Democracy and other groups. "These practices are unfair and misleading for children and parents, and we
Urge the FTC to take appropriate and timely action. "
Organizations build on a new study from the University of Michigan's Faculty of Medicine titled "Advertising in Early Childhood Applications:
Content Analysis, for which researchers looked at 135 Android apps, including 96 of the most popular Android apps for children ages 5 and under.
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The vast majority (95%) of
apps contain ads. Almost half (46%) of all applications studied – and 67% of free apps available – were showing ads prompting users to purchase a more complete version; these versions were
presented as being either ad-free or allowing users to access more game features. About 30% of all apps reviewed contained ads for in-app purchases, such as tokens used in games.
Some of the ads
were "camouflaged in game objects," according to the study. Researchers have drawn attention to Talking Tom's application by writing, "A gift falls from the ceiling to the background;
when he presses the button, assuming that the present would be a game, the player is prompted to "watch videos and win".
This technique is misleading, the campaign for a child without advertising
and other groups argue.
"Many announcements about preschool applications would be hard to identify, even for adults, because they are camouflaged as part of the game, as illustrated in the
screenshots below, "write the groups. "It's misleading to target young children with ads this way."
Watchdogs also say that it's misleading for parents to market apps like
free, but then try to convince younger users to upgrade to paid versions or make in-app purchases.
"Nothing in the description of the applications indicates that the free versions
Apps are just glimpses, or it will be difficult or impossible for young kids to enjoy the game without making in-app purchases, "write the organizations.
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