San Diego County sues AppLovin over ads that violate rules pushed to children
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San Diego County filed a 62-page complaint in San Diego Superior Court against AppLovin under California's False Advertising Law and Unfair Competition Law, alleging that its Axon advertising engine bypasses parental controls and serves ads for sex toys, gambling, cannabis gummies, alcohol, and e-cigarettes to children's games. County investigators tested a 6-year-old's tablet equipped with Google Family Link in January 2025 and found such ads in the 10+ rated game Street Dude and the E-rated game Rope Savior 3D. The complaint states that AppLovin's SDK, in version 13.0.0 released on September 15, 2024, removed the COPPA Support interface that allowed developers to flag users under 13, and the integration guide now notes that age restriction calls are no longer supported.
Generated by AI from reports · Updated 3 days ago
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- PPC LandSelectedSan 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.
- Bloomberg LawSelectedSan Diego County sues AppLovin: Axon ad engine allegedly bypasses parental controls to push adult ads to children
圣迭戈县在圣迭戈高等法院递交 62 页起诉书，依据加州《虚假广告法》和《不正当竞争法》起诉 AppLovin，指控其 Axon 广告引擎绕过家长控制，向儿童游戏投放性玩具、赌博、大麻软糖、酒精和电子烟等广告。县调查员 2025 年 1 月用装有 Google Family Link 的 6 岁儿童平板测试，在 10+ 级游戏 Street Dude 和 E 级游戏 Rope Savior 3D 中发现上述广告，一次点按即可安装赌博游戏且无年龄核验；2026 年 7 至 8 月的二次调查在数百款儿童级热门游戏中再次发现类似广告。起诉书称 SDK 13.0.0（2024-09-15）删除了用于标记 13 岁以下用户并关闭行为追踪与定向广告的 COPPA Support，并在设备隐藏广告 ID 时生成跨 App 持久存在的 Compass Random Token。
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