Children as the Product in Digital Media

"Digital Media Platforms: Are Children the Real Product?"

Digital media platforms often operate on a business model where user attention and data are the real commodities being sold. For children, this means that young users – rather than paying customers – become the product that companies leverage for profit. Platforms collect vast amounts of data on children and monetize their attention through advertising, all while designing apps and algorithms to maximize engagement. As one expert noted, these companies have “overwhelming financial incentives” to prioritize profit over child protection, according to the Harvard Gazette. In practice, children’s time and information are treated as assets to be harvested, even at the expense of their privacy and well-being. Below, we explore evidence from research, experts, and regulators that highlights how children are treated as the product in today’s digital media environment.

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Data Collection: Children's Information as a Commodity

Children’s data has become a valuable commodity in the digital economy. Many apps and websites collect personal information about young users – sometimes surreptitiously. This information can be used for targeted advertising or sold to data brokers. In a high-profile case, YouTube was found to have illegally tracked children’s viewing habits and personal identifiers to serve targeted ads, leading to a record fine in 2019. Regulators revealed that Google and YouTube knowingly and illegally monitored, tracked, and served targeted ads to young children just to keep advertising dollars rolling in. This case showed that even when laws like COPPA (the Children’s Online Privacy Protection Act) forbid such data collection from under-13s, platforms had strong incentives to violate the rules to monetize kids’ data.

Everyday Data Harvesting

Even outside of flagrant violations, everyday digital experiences quietly siphon data from minors. Children’s apps often request permissions or information that far exceed what is needed for play.

One analysis of popular kids’ mobile apps found many prompting children to share data: 17% of surveyed apps tried to access the phone’s contacts or call functionality, 11% asked for microphone access, 9% for camera, and 6% even requested location data, according to michiganmedicine.org.

While some of these permissions support app features, researchers warned that, for example, collecting a child’s location could violate privacy laws. The same study noted many apps encouraging kids to share scores or progress on social media​ – effectively nudging children to hand over personal information or expose their online activity.

The Value of Data

All of this data has marketing value. Aggregated profiles of young users help advertisers micro-target ads, and the children themselves often have no idea how their clicks, views, and personal details are being tracked and traded.

Importantly, children and teens are less equipped to understand or consent to these practices. Studies show that many adolescents trust online platforms for information but struggle to recognize ads or hidden data collection.

For instance, in one Ofcom study, only a minority of 12–15 year-olds could correctly identify paid “sponsored” search results as advertisements. This lack of awareness underscores how easily youth data can be harvested under the radar.

In the digital marketplace, a child’s personal information – from their viewing history and preferences to their location – is a form of currency fueling the tech industry.

Monetising Kids’ Attention Through Advertising

Because most digital content aimed at kids is “free” to use, children’s attention itself is monetised primarily via advertising. The scale of this youth-driven advertising economy is staggering.

A 2024 Harvard-led study estimated that major social media platforms (YouTube, TikTok, Instagram, Snapchat, Facebook, and X) collectively derived nearly $11 billion in ad revenue from U.S. children and teens in 2022. About $2.1 billion of that came from children 12 and under, and roughly $8.6 billion from teens aged 13–17, according to the Harvard Gazette​. In other words, companies are earning enormous profits by selling access to kids’ eyes and ears. As the researchers noted, these profits create a strong motive for platforms to keep children engaged and to resist any changes that might reduce young users’ screen time.

Advertising Strategy in Children’s Digital Spaces

Advertising is everywhere in children’s digital spaces. Even apps designed for very young kids are saturated with ads and product prompts. One study of 135 popular apps for children under age 6 found that a whopping 95% of these apps contained at least one form of advertising or marketing content​. Gameplay was frequently interrupted by pop-up videos, banner ads, and even cartoon characters cajoling children to make in-app purchases​. Researchers observed manipulative and disruptive ad methods. In some cases, apps showed more minutes of advertisements than actual play time. This led the authors to describe the early-childhood app market as “a wild west, with a lot of apps appearing more focused on making money than the child’s play experience”​ (Michigan Medicine).

Crucially, young children often do not understand that they are being advertised to. Prior research has found that kids under about 8 years old cannot reliably distinguish commercials from content. In digital apps, advertising is even more insidious: ads may be camouflaged as game elements or friendly suggestions, so that children “think it’s just part of the game” ​(Michigan Medicine).

The Impact of Advertising on Children

By maximizing the number of ads a child sees – and tailoring those ads using data – platforms effectively turn children’s attention into a commodity for sale. One estimate by UNICEF’s researchers warned that by age 14, a child could be exposed to up to 1,260 ads per day on social media alone​. This deluge of commercials, endorsements, and branded content is the “price” children unknowingly pay for their time on digital media.

This research was generated by ChatGPT Deep Research and verified by me. I have chosen to publish my posts in this way as it is not my intention to tell parents what to do, but rather, to ensure that parents and educators have access to all supporting research in an easily digestible way, so that they can decide what's best for their children on their own.

Dolapo Adeyemi

Author, The Tiny Tycoons: CyberMental