It must have seemed like a good idea at the time — sign up with adware firm Zango and make free gaming available in exchange for advertising. Unfortunately for Warner Bros. Entertainment with its marketing to kids who like Scooby-Doo, Looney Tunes and the Flinstones, the fine print allows Zango to deliver adult-oriented ads, although according to Zango that’s only supposed to happen in conjunction with adult-oriented keywords and searches. Turns out you’re also supposed to be 18 or older to use the 180Solutions software — and the opt-in box is already checked. Blogger Chet Faliszek first picked up on the issue in May and urged people to contact the FTC and Congress. Nothing much happened even though the post got some attention through Digg.
But it popped up again this week, got Dugg once more with results that didn’t bode well for Warner Bros.’s rep.
WebProNews: “No one in their right mind would offer free game downloads for kids that comes with porno-popping adware right? And surely another right-minded entity wouldn’t allow such a proprietor to sponsor their kid-targeted webpage right? Wrong on both counts. Warner Brothers and Zango, what were you thinking?”
Now the Washington Post reports that Warner Bros. will take down the link — still active as this is being typed — and that the deal can be terminated if anyone accessing Zango through WB received inappropriate content.” Meanwhile a Zango spokesman described the promotion on a site for kids as a case of “ad inventory mix-up.”
Whatever the case, how did the savvy interactive folks at WB take this long to realize they might have a problem?
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