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Google Finally Bans Apps that Include Shady Lock Screen Ads from the Play Store

posted by martyb on Thursday December 07 2017, @11:55AM   Printer-friendly
from the ad-vanced-protection dept.

Fnord666 writes:

Ads are just a fact of life in mobile apps. You can't completely avoid them, but there are some ad implementations that are so annoying that Google has explicitly disallowed them from the Play Store. Remember Airpush? The current advertising scourge is ad-infused lock screens, which have shown up in previously safe apps like ES File Explorer, Peel, and Hotspot Shield VPN. Google has finally listened to our pleading, and lock screen ads are no longer allowed in the Play Store.

Technically, the new policy is a bit more nuanced than "no ads on the lock screen." Here's the new section on Google's developer monetization page.

Lockscreen Monetization

Unless the exclusive purpose of the app is that of a lockscreen, apps may not introduce ads or features that monetize the locked display of a device.

So, an app that bills itself as a photo editor, VPN, or file explorer cannot also cram a new lock screen on your device that's infested with ads. However, an app that is actually a lock screen can still monetize with ads. Presumably, you know what you're getting when you install a lock screen app.

Source: http://www.androidpolice.com/2017/11/30/google-finally-bans-apps-include-shady-lock-screen-ads/

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  • (Score: 2) by isostatic on Friday December 08 2017, @07:45PM (1 child)

    by isostatic (365) on Friday December 08 2017, @07:45PM (#607367) Journal

    Nope, didn't realise it existed. I go to specific websites for news (typically bbc for day-to-day, and buy magazines like economist for more in depth)

    Advertisers pay about 50p to destroy your browsing experience. I'd rather pay. Same with TV. Ads cost me more than the site gets from selling my eyeballs.

    Starting Score:    1  point
    Karma-Bonus Modifier   +1  
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  • (Score: 2) by TheRaven on Saturday December 09 2017, @10:42AM

    by TheRaven (270) on Saturday December 09 2017, @10:42AM (#607680) Journal
    You can buy subscriptions within the news app, and the version that it displays is typically lighter in ads than the web page version. It's also pretty good at recommending things outside of your bubble - I get a bunch of articles from right-leaning newspapers on topics that I'm interested in, for example.
    --
    sudo mod me up