Young ‘digital natives’ naive about Internet advertising

Forget their ageist sneering -- children may know less about the Internet than many people think. Research in the United Kingdom has found that a large proportion of children lack a basic understanding of how the online world works.

Only one-third of those aged 12 to 15 could identify which Google search results were adverts, while one in five said that all information returned by search engines must be true. In addition, almost half did not know that YouTube -- dubbed the new children’s TV, thanks to the popularity of bloggers such as Zoella and Tanya Burr -- is funded by advertising. The findings, in a report by the UK communications watchdog Ofcom, come as regulators struggle to uphold television rules on advertising in the digital age. “The Internet allows children to learn, discover different points of view and stay connected with friends and family,” said James Thickett, Ofcom’s director of research. “But these digital natives still need help to develop the knowhow they need to navigate the online world.” In Ofcom’s research, children were shown a list of search results for the term “trainers”, and directed towards the top two results -- which were in an orange box with the word “Ad” written in it. Only 31 per cent of those aged 12 to 15 identified the sponsored links as advertising. Among those aged 8 to 11, the proportion was even lower -- 16 percent. However, children’s misunderstanding of media businesses was not restricted to new media. Among 12 to 15-year-olds, 17 per cent thought that the BBC was funded by advertising. The public broadcaster does not air ads in the UK.