Popular apps encourage kids to click on ads

Popular apps for young kids, especially those available on the Google App Store, are overflowing with ads that prevent them from playing, manipulate them to make purchases and extract their personal data.

This is the conclusion of a new study that has prompted many child advocacy groups to ask the US federal government to investigate these products. The groups argue that many apps violate the Federal Trade Commission Act by hiding ads, programming characters to lure children into shopping, or misleading parents into thinking games are educational.

"What we are hoping for is that the FTC condemns app developers to a fine fine enough that it sends a clear message to the children 's apps industry. preschool age, "said Josh Golin, executive director of the Campaign for a Child Without Advertising, at BuzzFeed News. . His group and 21 others today signed a letter to the FTC outlining their concerns, based largely on the findings of the new study.

On television, advertisements for children must follow certain rules. For example, product placement is not allowed, nor is "guest sale" when a character encourages children to buy something. But these rules, established by the Federal Communications Commission, do not apply to the Internet. "The FCC does not want to do anything about it," said Golin. "We have this regulatory vacuum."

The new study included 135 apps for kids, combining iOS and Android, both free and paid, including 96 of the most downloaded apps in the "For 5 years and under" category of the Google Play Store. About a third were labeled "educational". Most free apps had been downloaded more than 5 million times and paid apps over 50,000 times.

According to the study, almost all applications (88% of paid apps and 100% of free apps) contained at least one type of ad, such as contextual ads, banner ads, in-app purchases, and commercial characters.

Researchers have indicated that banner ads sometimes display inappropriate content for children, such as a Health Living Today ad for "10 Bipolar Facts to Learn: Dealing with Research". Other commercials included apps like Pocket Politics, a game featuring a cartoon by the president. Trump wants to press a "Nukes" button and FastLand, a shooting game by car. Both of these ads broadcast a demonstration video before they can be closed.

Doctor Kids is one of the most disturbing examples. It shows a crying character if you do not click on an integrated purchase. "Children are true attachments to these characters," he said. "For a child, it's a very powerful thing to express when a character is crying." (The maker of Doctor Kids, Bubadu, did not respond to a request for comment.)

Nine of the children's apps contained what the researchers called "camouflaged" ads, designed to look like the game but which appeared as a video ad. On the My Talking Tom app, for example – which has had more than 500 million installations, according to Google Play – kids will see a gift drop from the ceiling. If they tap on it, they will be asked to "watch videos and win" (the creator of My Talking Tom, Outfit7, has not responded to a request for comment.)

In Builder Game, which has more than 10 million installations installed on Google Play, thought bubbles appear above the characters telling the child what to do. Sometimes, according to the study, the bubbles led to games that could only be played after watching an advertisement. (Bubadu, the creator of Builder Game, did not respond to a comment request.)

University of Michigan pediatrician Jenny Radesky, who is responsible for the new study, remembers one morning last winter when she watched her then 8-year-old son playing an app called Masha and the Bear Vet Clinic, in which he had tried thorns of a sick wolf. After watching a video ad, the game gave him a tweezers that allowed him to get out more easily thorns and accumulate candy.

"I asked him," Why are you ready to watch a commercial video just to do that? ", Did he declare." I have candy, "Radesky told BuzzFeed News. (Animaccord, the owner of Masha and Bear, did not respond to a request for comment.)

Her son is like most children his age or younger, she says, who does not have the critical mind to understand the "persuasive intent" of an advertisement – that apps want you to watch the commercials for their financial profit. "That sort of thing was really hard for him to understand."

Most public critics, both in university studies and in the popular press, have been spent on the use of applications by children, children under five spending an average of one hour per day with devices. mobile. But researchers are beginning to recognize that what children see and do with technology is just as important, if not more, than the time they spend. (Radesky, for example, is not anti-enforcement: for patients with tantrums, she recommends watching Daniel Tiger's Neighborhood Apps, which she says can "teach parents and child what to do in case of stress. ")

In 2016, Radesky helped draft the latest guidelines from the American Academy of Pediatrics for children and screens. Although the guidelines were less restrictive than the previous version, they drew a hard line on advertisements, saying that ads in children's apps should be eliminated. "It's not ethical because they do not understand it. They are just going to click on it, "Radesky said.

Another big concern of apps for kids is data privacy. Although the Children's Online Privacy Protection Act (COPPA) limits the number of personal information that can be collected and tracked by children under 13, thousands of apps distributed by Google could break the rule, according to a report released earlier this year. Six applications analyzed in the new study requested location information from users, a potential violation of COPPA.

"It's a race down right now with a lot of these preschool apps," said Golin. "Their goal is to progress in the ranking of the Google Play Store."

Platforms such as Google and Apple have an access control role to play, agreed with Radesky. Apple, for example, does not allow the list of apps in the "Kids" category of its iOS App Store if they have in-app purchases (unless they are behind a parent gateway) or if they serve ads based on on the user. activity (although they can still show ads).

It is perhaps not surprising that Apple, which has created a business around sophisticated devices and organized services, applies enforcement rules that could hurt its advertising revenue. Google, on the other hand, is in the advertising business.

In an e-mailed statement, a Google spokesperson said Google Play apps aimed primarily at kids should participate in its "Designed for Families" program. They must comply with COPPA rules and certain restrictions on advertising and content. "In addition, Google Play indicates whether an app contains advertising or in-app purchases so that parents can make informed decisions." have been violated by some of the applications reported in the new study.)

Radesky hopes platforms like Google and Apple will do more. "If they could just put the right things on top, that would be great."