Youth banking is crowded, making lasting engagement and practical benefits for parents key differentiators.

Roblox drew 61.4 million US unique visitors in July 2026, nearly eight times as many as Minecraft (8.0 million), according to a July survey from Comscore.

"If you do not have a gaming strategy, it's clearly too big to ignore now," Charles Hambro, CEO and co-founder of GEEIQ, said at EMARKETER's Future of Digital summit last week. "But you should not get bamboozled by 'Oh my god, we're gonna build unbelievable worlds.' Be very, very self-disciplined with regards to what are my CPMs for this audience." Nearly 60% of US consumers will be digital gamers this year, according to EMARKETER's forecast, yet only 2.4% of total digital ad spend in 2026 will go to gaming. It's a delta that represents both a significant opportunity and a cautionary tale for marketers who rush in without proper measurement frameworks.

Gen Alpha is entering its teen years just as scrutiny of social media intensifies. Their habits are taking shape amid new rules, safety concerns, and shifting expectations. And that’s creating fresh challenges for platforms, parents, and marketers.

30.3 million US adults aged 18+ visited Roblox.com in March 2026, each spending an average of 876.6 minutes, or roughly 14.6 hours apiece, according to a March study from Comscore Media Metrix Multi-Platform.

"Marketing is less about persuasion now, it's more about participation," said Justin Breton, head of partnerships, content and emerging experiences at Walmart, at the IAB Connected Commerce Summit last month. "How do you actually get consumers to participate with your brand?"

Meta and YouTube were ruled negligent in addiction case as the jury claimed the platforms failed to warn youth—raising legal and reputational risks for advertisers.

Teenagers today are digital natives in the truest sense, but their digital lives reveal surprising nuances about device preferences, social spaces, and emerging technologies that marketers need to understand.

Esports and gaming creators represent two distinct but overlapping opportunities for marketers seeking to reach engaged audiences.

Gamers are highly engaged, span all demographics, and are increasingly receptive to ads. Yet gaming remains one of the most undermonetized channels in digital advertising.​

The Salvation Army is setting up shop in Roblox, using the gaming platform to introduce its users to thrifting and win their loyalty at an early age. The new Roblox experience “Thrift Score” models a real Salvation Army store and is stocked with player donations, original designs from players and content creators, as well as digital replicas of the physical stores' actual merchandise.

This FAQ explores how marketers can reach Gen Alpha amid tightening privacy rules and growing household influence.

Discord is joining YouTube and TikTok in implementing stricter age verification processes, squeezing marketer access to young users.

Gen Alpha’s digital world is built around YouTube, gaming, and creator-led content. This report examines how early immersion, platform controls, and shifting norms are reshaping engagement as the cohort approaches adolescence.

This FAQ examines in-game ad formats, audience demographics, and emerging opportunities like rewarded advertising that are reshaping how brands connect with gamers across platforms.

Tailoring marketing to Gen Alpha is proving critical for brands looking to capitalize on their emerging influence.

Australia has enacted the world’s first nationwide ban on social-media accounts for anyone under 16, forcing platforms like TikTok, Instagram, YouTube, and Snapchat to remove underage users or face major penalties. Policymakers and researchers will study the effects on mental health, offline behavior, and migration to unregulated platforms—insights that could influence US policy, where similar proposals are already gaining traction. For advertisers, the implications are significant: removing millions of teen users would constrict future reach curves, shift youth attention toward gaming-adjacent spaces, raise competition for compliant inventory, and complicate early brand-building. Australia’s experiment may foreshadow US market disruption.

The news: Roblox will expand its age-checking procedures to all users by the end of the year, per a press release, building on its efforts to protect children online. Users will need to verify their age to access many features—including Party Voice and chat without filters—by submitting either a selfie or government-issued ID. Roblox will then analyze the selfie’s facial features to estimate the user’s age. The platform is rolling out new systems that limit communication between adults and minors unless they already know each other in real life. Our take: Roblox’s stricter age-verification policies stress the growing need to balance reach, compliance, and trust on youth-focused platforms. Marketers should prepare for smaller, more segmented audiences as age checks filter out unverified users and privacy-conscious adults. Long-term success may depend on building campaigns rooted in creativity and authentic value over hypertargeting.