Pixalate’s Children’s Privacy Index for Mobile Advertising Sellers: February 2024

LONDON, April 04, 2024 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Pixalate, the global market-leading fraud protection, privacy, and compliance analytics platform for Connected TV (CTV) and Mobile Advertising, released the February 2024 Children’s Privacy Index for Mobile Advertising.
The monthly index benchmarks Supply-Side Platforms (SSPs) based on the percentage of ads they sell that are on apps that are likely child-directed, as assessed by Pixalate’s COPPA Methodology.
February 2024 COPPA Seller Trust Index Key Findings:

• 10 sellers received a High risk level.
• 13 sellers were at Medium risk.
• 21 sellers were found to be at Low risk.

Pixalate’s Seller Trust Index ranks sellers according to their percentage of the seller’s ad impressions within likely child-directed (including mixed audience) apps as compared to their peers. These apps can pose a COPPA compliance risk to advertising buyers and sellers, and awareness of which apps are child-directed is an important step in mitigating compliance risks.
As of Q4 2023, Google had an estimated 290K likely child-directed apps, and Apple had 148K likely child-directed apps available for download, according to Pixalate’s COPPA audience assessment. 
Visit Pixalate’s Knowledge Base for more information about the Children’s Privacy Index for Mobile Advertising.
What is COPPA - and why it matters for advertisers
For nearly 25 years, the privacy of children online in the U.S. has been governed by COPPA and its implementing Rule, which has come under scrutiny as regulators aim to address its application in today’s complex advertising ecosystem. 
COPPA bars the collection of data from children under 13 without verified parental consent. Advertisers, ad buyers, and sellers are at risk of collecting childrens’ personal data from apps not clearly labeled as child-directed in the app stores. As the gatekeepers of the mobile app stores, Google & Apple are well positioned to provide clarity yet they do not require developers of apps targeting children to identify as such nor do they prominently feature that information in the app stores. Doing so would not only help parents protect their children online, but would also enable ad tech companies in complying with COPPA.
About Pixalate
Pixalate is a global platform specializing in privacy compliance, ad fraud prevention, and digital ad supply chain data intelligence. Founded in 2012, Pixalate is trusted by regulators, data researchers, advertisers, publishers, ad tech platforms, and financial analysts across the Connected TV (CTV), mobile app, and website ecosystems. Pixalate is accredited by the MRC for the detection and filtration of Sophisticated Invalid Traffic (SIVT).  pixalate.com

Disclaimer
The content of this press release, blog, and the Children’s Privacy Index for Mobile Advertising, reflects Pixalate's opinions with respect to factors that Pixalate believes may be useful to the digital media industry. It is important to note, however, that a seller’s rating on the Children's Privacy Index for Mobile Advertising does not mean that the seller is failing to comply with COPPA. Further, with respect to apps that appear to be child-directed and have characteristics that, in Pixalate’s opinion, may trigger related privacy obligations and/or risk, such assertions reflect Pixalate’s opinions (i.e., they are neither facts nor guarantees); and, although Pixalate’s methodologies used to render such opinions are derived from automated processing and at times coupled with human intervention, no assurances can be – or are – given by Pixalate with respect to the accuracy of any such opinions. Neither this press release nor the Children’s Privacy Index for Mobile Advertising are intended to impugn the standing or reputation of any entity, person or app, but instead, to report findings and apparent trends. 

Nina Talcott
Pixalate Inc.
[email protected]