Roger Fingas
Three U.S. Senators issued a letter to the Federal Trade Commission on Tuesday, calling on the agency to address the problem of ads in mobile games targeting kids 5 or younger.
"The FTC has a statutory obligation to protect consumers from unfair and deceptive advertising practices. That responsibility is all the more urgent when the potential victims of such practices are children," the letter says, authored by Senators Ed Markey (D-MA), Tom Udall (D-NM), and Richard Blumenthal (D-CT). "As parents increasingly permit kids to engage in online games and apps for entertainment and fun, it is imperative to ensure that these playtime options are compliant with existing laws."
The missive was sent in reaction to a recent study published in the Journal of Developmental & Behavioral Pediatrics, which found that of 135 apps aimed at the 5 and under market, 95 percent had some form of advertising. One, for example, encouraged children to put on clothing requiring an in-app purchase.
The Senators complain about the "manipulative nature" of this form of advertising, and suggest that the examples cited in the study violate Section 5 of the FTC Act.
Apple and app developers have often been taken to task for kids' titles on the App Store, a recurring problem being "free-to-play" apps that in reality demand in-app purchases to make reasonable progress. Some children — inadvertently or otherwise — have spent hundreds or even thousands of dollars on their parents' iTunes accounts. Apple was sued over the matter in 2011.
Since then the company has taken some steps toward safeguards, for example adding notices that free apps include in-app purchases in 2013.
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25 Comments
The Nanny State at it again. just tell parents to act like parents and the problem goes away all on its own.
One thing my kids learned from Dad being a channel flipper ads and commercials are bad and not worth watch. Both my kids hate ads and can not stand to deal with them so they like Netflix for this reason alone.
There they go again. Protecting us from ourselves. Maybe they should write a letter to parents to let them know they are responsible for what their kids do.
Do these idiots think apps grow on trees? If the app is "free", they're making their money somewhere else.
Also, parents who give iOS devices to their kids unmonitored and without restrictions activated are irresponsible.
This is their baseline? This is when they call for consumer protection?
I kind of have mixed feelings on this one. While I don’t need/want more government involvement in these types of things, it’s very frustrating to download an app for my kids just to see it’s an ad-fest. I’m not concerned about them buying stuff since my password is required for all purchases and I have IAP turned off on their iPads, but it makes for an awful experience. Every few seconds they are whisked out of the app & into the App Store to buy something or download a related app. Then they come to me “I don’t know what happened. Can you get me back to the game?” it’s garbage. Feels sleazy, especially when it’s something supposedly made for pre-schoolers. Wouldn’t mind something being done.