INSUBCONTINENT EXCLUSIVE:
For us jaded adults, the long-running trend toward making apps and games free to download but stuffing them with paid options is just an
annoyance or perhaps a logical progression of the business model
But kids haven&t developed our cynicism and wariness of manipulation — and they&re getting targeted nevertheless
Several Senators have asked the FTC to look into the ugly practice of monetizing kids& apps.
&We write regarding the manipulative marketing
practices by apps designed for children,& write Senators Ed Markey (D-MA), Tom Udall (D-NM) and Richard Blumenthal (D-CT) in their letter
&Children should be able to entertain themselves and play without being bombarded by promotional messages, which young people may not be
able to accurately assess and identify as marketing.&
The letter comes in the wake of a study released last month that found that some 9 out
of 10 apps and games aimed at kids contained advertising
Educational, free, paid, didn&t matter — ads in some form or another were everywhere.
Over 20 advocacy groups complain to FTC that
YouTube is violating children privacy law
This should surprise exactly no one; it isn&t exactly a new problem
For one thing, we&ve been hearing about kids buying in-game currencies like crystals and Smurfberries for years — so often that app store
providers have had to take serious action against it.
For another, kids today (like kids of yesterday) are already swimming in advertising
and to some it may seem strange to single out a smartphone game when YouTube, traditional TV and other forms of media are rife with
marketing laser-focused on the valuable minor market.
But of course just because we&ve encountered it before doesn&t mean we&ve solved it
And what the Senators are saying is that especially in the case of kids& apps, these practices we have in many ways gotten used to may
qualify as &unfair and deceptive& under the FTC definitions, and as such warrant investigation:
The report includes evidence of children
games disguising advertisements and making advertisements integral to games themselves; games using characters to coerce children into
making in-app purchases; children apps being marketed as ‘free,& when those apps actually require additional spending in order to play;
and children apps marketing themselves as educational, when they are in fact saturated with advertising.
Any action by the FTC, should it
opt to look into this, would take quite a while to come to fruition
However, a public letter such as this is no doubt intended as a warning in itself to those employing shady tactics
Perhaps they&ll heed it before the FTC forces them to.
