Geolocation and cheap mobile phones: the strategy for easy money ads to ensnare vulnerable young people
A UPF study suggests that young people with fewer opportunities receive more fraudulent advertising promising them social advancement.
BarcelonaSince the boomThanks to artificial intelligence (AI), algorithms dictate everything users see and feel on mobile devices. In fact, the algorithm not only makes recommendations but also influences the advertising users receive on social media based on their socioeconomic status and gender. Through geolocation and the type of mobile phone they use, AI identifies the most vulnerable young people and offers them tools to obtain easy, quick, and often fraudulent income. This is demonstrated by a pioneering study from Pompeu Fabra University (UPF), which, for the first time, observes how personalized advertising on TikTok and Instagram can reinforce inequalities and stereotypes among young people.
Social media users are increasingly seeking personalized content, and one of the tools for segmenting this information is access to the geolocation of electronic devices. "Knowing your location is necessary because you don't want to see ads for coffee shops in Madrid, but AI knowing your profile can backfire," explains Carolina Sáez, a researcher with the Communication, Advertising and Society (CAS) research group in the UPF's Department of Communication and author of the study. The research concludes that algorithms can determine users' social class, whether by the type of device they use or the routes they take daily: "AI sees differences between using a ten-year-old Android and having the latest Apple model, as well as whether you take public transport every day or use a private vehicle," she says.
The study analyzed the responses of 1,200 young people aged 14 to 30 regarding the types of spontaneous ads that TikTok and Instagram offer. It determined that young people from lower socioeconomic backgrounds receive twice as many ads for risky financial products as those from higher socioeconomic backgrounds (15% vs. 8%), such as payday loans or cryptocurrency investments. The most vulnerable young people also reported frequently seeing ads offering to make money with their phones, while this was infrequent among those from higher socioeconomic backgrounds (27% vs. 3.5%).
In fact, the algorithm plays on the false promise of social advancement and economic prosperity to capture the attention of those from lower socioeconomic backgrounds. According to the study, 44% of these young people receive ads for digital businesses promising easy money, and 39% admit to receiving job offers that are "accessible and require no prerequisites," while only 4% of those from higher socioeconomic classes receive similar advertising. Sáez believes that "these messages, in most cases, if not outright fraudulent, are very close to it, and this is dangerous because users don't seriously consider why they are seeing this type of advertising and not something different."
AI also reinforces gender stereotypes
Another aspect highlighted by the UPF study is that personalized advertising creates a gender bias: girls are exposed to twice as many fashion ads (50% vs. 13%) as boys, and three times as many parenting ads (16% vs. 5%). Conversely, boys receive more ads for sports content, online games, or technology. Sáez explains this by saying that "society is sexist, and AI is trained on this data; therefore, advertising creates a spiral that amplifies the inequalities we already have."
However, European data protection laws stipulate that users' personal information must be kept confidential. So, how is it possible to personalize advertising based on social class? "Sensitive data related to economic status can also be deduced from the content consumed on TikTok or Instagram. Religious beliefs can even be determined if a prayer app is used," warns the study's author.
Although AI can be very accurate, young people between the ages of 14 and 17 are receiving ads for alcohol or gambling, even though European regulations require limiting these types of ads to underage users. Therefore, the study considers this advertising to be putting young people at risk and calls for regulating the use of AI and improving transparency, since "these ads are very difficult to verify, something that doesn't happen with television or traditional advertising," Sáez insists. The study's author also calls for educating young users to use social media more critically to protect themselves: "We've normalized seeing certain ads, and that makes us lower our guard, but we shouldn't ignore the risks that exist."