Google's YouTube Kids application has come under fire from advocates who argue that the platform exposes kids to deceptive advertising practices disguised as entertainment. The YouTube Kids app was announced in February, and was designed to include an easy-to-use interface, content filtering, and parental controls.
"YouTube Kids is the most hyper-commercialized media environment for children I have ever seen," commented Dale Kunkel, a professor of communication at University of Arizona. "Many of these advertising tactics are considered illegal on television, and it's sad to see Google trying to get away with using them in digital media."
[...] "There is nothing 'child friendly' about an app that obliterates long-standing principles designed to protect kids from commercialism. YouTube Kids exploits children's developmental vulnerabilities by delivering a steady stream of advertising that masquerades as programming," said Josh Golin, director of the Campaign for a Commercial-Free Childhood.
The complaint [PDF] was written by The Center for Digital Democracy (CDD), Campaign for a Commercial Free Childhood (CCFC), American Academy of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry, Center for Science in the Public Interest, Children Now, Consumer Federation of America, Consumer Watchdog, and Public Citizen. It alleges that the intermixing of advertising and entertainment, the proliferation of undisclosed product endorsements, and lackluster screening of ads by YouTube's policy team all violate Section 5 of the FTC Act.
The campaigners cite "unboxing videos" as a particular concern. In one example:
This 7:41 segment is essentially a 7-minute long commercial for McDonald's. The entire segment is filmed in a play scene of McDonald's where dolls from Disney's Frozen movies enjoy toy versions of McDonald's products. According to the person in the video, "We are at McDonald's with Elsa and Ana... Ana is having her favorite ice cream sundae and Elsa is having a Sprite."
(Score: 4, Informative) by Ryuugami on Wednesday April 08 2015, @12:32PM
I wish their computer was fast enough to handle the youtube centre extension so I could free them from the adds but alas.
I'm not sure which one (or which combination) of NoScript, AdBlock and RequestPolicy is responsible, but I have never seen a Youtube ad on my own PC. For the first few years I didn't even know they existed (admittedly, I don't use YT that often).
Try at least AdBlock & NoScript combo - it should also give you a performance boost. In NoScript, I enabled youtube.com & ytimg.com.
If you also want to make sure that comments are not available, send plus.googleapis.com to the black hole :)
If a shit storm's on the horizon, it's good to know far enough ahead you can at least bring along an umbrella. - D.Weber
(Score: 2) by hash14 on Wednesday April 08 2015, @09:05PM
If you also want to make sure that comments are not available, send plus.googleapis.com to the black hole :)
As if that's the only reason!