For kids, browsing the 'net is about content, not clutter. That's what a new report issued by the Nielsen company says. The company's online branch says sites visited by kids 2 to 11 has the "least advertising clutter," while sites for the greatest generation are chock full of ads.
Teens, who are highly considered to be among the most avid users of the internet and the ones parents are most worried about, are evidently exposed to only negligibly more than they're younger siblings. I assume they're referring to Facebook's relatively clean design (until those of us who are addicted to flair sully their walls . . . oh, someone save me from the love of the little buttons) and the fact that kids' individual Myspace pages are ad-free. But it would be interesting to know what they considering advertising.
The Noggin Website, pretty much the only place my daughter is ever allowed to go online, is as "ad-free" as the TV channel with the same name. But like the TV version, Noggin Online has promos for other Nickelodeon products. In the newspaper biz, we call those "house ads," but that's still advertising in my book.
The report doesn't detail how they came up with the numbers, only citing "niche" sites generally visited by adults are more likely to be cluttered with advertisments. Specifically, sites aimed at the 65 and up group are where advertisers are piling it on. So I guess the secret to keeping our kids safe from marketing is not to let them go on the Web with Grandma.
Image: Nick Halstead
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