Developing
These are allegations in a complaint. PPC Land reported no response from AppLovin.
In 60 seconds
- San Diego County, acting for the People of California, sued AppLovin on October 5, 2026.
- The complaint alleges ads for sex toys, gambling and other adult products appeared in games rated for children, and that a child-user flag was removed from the SDK in September 2024.
- It seeks restitution, civil penalties of up to $2,500 per violation and injunctions.
- PPC Land found no AppLovin response to the suit.
Impact Layer
- What changed
- A county prosecutor has put in-app ad serving to children under legal scrutiny.
- Why it matters
- Child-safety claims against an ad platform can reach publishers and advertisers whose spend ran in the apps involved.
- Who is affected
- Mobile app developers, mobile advertisers and AppLovin partners.
- Martech stack area
- Advertising, Data
- Stack impact
- Nothing changes today. App publishers can check which ad SDK settings apply to child-directed titles, and advertisers can ask where their ads ran.
- Business impact
- High Allegations only, reported by PPC Land from the complaint. The complaint's claims have not been tested in court.
- Related technologies
- What to watch
- AppLovin's formal response, any preliminary injunction request, and similar suits by other counties.
San Diego County sued AppLovin Corporation on October 5, 2026 in San Diego Superior Court, in the name of the People of the State of California, according to PPC Land’s reading of the 62-page complaint. It brings two claims, under California’s False Advertising Law and Unfair Competition Law.
What the complaint alleges
- In a January 2025 test on a six-year-old’s tablet, a game rated 10+ showed ads for sex toys and bondage, and a game rated E showed ads for an M-rated app and an 18+ gambling game.
- A July to August 2026 investigation found child-inappropriate ads in “hundreds” of top apps rated safe for children.
- Until September 2024 AppLovin’s SDK included a “COPPA Support” call that let developers flag users under 13. SDK version 13.0.0 removed it.
- It describes close buttons placed off-screen or made hard to find, and says skip buttons were logged as interactions.
What the county wants
Restitution, including for advertisers charged for coerced or fabricated interactions; civil penalties up to $2,500 per violation; and injunctions to restore a child-user identification mechanism, honor Do Not Track on children’s devices, add reasonable age assurance and stop the interface practices.
What AppLovin has said
PPC Land reported no response to the lawsuit. It notes earlier company positions: a March 2025 post saying the SDK collects only basic device information, and an August 2026 investor disclosure that an SEC inquiry closed with no recommended enforcement action.
Our read
The claims are untested. The practical point for advertisers and publishers is traceability: know which apps your ads ran in, and which settings you chose for child-directed inventory.
Sources
- PPC Land: San Diego County sues AppLovin over adult ads in children's games (opens in a new tab)
Source of the filing, allegations, relief sought and the absence of an AppLovin response.