 |
|
|
Babies & Bathwater:
Advertising on Children's Sites |
for March 31, 2000
- Other Columns -
|
I used to avoid sites that included advertising. Now, advertising on the Internet -- even on children's sites -- has become so common that it is virtually impossible to avoid. Besides, commercial sites can be educational, a lot of fun, and well worth a visit.
On Berit's Best Sites for Children, I still exclude kids' sites that are simply online stores, but I am quite willing to accept some advertising if a site also offers quality content for kids. After all, there's no point throwing the baby out with the bath water, as the saying goes.
Advertising and Berit's Best Sites for Children
For sites listed on Berit's Best Sites for Children I note which ones have advertising. This red flag allows parents who don't want their children to be exposed to online ads to simply avoid them. As a general rule, I have noticed that there are fewer ads on sites that are education-oriented as opposed to play sites, personal pages, and sites made by individuals.
Overview of the Issues
On the Web, the distinctions between entertainment, information and advertising are often blurred. It is important for children and grown-ups to understand how online advertising differs from TV and magazine ads so you can learn to recognize it and choose whether or not you wish to participate in it.
The Media Awareness Network in Canada has created a useful site explaining the issues involved in Internet advertising to teachers, librarians, parents and children. Kids for Sale: Online Marketing to Kids and Privacy Issues is for parents and children. It outlines the issues in several case studies that describe fictitious children and their online experiences. You can then read a more in-depth examination of the ways marketers appeal to children.
The most important section explains what you can do to deal with online marketing at home. For instance, you can become more familiar with the Internet and your children's online activity, learn the differences between commercial and non-commercial sites, and consider using filtering software. This site also features a downloadable game which teaches children ages 7 to 10 how to spot and avoid potential online dangers including Internet marketing ploys.
Banner and Pop-up Ads
Banner ads are the easiest ads to spot. They are graphics about an inch high and 5 or 6 inches wide. They are usually located at the top of your browser window but may be placed somewhere else a page. In this predictable format these ads are easy to identify.
Banner ads typically advertise a product or Web page that pitches a product or service. Site owners usually use banner ads as a way of making money. Whenever you visit their page, click on an ad, or follow an ad to an online store and subsequently make a purchase, the site owner earns a small fee. In some cases, free Web site hosting services require banner ads on all of their sites.
Sometimes banner ads rotate between several different products, so when you visit a site once you don't know what ad will be displayed for the next visitor; what seems like a clean, safe site may later display an ad for something that is inappropriate for children. Site owners have no control over which ads are shown on their site. I've seen banner ads on kids' sites peddling fortune telling, hedonist vacations, and even marijuana paraphernalia. Of course, kids' site owners that I have contacted have been upset to hear that an inappropriate ad appeared on their site and they immediately removed the banners.
Pop-up ads are similar to banner ads, but they appear in a separate, small window in front of a Web page. I find these quite annoying because they really do get in the way. It is possible to close a pop-up ad window but it will likely reappear with each new page that you attempt to visit. I have been to some children's sites with pop-up ads and I have simply given up trying to use them because I find the ads so intrusive. Too bad, really.
Both pop-up and banner ads are usually quite harmless and many Internet users make a habit of simply ignoring them. I am concerned about them because they are often a link to a site for grown-ups and who knows where they may eventually lead.
On the bright side, two of my favorite kids' sites--Billy Bear's Playground and Bonus.com-- display banner ads. Billy Bear's Playground is a great site for games, printable pages, plus lots of holiday activities. Ads at
Bonus.com the SuperSite for Kids are always clearly marked so they won't be confused with its games, puzzles, learning activities, coloring pages and other features for children.
Commercial Sites
Besides banner ads, advertising on the Internet comes in many different forms. When advertising is isolated in an online catalog or store they are easy to avoid if you wish. On the other hand, when advertising is mixed within the content of a site it becomes more difficult to tell when you are actually viewing an ad. In fact, a children's site itself may be a giant ad with messages hidden within games, contests, clubs, activities and other interactive features. For example, a game or activity may feature characters from a line of toys, a brand of cereal or a children's movie.
Disney's Zeether site has lots of good quality games, stories and printable coloring pages which children love. While these activities are great, they are also advertising Disney movies, their related products, and Disney's fee-based children's computer network. The Crayola site provides instructions for crafts, lots of coloring pages to print, stories accompanied by activities, lesson plans for teachers and other online material. Each of these offerings call for specific Crayola products.
Blending content and advertising can create a children's site that is lots of fun to use, but it is helpful for children and grown-ups to be aware that it is still advertising. Being media literate will allow you to learn to recognize advertising on the Internet in all its forms.
- Other Columns -
Berit's Browse is where Berit highlights her favorite sites on various themes and discusses her opinions and observations about kids' sites and kids on the Internet. The column is also a great place for to cover topics that you are interested in. Let her know what you'd like to read about!
|
|
|
|
