Highly inappropriate content being allowed in iAd?!?!?

Question

Highly inappropriate content being allowed in iAd?!?!?

Hi there, a close friend called me today (because I'm the family IT guy, of course) and sent a screenshot of Cut the Rope Lite (or Free) which is ad supported. I couldn't believe the ad that was included at the bottom of the screen. Is this something that Apple actually allows? Her 5 year old was very confused, and she's royally upset that this kind of ad is showing up in games played by kids.

I'm not sure if this is the right forum, but there is no iAd forum, and trying to call Apple leads me into a black hole so far.

I don't have a public domain to place the image on, and wanted to remain credible so you guys didn't think this was a joke, so I uploaded it to my FLICKR account here: http://www.flickr.com/photos/adam12hicks/6919033766/

Or I'll try to post the image here, but it contains offensive content and nudity, so I was worried about posting in this forum. If that's ok I'll reply to this message.

I appreciate anyone's help / pointers on how to get Apple's attention on this!

Thanks,

Adam Hicks

Fort Worth, TX

iAd-OTHER, iOS 5

Posted on Apr 10, 2012 11:50 AM

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Answer 1

xnav

Level 5

7,089 points

Apr 10, 2012 2:50 PM in response to OneAdamTwelve

You could Opt Out of iAds.

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Answer 2

K T

Level 7

23,865 points

Apr 10, 2012 4:43 PM in response to OneAdamTwelve

Does that ad have the iAd logo bottom right?

It may be a 3rd party ad scheme...

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Answer 3

Apr 10, 2012 4:58 PM in response to OneAdamTwelve

No I don't see the iAd logo. I guess it's third party. But Chillingo is a pretty big company, and Cut the Rope is a pretty major app, played by a LOT of kids around the world I'm sure. Can't believe they'd allow that to display!

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Answer 4

Ashka

Level 4

3,885 points

Apr 10, 2012 5:05 PM in response to OneAdamTwelve

When I don't want to see the ads I just put the iPad in airplane mode i.e. turn off the internet connection.

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Answer 5

Apr 10, 2012 5:12 PM in response to Ashka

I certainly get that. The point isn't so much seeing ads. It's 5 year olds seeing ads with the word '****' in them and naked women touching themselves. Does Apple allow game developers to include ads like this? I guess Apple has no control over this stuff at this point? Do the game developers like chillingo really want to alienate their audience and create negative publicity over this stuff? Just shocks me to see it in this context.

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Answer 6

Ashka

Level 4

3,885 points

Apr 10, 2012 5:17 PM in response to OneAdamTwelve

I've had an iPad since they first came out and have never seen an inappropriate ad.

A screen shot can easily be photoshopped so I'd hold judgment for a while.

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Answer 7

Apr 10, 2012 5:23 PM in response to Ashka

I'd agree... I have shot photography for a magazine for a number of years and am quite proficient at Photoshop. This is a screen grab off a close friend's phone. Press the two buttons and it goes to the photo roll kind of screen grab. Her son was playing the game when the ad came up. She called me furious asking if it was normal. I told her absolutely not and to SMS me the image. No reason to make it up. There should be EXIF data on the image or whatever to show it hasn't been modified.

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Answer 8

Apr 10, 2012 5:28 PM in response to OneAdamTwelve

Why not contact the Game developer http://www.chillingo.com/about/contact-us/ and voice your concern.

They may not even know what ads are being displayed.

This discussion is probably better held in the iTunes Store list. I'll see if a host will move it.

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Answer 9

Apr 17, 2012 11:19 AM in response to OneAdamTwelve

My son was playing SCRABBLE which is 4+ and an ad from ihookup.com with a completely naked woman came up. I was disgusted! Since he has no permissions and everything is set to CLEAN or 4+ I thought it was safe to let him play games. I am thinking that there are some laws being broken here since a CHILD was shown pornographic images! I am actually considering contacting the attorney general.

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