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Kids' Apps Are Flooded With Ads (reuters.com)
An anonymous reader quotes a report from Reuters: Those cute little apps your child plays with are most likely flooded with ads -- some of which are totally age-inappropriate, researchers have found. A stunning 95 percent of commonly downloaded apps that are marketed to or played by children age five and under contain at least one type of advertising, according to a new report in the Journal of Developmental & Behavioral Pediatrics. And that goes for the apps labeled as educational, too, researchers say. Often the ads are intrusive, spread across in a banner or even interrupting play, said study coauthor Dr. Jenny Radesky, an assistant professor of pediatrics at the University of Michigan and the University of Michigan C. S. Mott Children's Hospital.
Perhaps the most insidious ads are the ones you need to click a little "x" to get rid of, Radesky said. "The little 'x' doesn't show up for about 20 seconds," she explained. "If you're a 2- or 3-year-old you might think the ad is a part of the game. And you don't know what to do. You might click on the ad and that could take you to the app store. Many of these ads require you to do things before the 'x' will appear." Some ads are for products that aren't appropriate for kids, Radesky said. "I've seen banner ads for bipolar treatment in some of these apps," she added. One of the problems with these ads is that kids often can't tell where the game leaves off and the ad begins. "There's science to show that children aged 8 and younger can't distinguish between media content and advertising," Radesky said.
The researchers surveyed 135 of the most downloaded free and paid apps in the "age five and under" category in the Google Play store and found that 95 percent of them "contained at least one type of advertising, which included use of popular cartoon characters to sell products, teasers suggesting the purchase of the 'full' version of the app, and advertising videos that interrupted play to promote in-app purchases or purchases of other products," reports Reuters.
Perhaps the most insidious ads are the ones you need to click a little "x" to get rid of, Radesky said. "The little 'x' doesn't show up for about 20 seconds," she explained. "If you're a 2- or 3-year-old you might think the ad is a part of the game. And you don't know what to do. You might click on the ad and that could take you to the app store. Many of these ads require you to do things before the 'x' will appear." Some ads are for products that aren't appropriate for kids, Radesky said. "I've seen banner ads for bipolar treatment in some of these apps," she added. One of the problems with these ads is that kids often can't tell where the game leaves off and the ad begins. "There's science to show that children aged 8 and younger can't distinguish between media content and advertising," Radesky said.
The researchers surveyed 135 of the most downloaded free and paid apps in the "age five and under" category in the Google Play store and found that 95 percent of them "contained at least one type of advertising, which included use of popular cartoon characters to sell products, teasers suggesting the purchase of the 'full' version of the app, and advertising videos that interrupted play to promote in-app purchases or purchases of other products," reports Reuters.
Hmmm... Why might a psychological doctor and researcher's kids be served ads for bi-polar treatments?
Nothing immediately comes to mind...
Unless, maybe, could it be that the psychological doctor and researcher was the actual target of the AI targeted ad?
Smartphones are in serious need of a thriving open source ecosystem.
Kid applications are horrible. Its hard to find decent ones. We basically ended up ditching android, getting a reasonably cheap ipad on a Christmas sale and only loading it with PBS Kids and then paying for ABC Mouse. The iPad is easier for them to hold, and the little home button is very intuitive for kids. This then allows apps to take the whole screen and not having the other UI elements on the edge for an accidental hit.
Nintendo's Super Mario Run follows the same shareware model as Idthesda's Doom, putting up the paywall after a few levels. If "teasers suggesting the purchase of the 'full' version of the app" are objectionable, then what's the least dishonest way for a game studio to both allow a parent to evaluate a game and keep a roof over the heads of its programmers and artists?
my almost 4 year old year old clicks skip, and clicks x''s on Ads
Honestly, what smartphones are in need of is people finally realising they don't need to have their face buried in the goddamned things all the time, and for people to realise that social media is largely pointless bullshit designed to show you ads and harvest your information.
I've heard stories about people being knocked down and injured by the idiots who don't look up from their phones. I've stopped caring if some moron refuses to look where they're going, and instead I rely on the fact that I'm bigger than most people and will simply walk through them. If you can't be arsed to watch where you are going, it's not my job to get out of your way.
Children who are so hooked on the phone because parents just give it to them as a soother go on to become these really insane little brats who can't amuse themselves for 10 seconds without a phone.
There shouldn't even be apps targeted at kids 5 and under. Give them books and toys instead of digital brain overload which ramps them up into a frenzy.
I count the number of kids we get for Halloween. This year I'll be adding a separate tally with the number of cellphones I see.
Adult apps are riddled with ads. Why is anyone surprised kids apps are as well? Why anyone would be deploying apps to children without playing enough of it to get a feel for how much junk it pumps should be beyond me, but considering how many parents just hand these things off as virtual babysitters without a second thought, sadly it is not. Pile on the fact that the populous seems to be blind to intrusive, oversaturating and pervasive advertising and it's not really shocking at all.
Pony up for quality content, or enjoy your child getting indoctrinated. If you're not paying for the product, you are the product, and so is your child.
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The problem is these Ads are just a touch away from a purchase. Back when I was a kid, where we had TV Shows that were 1/2 hour commercials for toys, and even seeing a full movie which was an advertisement for Nintendo. We could want this stuff as much as anyone, but we were limited by Mom and Dad. Who often had the final say of Yes you can have this or No you can't, even a non-helicopter parent at that time had that degree of control.
Now with these Apps, you are just a click away from immediate gratification, and in-app purchase. Without the kids really realizing that getting $1.00 add ins that offer 10 minutes of mediocre enjoyment, could had been used somewhere else.
Sure some adults don't get this, but at least they will need to realize the consequences of such actions.
If something is so important that you feel the need to post it on the internet... It probably isn't that important.
You must be a riot at concerts.
You might have noticed how they haven't made another :)
Devices aren't babysitters, take some responsibility and don't leave your kid unattended playing random shit.
Water is wet.
The sky doesn't have a color.
The gov sucks more than every vacuum cleaner sold in the last 50 years combined..
Apps have intrusive inappropriate ads.
http://progressquest.com/spoltog.php?name=Son+Of+Son+Of+DarkRookie
My 4 year inherited an old phone that had literally nothing but the youtube app so he could watch stuff. Within a day there was a couple games on it and within a week there was loads. Now it has all kinds of pop up shit and ad loaded screensavers going on. There's no payment or personal information or anything on it, it was wiped before he got it so whats the harm really but it is mad the amount of shit that can get on them. Before that he managed to subscribe to some service via a one touch thing on youtube on the wifes phone. I never let him touch mine.
Wanna buy a shirt?
https://www.redbubble.com/people/stealthfinger/shop?asc=u
Don't stick a tablet in your kids' arms to "entertain" them (another word for "keep them quiet and have some peace" for many parents). Play board games with them. Buy them Legos or Playmobiles. That will develop their curiosity and their imagination - something electronic games don't do.
Only when they're old enough to understand the ugly world of big data, online scammers, profiteers and pedo predators, and you've tought them a healthy dose of cynicism and paranoia on the internet, should you introduce them to the craptastic world of free online games...
"A door is what a dog is perpetually on the wrong side of" - Ogden Nash
NYT: "In apps marketed for children 5 and under in the Google Play store, there were pop-up ads with disturbing imagery. There were ads that no child could reasonably be expected to close out of, and which, when triggered, would send a player into more ads. Dancing treasure chests would give young players points for watching video ads, potentially endlessly. The vast majority of ads were not marked at all. Characters in childrenâ(TM)s games gently pressured the kids to make purchases, a practice known as host-selling, banned in childrenâ(TM)s TV programs in 1974 by the Federal Trade Commission. At other times an onscreen character would cry if the child did not buy something."
You will once these kids grow up used to annoying adds everywhere, all over the place all the bloody time. Better get used to an idea of your phone waking you up 4am to advertise insomnia drugs to you, because if businesses could get away with doing that shit, they would. And if the next generation grows up used to adds all the bloody time everywhere, hey soon enough they will.
If kids get used to the kinds of ads they are subjected to now (which they will) then they advertisers will just get more insidious and create even more intrusive and obnoxious ads.
This kind of arms race was the exact reason many countries now have an advertising standards organisation that has the power to bad certain ads. Sure they get carried away some times (recently in the UK an ad for a Nissan Micra was banned for depicting excessive speed... a fucking Micra? but I digress) however they're better than not having them. Having recently spent a few days in the US has demonstrated why, the level of dishonesty and scare tactics permitted in advertising was astounding. Sure there were ads for sugary drinks in kids programs and might have been an ad for a Chevy that was driving fast... but the number of ads that were pure political fear-mongering was astounding. Sure the UK's ASA might get a bee in their collective bonnets over a car being driven slightly excitedly... but they also kill bullshit like political smear campaigns because they smack them down hard as soon as they start.
I've nothing against the US mind you, lovely place to visit but your advertisers are complete scum because you let them act like complete scum.
Calling someone a "hater" only means you can not rationally rebut their argument.
DO NOT ALLOW YOUR KIDS TO GROW-UP USING SMARTPHONE/TABLET/IOT!!!
Make them grow-up (tried and true!) good old fashioned way: Books/toys (but NOT internet connected ones)!!!
Books and toys are important; but so is technology. I wouldn't want my kids growing up as luddites and unable to understand basic technology that others in their age range were competent at. Limiting tablet time is very important- but taking them away completely is a way to harm your child's chance at future successes.
Everything in moderation.
"That's the way to do it" - Punch
Obviously, some things shouldn't be on a kids application; but it is understandable these apps finance themselves through ads.
Kids don't have money typically- they can't go to the store and buy games by themselves. (they shouldn't be installing apps by themselves either- but I'm sure it happens).
Kids can't buy apps but they sure can see ads and then go to the parental units afterwards and beg for whatever toy, game, or erectile performance product they saw on an ad.
"That's the way to do it" - Punch
I'm not sure what you meant by that, so I'll reply to each of two plausible interpretations:
Idthesda's Doom
You might have noticed how they haven't made another
Doom II, Doom 64, Doom 3, and Doom (2016) exist.
Nintendo's Super Mario Run
You might have noticed how they haven't made another
Fire Emblem Heroes exists.
Adults' Apps Are Flooded With Ads
Taking a tablet away completely isn't going to hurt the kid. 4 year olds aren't learning how to program apps, they are just vegging out to paw patrol videos. A 4 year old that can use a tablet to find a Netflix video is neither surprising nor impressive because the UI's of these devices are so simple that a 4 year old can easily learn it.
Look, screen time isn't the devil people pretend it is. But ultimately it's probably no better or worse that just looking at children's picture books.
Call it what it is.
Let me know when the majority of voters in major economies approve of the winding-up of the entire entertainment industry.
Well, that's why I monitor and regulate my kids' networked computer use (yes, phones/tablets are computers). And educate them about what they see.
But I thought that made me an evil helicopter parent who is messing up my kids. So which is it?
lol. That guy's talking nonsense. This is the real me. Please disregard the other ACs.
Case in point. My son thought commercials were mini-documentaries. So when at the store and sitting in the cart, he would say something like "no mommy, we need to by Tide to get the whitest of whites", "only ZipLock bags hold freshness in", and "I want a healthy heart, so I need Cherrios." None of this is true, but for kids that grow up in homes where lying is not the norm, they see all advertisements as truthful.
You started out brilliantly there and then wound up in a big pile of crazy. Lying is the norm in your home, because you let your child watch commercial-supported TV, and commercials are all based on lies. (They may contain some truth, but that's not their thrust.) And on average, young children have an inability to distinguish the difference between commercials and programming. It's not whether lying is the norm but the intellectual development of the child that determines whether they believe everything they see on television or not.
"You're right," Fisheye says. "I should have set it on 'whip' or 'chop.'"
There's no such thing as an "age appropriate" ad.
A government is a body of people notably ungoverned - AC
I've met some children in chat rooms that tell me they want to learn to program a computer, but their parents impose harsh screen time limits, such as six hours per week, even if all homework is complete or school is on vacation, and even if the child purchased the computer himself. If one of your children shows an interest in learning to program a computer, then at what approximate age would you allow enough screen time to make this practical?
To preface, I was a dual major in college, chemistry and marketing. Granted this was a few years ago (graduated in 2006), but I remember a class studying marketing and associated laws to various age groups, and childrens ads had the least amount of regulation. There have been efforts, but all have failed so far.
If I recall, the companies fight against regulation aimed at marketing towards children higher than any other group because they can get a customer for life. There are some regulations on ads aimed at adults (alcohol, cigarettes, gambling in some states, etc.).
I hate fat people.
This is not an argument for keeping Trump, your making a good argument for removing Pence too.
All the Cool kids eat them. Are you a "Cool Kid"?
Taking a tablet away completely isn't going to hurt the kid. 4 year olds aren't learning how to program apps,
Why not? I had only just turned 5 when I wrote my first program on an old Sinclair Spectrum 48K... OK so it was barely above "Hello World", but still. Playing games made me curious about them, being curious about them made my dad give me a book about BASIC for my 5th birthday. In under a year I was writing my own unique crappy programs- but they were all me. Not all kids are going to be reading as well as I did at that age, but nonetheless, some kids will want to learn how to do things their own way and not just follow the existing apps and programs.
Using apps, kids become understanding of the concept of menus and buttons and where things might logically be stored. A kid who grew up with a computer might flip through menus to find out how to do something. Grandma on the other hand will look at a screen baffled.
Kids who are comfortable with the technology are more likely to think "I wish it would do this?" or "I wonder how I can do this?"
Understanding a technology at an early age, the kid is more likely to think about "how can I hack this to do something different, that I want?" Someone who learns how to operate technology at 5 is going to be much more comfortable and likely to get competent with it at 25 than someone who was banned the technology as a child and didn't see it until they were already an adult.
"That's the way to do it" - Punch
I didn't realize they couldn't tell the difference on average... we don't watch much broadcast, so the kids were exposed to children's cartoons on Netflix first, then eventually we would turn on things like PBS and even the interstitials there (not even real commercials!) bug the hell out of them for not being the program. We watch sports on broadcast, and there they find real commercials disinteresting except for movie trailers.
the Atari 7800 out of the attic. It still mostly works and not once did it steal my private data, body-shame me, demand I purchase an in-game widget, or send me to a dubious website that would install all sorts of horrible malware on my TV. And, Pitfall 2!
Remember Soupy Sales' gag?
https://www.snopes.com/fact-ch...
They break stuff anyway and 'screen time' is bad for their development. Get them nice cheap dumbphones instead. Then 'apps' won't be an issue anymore, they won't learn to be distracted by a phone, and they might even (shocking!!!) learn to be social and actually pay attention in class, do their homework, have real hobbies, be physically active, etc.
i dont understand why?
Everything in moderation.
Exactly!
Be a parent, not the baby sitter. Take an active part in your kids life, see what interests them, guide them. Don't just chuck them a tablet and tell them to google it. Play a few minutes of each game, if you don't like it for any reason then remove it.
Without the kids really realizing that getting $1.00 add ins that offer 10 minutes of mediocre enjoyment, could had been used somewhere else.
And the parent is insane if they allow their kid to use a smartphone or tablet that has instant In-App purchases enabled without typing in a secret passcode which the child does not have access to until they are older.
The only complaint I have is Apple should have clearer UI standards surrounding how Ads are permitted to display themselves.
Being required to interact with an Ad in an app or being required to watch for a period of time before closing the Ad is allowed should never be permitted
(Apps that do ought to be rejected from the app store), Mandatory video ads can play only if the user specifically
picked a command to play optional Video or Audio, and the ad is contained within the video, and while the Ad is playing the user has a working option displayed on screen to stop playing the video/go back or rewind/fast-forward at any point in time.
On-screen ads should be clearly marked as "Sponsored Offer for Goods or Services,"
and Audio/Video ads should always be preceded by a message such as "The following is a Sponsored Offer or Advertisement to encourage the purchase of 3rd party goods or services."
When an Ad is displayed on screen, an "X" button for clearing/hiding the ad should be required to be shown at all times.
By this analogy, should music in styles not quite suitable for live performance cease to exist?
By this analogy, should music in styles not quite suitable for live performance cease to exist?
There isn't anything preventing it to exist. But don't ask me to pay real money for your imaginary property. Ditto for software, video games, movies, etc. Find another way to fund your hobby.
I browse on +1 so AC's need not respond, I won't see it.
1) A 4 year old isn't a 5 year old.
2) No you didn't program "hello world" at 5, and you weren't programming any of your own unique programs -regardless how crappy- at that time. If you had said 7, I might have believed you. 10 is completely reasonable that an advanced student would could write unique programs. But you couldn't read at 5, much less write your own unique programs. Why lie?
My kids (6 and 8) have their own little Linux machines (Pocket Chips) on which I've put some DOS games via Dos Box. So they need to boot the thing, open a terminal, start Dos Box, navigate to the game directory and type in the name of the .exe file to start it. It takes a few minutes...
The love it! They play the usual DOS goodness: Commander Keen, Duke Nukem, Populous etc. Currently they're hooked on Dune 2... now they want me to read them the book...
One day, when they do get their smart phones, they'll know they're crap and that the games on them are crap.
My kid (~ 3) has an Amazon Fire 8 for Kids. It has a huge selection of apps and videos. I have never seen an ad on it or any inappropriate apps or videos. It requires zero policing on my part.
What kid's device has this problem? Are parents actually letting their kids use adult devices or something?
recently in the UK an ad for a Nissan Micra was banned for depicting excessive speed... a fucking Micra? but I digress
False advertising? The Micra would never make the speed limit, let alone over
If your digital media has ads, it is doing something you are not directly in control of. Ads should be seen no differently than seeing people around you throw up - your computer is infected and should be investigated/cleaned. If children are being exposed to ads, that's a sign of parental neglect. Don't use proprietary software, you won't have this problem.
GENERATION 26: The first time you see this, copy it into your sig on any forum and add 1 to the generation.
1) A 4 year old isn't a 5 year old.
2) No you didn't program "hello world" at 5, and you weren't programming any of your own unique programs -regardless how crappy- at that time. If you had said 7, I might have believed you. 10 is completely reasonable that an advanced student would could write unique programs. But you couldn't read at 5, much less write your own unique programs. Why lie?
I absolutely 100% was writing my own programs at 5. My mum was a stay at home mum, so I was reading simple baby books unassisted by the time I turned 4 (I was also speaking her native language which I have now almost entirely forgotten). They weren't great, they didn't do anything useful, but I was writing them. I didn't do things like moving graphics and stuff until I was 7 or 8. My programs were things like '10 Dim x 20 Input "What is your name?", x 30 Print x + " is an idiot.' 40 Goto 10". With the Spectrum you didn't have to load any special software for writing code- you just did it at the command prompt and it stored it in the memory.
"That's the way to do it" - Punch
Yay, Poison Pill Defence! It would be Hard to get rid of all of the dodgy people in line for succession for US President, the ones behind him are generally more dodgy in their goals and viewpoints, not as easy to get rid off because of their dodgy practices, like Trump is. I'd say keep working on that, but really focus on the November elections, if Trump can't get bills through the House and Senate, he's going to struggle.