Microsoft calculates that the UK spends £30.9 million a month on unauthorised IAPs
That's a lot of Ps
According to research carried out by Microsoft, the UK spends £30.9 million on unauthorised apps and in-app purchases every month.
£30.9 million?! Yep, really.
After asking 2,000 UK-based parents with a tablet or smartphone about unauthorised IAPs, The Big M discovered that 28 percent of them have kids who have spent money on IAPs without permission.
83 percent of those (560) parents had at one stage or another suffered from something called "bill shock", i.e. where unexpected payments on their bill, er, shocked them.
Those questioned in the Microsoft survey reckoned the unauthorised purchases made by their oblivious / rebellious offspring averaged approximately £34 a month.
Carry the oneThe Redmond-based software giant then went away, did some clever extrapolations, and concluded that the UK spends £30.9 million - yes, I wasn't kidding! - on unauthorised apps and IAPs per month.
Microsoft was conducting the survey in order to highlight the Kid's Corner parental controls in Windows Phone 8 and Windows 8, which would apparently prevent the downloading of unauthorised apps from happening.
It's worth noting, by the way, that a whopping 77 percent of respondents to Microsoft's survey thought that parents needed more help in understanding IAPs and how kids' spending habits can be monitored.
It'll be interesting to see whether the monumental figure above drops in the following months as stories and surveys like these spread the message that parents must be vigilant when it comes to IAPs.
Recent steps by Apple to educate iOS users on the subject of in-app purchases are certainly welcome. Clearly, though, more still needs to be done to highlight the issues.
The Guardian [via MCV]
