This teen was an avid gamer and he commented several times on the volume of ads for betting apps. My impression was that he was genuinely confused about why he was getting these ads. He opened the interview by telling me that video games are his "main hobby" and this was the first interview where I've seen sports betting ads targeted to a teen — and in particular a teenage boy with a clear interest in gaming.
Zooming out across different scroll-throughs with teens offers a view that makes it easier to see the way their are being profiled by their algorithms. The concerning part is when you see those profiles being used to try to pull teens in a direction that is maybe interest adjacent but not self-led. How many times does a teen have to see a betting ad before they click? And how many clicks before awareness shifts to adoption? Oof.
"[I get] a lot of ads, like every 3 to 4 scrolls is some sort of ad... [I see] betting apps a lot. TikTok shop ads based off of what I searched up in TikTok shop. So, if I search up something about games, it's about, like, the game on sale."
Interviewer: Can you tell me about the betting ads?
"I mean, the ones I see the most is Kalshi, which is just it's just some random betting app. I don't bet, but I just see it all the time.”
Citation: Nearfield. (2026, April). Spring 2026 Gen AI and social media listening loop [Collection of participant quotes]. Nearfield Listening Library. www.thenearfield.org/quotes/betting-ads
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A record of youth quotes from our listening sessions, updated continuously. Preserved with care.