Google Begins Crackdown on Android Apps That Show Disruptive Fullscreen Ads

BY Mahit Huilgol

Published 20 Feb 2020

Disruptive full-screen ads are nothing new, especially if you have installed apps that seek to make money by fraudulent ways. Google has decided to come down heavily on such apps and has detailed how it would tackle mobile advertising fraud.

As part of its efforts, Google has already removed 600 apps from the Play Store while banning them from AdMob and Ad Manager platforms. Apparently the applications showed disruptive ads that were “impairing or interfering with the usability of device functions.” For instance, the app might push notification even when you are not using or employ tactics to make you click on the ads unintentionally.

While they can occur in-app, one form of disruptive ads we’ve seen on the rise is something we call out-of-context ads, which is when malicious developers serve ads on a mobile device when the user is not actually active in their app.

Imagine being unexpectedly served a full-screen ad when you attempt to make a phone call, unlock your phone, or while using your favorite map app’s turn-by-turn navigation.

Google is using a machine-learning approach in order to flag down apps showing ads that are out of context. Lately, developers are using innovative approaches to deploy their ads and Google’s latest measure is aimed at curbing the same. This is not the first time Google is weeding out apps that have violated Play Store policies. Such apps are also guilty of ruining the overall Android experience.

Starting now, Google will leverage its technologies to combat threats generating invalid traffic and “find more ways to adapt and evolve our platform and ecosystem policies to ensure that users and advertisers are protected from bad behavior.”

[via Google]