Abstract:
In recent years, mini-games, that can be played without downloading, have become an important part of the gaming market. In minigame ecosystem, they often rely on advertisements as the primary revenue source. However, some miscreants abuse this incentive mechanism by displaying annoying, biased, and even discriminatory advertisements to users. Despite the growing importance of mini-games, little is known about the scope and nature of aggressive advertising in this ecosystem. In this paper, we conduct the first study on aggressive advertising in mini-games. By analyzing policies across nine major platforms and measuring on real-world mini-games, we reveal the prevalence of aggressive ad behaviors in mini-games. These findings highlight significant gaps in platform governance and raise urgent concerns about user experience, platform credibility, and ecosystem health.