I’ve mentioned before how futile it is to think you can regulate mHealth Apps without even a nod to mobile advertising. But while the majority of this is quite obvious to anyone with the first idea of the issues (eg. as weight apps in the USA come under the regulatory auspices of the FDA we have the growth of location based apps pushing our kids fast food coupons) sometimes the scale of the problem is hard to appreciate.
Here’s a few stats that I think highlight the scale of the problem:
> Diageo spends $10m per annum on Facebook ads in USA
> Facebook admits that 25% of children aged 8-12 years in the UK are on it’s network and being served adult adverts
> Facebook admits that >35% of children in the USA are on it’s network being served adult adverts
> Consumer Reports’ annual “State of the Net” survey found 20 million minors actively used Facebook in past year and 5 million of these are “10 and under” and use a fake age
> 25% of all 8-12 year old children in the UK are on Facebook even though the minimum age is 13 and OFCOM figures state that nearly half of these children have registered themselves as being 18 or over
> Diageo reports increased Facebook ads = increased instore sales
Failing to understand Mobile Advertising is no excuse for us to underestimate the potential for conflict:
Hahaha, that is a fantastically ironic photo. mRegulation will clearly need to adjust to mHealth