Last year, the FTC held a workshop, Protecting Kids from Stealth Advertising in Digital Media, aimed at exploring the techniques being used to advertise to children digitally and online, and what measures should be implemented to protect them from manipulation and other harms. This workshop highlighted research showing that many young consumers do not have the skills or cognitive defenses to identify or sufficiently evaluate blurred advertising, potentially leading to physical, psychological, financial, privacy, and other harms.

Key takeaways from the event

1. Children are spending increasing amounts of time online, exposing them to a growing number of advertisements and marketing messages.
2. Blurred advertising, which blends into surrounding content, makes it difficult for children to recognize and evaluate advertising messages.
3. Emerging research suggests that children’s ability to recognize and evaluate advertising varies based on age and developmental stage.
4. Blurred advertising raises concerns about trustworthiness, cultural influences, physical and financial harms, and privacy risks for children.
5. Addressing the challenges of blurred advertising requires collaboration among advertisers, platforms, regulators, and advocacy groups to protect children from deceptive practices and promote transparency and accountability in digital media.