The Mobile Marketing Association has updated its guidelines for marketing to children, shortcodes and viral marketing, reports MediaPost.

The updated guidelines call on industry participants to comply with all laws dealing with children and marketing, particularly the federal Children's Online Privacy Protection Act, or COPPA. Mobile content providers may need to change the advertising language of programs targeted at children to ensure that it's appropriate and not misleading.

The guidelines also address mobile marketers' use of shortcodes - special cell phone numbers, usually five digits long - that have become a popular way to offer promotions to mobile users. MMA guidelines now require that shortcode program pricing be clearly indicated and notice be provided of any charges that consumers would have to bear.

MMA guidelines now also forbid viral messages from being forwarded by automatic means, such as via an application that accesses someone's contact list or address book. The forwarding of messages to an internet domain name assigned to a wireless operator for a mobile messaging service is also now banned.