AppLovin Faces Child-Advertising Lawsuit as Mobile Gaming's Ad Industry Comes Under Scrutiny

San Diego County has filed a lawsuit against mobile advertising technology company AppLovin, alleging that its advertising systems improperly collected information from children and displayed unsuitable advertisements despite parental controls and tracking restrictions. The allegations, reported October 7, include claims involving device fingerprinting and advertising content that should not have appeared on devices configured for young children.

The county says its complaint includes examples of advertisements displayed despite child-safety settings. These remain allegations in an ongoing legal dispute rather than established findings of wrongdoing. AppLovin's published policies prohibit knowingly collecting children's personal information or serving advertisements to children.

The lawsuit arrives during an increasingly contentious period for mobile advertising, with AppLovin also pursuing separate legal action against Unity concerning advertising-data practices. For mobile-game developers, the broader implications are significant. Advertising remains an essential revenue source for many free-to-play titles, particularly casual games that attract audiences unwilling to make direct purchases.

But increasingly sophisticated targeting technology creates questions about privacy, consent and the responsibilities of companies operating between advertisers, developers and players. If regulators demand stricter controls, the consequences could affect advertising networks and the games depending on them. The industry has become extremely good at determining which advertisements are most likely to generate revenue.

The considerably more important question is whether those advertisements should be shown to particular users in the first place.