Digital Smarts - Kids Apps Laced with Manipulative Advertising
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A new study done by the University of Michigan and the C.S. Mott Children’s Hospital in Ann Arbor analyzed 135 popular children’s apps and found that many “routinely lure young children to make purchases and watch ads”. The researchers found that these apps are riddled with problematic advertising methods, including manipulation and shaming when children did not make “in game” purchases offered to “enhance” gameplay. Others have raised this alarm in the past, but the University of Michigan study is the first to look at exactly how many ads make their way into kids’ games, and what their advertising strategies are.