Mobile Game Developers, Prepare for In-App Ad Regulations

Is the digital age moving to fast for us to keep up? When it comes to marketing, several special interest groups seem to think so. The vast number of ways in which to plug an advertisement means it's impossible for children and teens to escape. Who, then, will be in charge of regulating this quickly-evolving digital marketing anarchy?

The rapid growth of the iPhone and Android platforms has introduced new social and gaming mechanisms, creating more outlets for marketers to reach consumers. There's also text messages, emails, the mobile web and instant messaging clients, all of which have marked their presence on mobile devices From CNET.

In-game marketing has become so advanced that it "allows advertisers to track game users" and detect if people who are exposed to certain ads eventually use or buy the advertised product, a coalition including the Campaign for a Commercial-Free Childhood, the Center for Digital Democracy, the American Academy of Pediatrics, and U.S. PIRG told federal regulators this week.

Noting the influence of mobile gaming, those seeking more regulation around digital marketing could ultimately affect the direction the industry will have to take. Apple has taken an internal regulatory approach, while Google's Android has left itself more open to the ways of the Wild West. As networks like Facebook have become social hubs for games, we already have a glimpse of the in-app advertising structure that will manifest through social mobile gaming.

It's important for mobile developers to recognize that there will be a flood of special interest groups, as well as top-down regulations from each respective platform, looking to change the course of mobile marketing. Zynga's recent gamt closures demonstrate the ups and downs of pushing old concepts into new systems. As far as marketing regulation goes, many old concepts will be applied to mobile methods as well.