San Diego County sues AppLovin: Axon ad engine allegedly bypasses parental controls and serves adult and gambling ads in children's games

On October 5, San Diego County sued AppLovin in San Diego Superior Court, asserting two causes of action under California's false advertising law and unfair competition law. The 62-page complaint alleges its ad technology bypasses parental controls and serves sex product, gambling, and AI chat platform ads in children's games. The complaint alleges that in version 13.0.0, released on September 15, 2024, AppLovin's SDK removed the COPPA Support interface that allowed developers to flag users under 13, and the integration guide now states that age restriction calls are no longer supported; when a child's device hides the mobile advertising ID, AppLovin generates a Compass Random Token that persists across apps. The complaint also alleges that close buttons are placed off-screen or set to trigger an app store redirect, and that in Rope Savior 3D a single click installs a gambling game for ages 18 and up with no age verification.