Google has recently removed nearly 600 "disrupting" mobile apps from the Play Store and banned their respective developers in their most recent initiative to lead in mobile ad scam. This was announced by the company early today. Google's policy does not permit ads that display when a particular app is not in use, or that deceive users into clicking on ads by mistake.
In a blog post-Google senior product manager Per Bjorke wrote for the company, it defined a disrupting ad if this particular ad "is displayed to users in unexpected ways," like interfering with or impairing the device's efficient functions and usability. Specifically, it is a disruptive ad if it appears like a full-screen advertisement popping up while a phone call is ongoing, or a user is navigating his mobile phones' apps.
Preventing Malicious Developers from Continuing to Become More Savvy
In addition to what Bjorke said about the banning of the hundreds of Android apps on Google Playstore, he also noted that "the company had developed a 'machine-learning-based strategy' to help it trace further," obnoxious ads in apps, leading to today's extensive bans. The company official also said malicious developers keep on becoming savvier as they deploy and mask disruptive ads. However, Bjorke shared, Google developed new technologies of its own to shield against such behavior.
The majority of the apps that were discovered violating were made by developers from China, Singapore, and India, and most were targeted at users who were English-speaking. Meanwhile, Cheetah Mobile, which Google identified as a repeat offender, had over 40 of its apps pulled out from the Play Store in this most recent series of bans. According to Bjorke, it appeared that the offending developers shared the same tactics to evade detection. However, he said he did not know if this similarity in strategy was a coordinated initiative. Relatively, Google is set to offer funds to brands with ads that are affected by the disrupting pop-ups.
Not a First Time for Google to Ban Apps
This is not the first time for Google to ban apps on its mobile platform, although today's banning action seems to be its "biggest sweep of ad fraud offenders at present." During the second half of last year, Google banned CooTek, another Chinese developer, for using adware plugin that would send users aggressive advertisements on their mobile even when a specific app was not in use. This was first reported on BuzzFeed, after Lookout investigated the said developer, showing hundreds of CooTek applications that used an offensive adware plugin named BeiTaAd.
The said plugin allegedly sent aggressive ads or promotions to users when their mobile phone or the app was currently being used. This, Kristina Baalam, a researcher at Lookout said, it could render the phones almost unusable. In response to the said investigation, CooTeck committed to taking out BeiTaAd. However, the company discovered afterward that, a lot of the updated apps which Google reportedly accepted into the Play Store, had a separate code for a content that enabled similar obnoxious ads.
