The Study
This review by Wolters Kluwer Health looked at 39 apps that target kids ages 5 and under. They reviewed the different kinds of advertising and manipulation used in the apps to encourage engagement by the young users. Researchers used Android devices and tested the most popular apps in the age category at the time.
Types of Advertising:
Commercial Characters – These are apps that are designed around marketing certain characters that your kids may already love. i.e. Daniel Tiger, Mickey Mouse, Bob the Builder, or Hello Kitty.
App Teasers – Encouragement for kids to unlock the “full version” of the app.
Ad Videos Interrupting Play – Videos that feature other apps in the marketplace by interrupting your child’s use of the current app and showing videos of gameplay.
In-App Purchases – Items, levels, or other content that your child can’t use in the app without purchasing them. These may be items that can be used in game, costumes or costume pieces or even in-game currency that can be used to purchase other things in the app.
Prompts to Share – Encouragement to share the app on social media sites or even just to rate it on the app store.
Deceptive or Distracting Ads – These ads often trick your child into thinking they are playing another level of the game. Sometimes they look like they are a part of the app your child is using and then open up an app store link when tapped.
What Parents Should Know
To get my full thoughts on this research watch the video above. Liking it and sharing with your friends would be super helpful as well. I will say here, though, that it is critical that we as parents understand how these apps are marketing to our children and help our kids understand the difference between something they are playing or learning from and an advertisement. This study also looked at the difference between ads in paid apps vs free apps and educational apps vs entertainment. None of the results are shocking but hopefully, they are a bit eye-opening for parents who allow their kids unsupervised time on screens.