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“Apps intended for kids may not include third-party advertising or analytics”

developer.apple.com

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Re: “Apps intended for kids may not include third-party advertising or analytics”

#211

Post by gryz »

renlo wrote: post #198
derekp7 wrote: post #144

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I can give you my feelings towards this topic. Personally, I don't mind ads that inform me of the existence of a product that I may be interested in, where it tells me how it can solve my problems. What I don't like is ads that use psychological devices to try to get me to buy their product. I also don't like ads that are a distraction of the content I'm trying to consume. So when playing a game, if the ad scroll at…

The distraction aspect is what really gets to me; cancelled my NYTimes subscription after these bright red / orange advertisements loaded all over the page, where the content I was interested in was the bland black text over white background. Couldn't even read the headlines without naturally focusing on the bright red advertisements.

So, do they really have the same ads as you could see without subscription?

Re: “Apps intended for kids may not include third-party advertising or analytics”

#212

Post by thethirdone »

panpanna wrote: post #73
duxup wrote: post #45

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Considering the state of the play store and such ... probably nobody is paying attention.

A year ago I would have agreed but a lot has happened lately. Play store went from 3.2m to 2.6m apps last year. When it comes to rejecting apps that violate their tos they are pretty trigger happy.

I have had hobby games I made when learning taken down several times for violating the TOS. Just resubmitting with an extra config box checked is enough to get back on.

I got hit by the for kids advertisement thing despite not advertising or tracking in any way because I had not set it up to either be explicitly for kids or not.

Re: “Apps intended for kids may not include third-party advertising or analytics”

#213

Post by mc32 »

CamperBob2 wrote: post #209
mc32 wrote: post #183

Earlier quoted context omitted.

How do you have a mature conversation with children who are unable to process (due to age) certain advanced concepts like marketing, advertising, monetization, irrelevancy, deception, exploitation, etc? I don’t think they’re talking adolescents but rather toddlers and young children.

Simple. Tell your child, "Don't worry. Nothing you see on a screen is real." That will immunize them from everything from zombies to pornography to Fox News.

That doesn’t sound mature and also is dismissive of psychological manipulation, etc. It’ll be as effective as saying, “don’t be afraid of the dark, there are no monsters, that’s just your imagination.”

Re: “Apps intended for kids may not include third-party advertising or analytics”

#214

Post by dawnerd »

crazygringo wrote: post #184
dawnerd wrote: post #179

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Because it’s wrong?

What is wrong about it? "Because it's wrong" isn't really a response without something backing it up. That's what I'm asking -- what's the harm, where's the wrong? The harm in advertising is obvious. A harm from third-party analytics is not.

Analytics can be harmful too. Developers use it to make the app/game stickier, more attractive to children. Children also have no way of consenting or even knowing what analytics are. Not only that but there’s no knowing what happens to the analytics at third parties - regardless of their privacy policies. Basically all third party analytics are designed to build profiles and help marketing.

Plenty of safe ways to track interactions that don’t rely on third party scripts which gobble up all kinds of data. Plus might even be illegal depending on jurisdiction.

Re: “Apps intended for kids may not include third-party advertising or analytics”

#215

Post by kasey_junk »

orwin wrote: post #136
TheCapn wrote: post #71

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Do you morally disagree with advertising/tracking monetization as a whole or just those particularly geared towards vulnerable populations? (children in your instance) I have my professional job developing software solutions for clients on a contractual base, but for a period after I graduated university I dabbled in mobile development and made the decision during that time that I'd never bloat my crappy apps with ad…

Not a solution for everything, but focused websites/blogs (on guitar, camping, kayaking... Or even painting) can afford "ads" with no tracking (link to amazon products), or even invest some time to call specialized stores about single image ads without using any advertising network.

Links to amazon products are tracking vector number 1 and opting into one of the biggest ad networks.

Re: “Apps intended for kids may not include third-party advertising or analytics”

#216

Post by mobjack »

dawnerd wrote: post #179
crazygringo wrote: post #175

> Apps in the Kids Category may not include third-party advertising or analytics. Totally agreed for advertising... but analytics are essential to improving the quality and usability of apps including for kids, and they're a real cost to roll your own. Using third-party analytics is like using a third-party JPEG or MP3 decoder: it almost never makes sense spending 100's or 1,000's of hours writing your own. So I don'…

Because it’s wrong?

Many third party analytics tools can be configured to track user behavior anonymously without any PII data. It is a feature because at least some developers want a solution to protect users privacy while still being able to gather data to improve user experience.

This feels like throwing the baby out with the bathwater. There are reasonable steps that can be taken to stop advertising trackers without a blanket ban on everything.

Re: “Apps intended for kids may not include third-party advertising or analytics”

#217

Post by soulofmischief »

mc32 wrote: post #183
soulofmischief wrote: post #177

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I get the feeling, but you must realize that preventing your children from using YouTube is like being the parent who prevented their children from watching television. You're teaching your children about censorship. It's easier, sure, but maybe it's worth the effort to have a mature conversation with them instead of wholesale preventing access to their generation's largest media platform.

How do you have a mature conversation with children who are unable to process (due to age) certain advanced concepts like marketing, advertising, monetization, irrelevancy, deception, exploitation, etc? I don’t think they’re talking adolescents but rather toddlers and young children.

It isn't an easy conversation, and it's not one that happens over one discussion. It's something you have to actively teach them to understand while growing up.

When I was three I had already developed the basic sense that people can lie and that advertisements are made by people. I had already taught myself how to read and was reading at a junior high level before even entering preschool.

I have clear and distinct memories of all sorts of advertisements I viewed around that age, and my deconstruction of them. It is most certainly a skill that can be taught by then.

I'm not special. Most people take for granted what a child can accomplish and waste those precious developmental years treating them like idiots instead of people.

As for kids who can't even speak yet, I don't know why any parent would just plop them in front of a tablet device and YouTube. It's a literal propaganda platform and if your kid can't even form their own sentences then maybe you shouldn't be providing a direct link to bad actors who want to turn them into lifelong consumers.

Re: “Apps intended for kids may not include third-party advertising or analytics”

#218

Post by kasey_junk »

sdegutis wrote: post #95
TheCapn wrote: post #71

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Do you morally disagree with advertising/tracking monetization as a whole or just those particularly geared towards vulnerable populations? (children in your instance) I have my professional job developing software solutions for clients on a contractual base, but for a period after I graduated university I dabbled in mobile development and made the decision during that time that I'd never bloat my crappy apps with ad…

Not OP but I've had some thoughts on ads for a while that I've never shared: 1. Ads ruins user experience. This is pretty much an objective fact. People can and do adapt, but it's moving away from the ideal. 2. Ads often manipulates the user (emotionally, psychologically) to get clicks, which is just downright unethical. 3. Often unethical things are advertised, things that shouldn't even be on the market. These are…

Just as context, the vast majority of ad budgets are not tied to click through metrics. Ford & Coca Cola do not care a whit if you click on their ads.

The vast majority of advertising dollars are around a) brand recognition and b) spending to make sure that it’s the people they want to have brand recognition (for coke everyone, for Ford F-150 a particular demographic).

They believe this is important. They have years of evidence to prove it is & that you don’t think it works on you doesn’t matter to them.

Re: “Apps intended for kids may not include third-party advertising or analytics”

#219

Post by lathiat »

criddell wrote: post #3
joshstrange wrote: post #2

Here is the whole section > 1.3 Kids Category > The Kids Category is a great way for people to easily find apps that are designed for children. If you want to participate in the Kids Category, you should focus on creating a great experience specifically for younger users. These apps must not include links out of the app, purchasing opportunities, or other distractions to kids unless reserved for a designated area beh…

Why do they ban third-party advertising in particular? It seems like advertising should be allowed as long as it's display only with no outward information flow. Basically ads equivalent OTA television or magazine ads should be allowed.

It sounds simple but one of the biggest frustrations is that kids accidentally click the ads which take you out of the app into something else. And constantly get confused.

Hence it also requires the apps not to have external links etc.

Re: “Apps intended for kids may not include third-party advertising or analytics”

#220

Post by cwkoss »

sadness2 wrote: post #203

Sounds like a missed opportunity for Apple to provide a curated, child-friendly advertising channel.

> child-friendly advertising channel

There is no such thing. Children do not make purchasing decisions. Advertising to children is adversarial manipulation of the development of their preferences.

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