Advertising/Interactive Advertising
Interactive technology has great promise to enhance how children experience digital television. With a simple click of the remote control, children may soon be able to download glossaries, play games, and interact with the host of their favorite program. Yet interactive technology also opens the door to intrusive advertising practices on digital television, similar to those currently used on the Internet. As television transitions from analog to digital, questions arise about how children will be marketed to in an interactive world and how these interactive advertising practices will affect young viewers.
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Children Now attended a Federal Trade Commission townhall meeting on mobile commerce on May 6-7, 2008, in Washington, D.C. Children Now had asked the FTC to revisit and clarify its children’s privacy rules, given new methods in the advertising environment. Children Now is pleased that the FTC has announced it will expedite its regulatory review of the Children’s Online Privacy Protection Rule (COPPA) to determine whether the rule needs to be modified. Originally set for 2015, it will now begin in 2010.
On April 22, 2009, the FTC released the report, Beyond Voice: Mapping the Mobile Marketplace, which finds that "increasing use of smartphones to access the mobile Web presents unique privacy challenges, especially regarding children."
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On June 19, 2008, Children Now joined public health, media and child advocacy groups to urge FCC action on product placement and integration.
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Children Now hosted a conference, entitled "The Future of Children's Media: Advertising," on July 20, 2006 to discuss how new methods of advertising and marketing are being used to reach children today, what’s on the horizon, and potential steps to better ensure children’s well-being in a rapidly evolving media environment.
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Children Now recently testified before the Federal Trade Commission and the Department of Health and Human Services at a workshop on marketing, self-regulation and childhood obesity.
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Children Now submitted comments to the Federal Communications Commission about interactive advertising and its potential impact on children.
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Children Now submitted comments to the Federal Trade Commission about protecting children’s privacy in an interactive media environment.
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Children Now hosted a conference to discuss digital television technology, including interactive advertising.
