San Diego County has filed a lawsuit against AppLovin, alleging the company served inappropriate adult advertisements to children and removed key privacy protections from its SDK. The report also covers industry-wide efforts by OpenX and PubX to address ad-tech trust through new verification partnerships and acquisitions, alongside proposed AI regulations in New York City.
This litigation targets the core infrastructure of the mobile gaming market, as AppLovin's SDK is integrated into 73% of top ad-supported titles. By framing privacy failures as false advertising and unfair competition, prosecutors are bypassing traditional regulatory bottlenecks to seek massive restitution for both parents and defrauded advertisers. The case signals a shift toward public enforcement in California as new state laws begin to restrict private tracking lawsuits. If successful, the demand for mandatory age assurance and the restoration of 'Do Not Track' functionality could force a fundamental redesign of programmatic mobile ad stacks. Watch for the court's ruling on whether AppLovin's 'Compass Random Token' constitutes a persistent identifier under COPPA.
San Diego County has filed a lawsuit against AppLovin, alleging the company served sexually explicit and gambling advertisements to children as young as six. The complaint claims AppLovin removed COPPA-compliant SDK features in 2024, enabling unauthorized tracking. This litigation is significant as it challenges the infrastructure of mobile gaming ad-tech.
The lawsuit alleges that AppLovin served sexually explicit and gambling advertisements to minors and enabled unauthorized behavioral tracking by removing COPPA-compliant SDK features.
The complaint identifies games including Rope Savior 3D and BMX Boy, which have collectively garnered over 100 million downloads.
The lawsuit seeks civil penalties of $2,500 per violation, covering every instance of inappropriate ad delivery and unauthorized data collection.
Investigators claim AppLovin removed its COPPA Support call in SDK version 13.0.0, which disabled the primary mechanism developers used to flag child users.
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