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Google Bans Apps From Displaying Lock Screen Ads (androidpolice.com)

Posted by BeauHD on from the cease-and-desist dept.

Google is banning lock screen ads from the Play Store. In the new section on Google's developer monetization page, Google says: "Unless the exclusive purpose of the app is that of a lock screen, apps may not introduce ads or features that monetize the locked display of a device." Android Police reports: 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. This policy change is long overdue. It's been a few years since these ads started showing up, and it's getting pretty out of hand.

27 of 58 comments (clear)

  1. Re: Took long enough by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1

    All notifications can be blocked on a per app basis. It's in the app manager.

  2. This was a thing? by The+Good+Reverend · · Score: 1

    I had no idea Android (Google?) phones displayed ads like that. Why would people put up with it?

    1. Re:This was a thing? by interkin3tic · · Score: 5, Informative

      Amazon sells fire tablets running amazon ads on the lockcreens. They sell them for cheaper than the non-ad versions.

      Presumably people put up with it for the same reason they put up with the far more annoying ads interrupting TV shows: they're used to it.

    2. Re:This was a thing? by jetkust · · Score: 1

      I have an Amazon Moto G with lock-screen ads. They don' t bother me at all. It's probably the least annoying way to get an ad.

    3. Re:This was a thing? by freeze128 · · Score: 1

      People put up with ads because they don't want to PAY for apps. Ads can be ignored and forgotten - we are inundated with them every day, so it's easy to block them out.

    4. Re:This was a thing? by The+Good+Reverend · · Score: 2

      Oh, I'm fine with ads in games or other apps that I use but aren't worth paying for. But that's only while I'm using the app. Having them fill up your lockscreen with no way to remove them is a step too far.

    5. Re:This was a thing? by swell · · Score: 1

      I seem to recall that these devices have screen technology that doesn't drain the battery. They can be on all the time- no problem. Not so with most phones & tablets.

      --
      ...omphaloskepsis often...
    6. Re:This was a thing? by AuMatar · · Score: 1

      That's kindle paperwhites, not Fire tablets. Fires have normal screens. They also have shit for sales.

      --
      I still have more fans than freaks. WTF is wrong with you people?
    7. Re:This was a thing? by sad_ · · Score: 1

      I'm an android user and i had no idea that was a thing either. Ofcourse i don't install random apps on my phone like most people do.

      --
      On a long enough timeline, the survival rate for everyone drops to zero.
    8. Re:This was a thing? by cascadingstylesheet · · Score: 1

      Amazon sells fire tablets running amazon ads on the lockcreens. They sell them for cheaper than the non-ad versions. Presumably people put up with it for the same reason they put up with the far more annoying ads interrupting TV shows: they're used to it.

      Which can be removed with some adb commands while hooked up to a PC, BTW

      The number of people who will do that is a rounding error, so everybody wins. (Not like somebody willing to remove them was going to tap on such ads anyway.)

    9. Re:This was a thing? by cascadingstylesheet · · Score: 1

      Amazon sells fire tablets running amazon ads on the lockcreens. They sell them for cheaper than the non-ad versions.

      Which can be removed with some adb commands while hooked up to a PC, BTW. You don't even need root. The number of people who will do that is a rounding error, so everybody wins. (Not like somebody willing to remove them was going to tap on such ads anyway.)

    10. Re:This was a thing? by Dixie_Flatline · · Score: 1

      That seems like a different thing to me, though. Presumably Amazon is running ads for stuff that you can buy from them. At that point, they've already got my purchase history and are probably offering me things they know I'd like. If I were to buy a Fire Tablet, I'd almost certain want the one with ads even if it weren't that much cheaper; I'd be buying it for the service of advertising to me so I can buy from Amazon.

    11. Re:This was a thing? by tlhIngan · · Score: 1

      I had no idea Android (Google?) phones displayed ads like that. Why would people put up with it?

      Because of two facts.

      Android users are cheap, and Google features free over paid apps (in the early days). The latter came about when Google Pay/Wallet/Whatever was in two countries or so, so people with paid apps were hidden from all the other countries in the world. They adopted free apps in order to be sold worldwide, and to eat, so in-app ads and such were the way the developers were paid for free apps.

      The former just reflects on the fact that most android users will not pay for apps (as say, compared to iOS users). This directly affects whether or not developers will offer ad-free paid versions of an app.

  3. AdGuard by DatbeDank · · Score: 2

    I have a phone that's not possible to be rooted and i've been using the paid version of this app to block all of the ads.

    Until unlimited data plans become cheap and affordable AND malware ceases to be a vector from online ads, I will always block ads on principle and pay for my services I want to be ad-free.

    1. Re:AdGuard by thegarbz · · Score: 3, Informative

      Until unlimited data plans become cheap and affordable AND malware ceases to be a vector from online ads

      Wow, talk about low on the list of reasons to block adverts. Let's add some:
      AND battery life isn't affected
      AND web pages / apps don't take forever to load.
      AND the device ceases interrupting me to view an advert (video ads are instant grounds for uninstalling apps)
      AND the ads stop taking up most of the content space
      AND ....

      Common people, chime in. I'm sure we can make this thread go on for ever. Forget malware and bandwidth. Ads are a blight on the entire mobile world right now.

  4. phone shaped hole by AndyKron · · Score: 1

    I'm glad I never got a lock screen ad because then I wouldn't have a phone naymore but a phone shaped hole in my wall.

  5. google should go one step better by FudRucker · · Score: 1

    put a feature in the google play app so i can block all apps that display advertising no matter where they are displayed, i rather not use an app if it has advertising, or spend a few dollars on a good quality app that does not have any adds, and since google play cards can be bought almost anywhere that makes it even easier for everyone to buy a paid app that does not have advertising

    --
    Politics is Treachery, Religion is Brainwashing
    1. Re:google should go one step better by freeze128 · · Score: 3, Insightful

      What is the incentive for an advertising company (Google) to block ads?

    2. Re:google should go one step better by tepples · · Score: 1

      Except that there are some really useful apps that are either ad-supported or subscription only.

      If you want a lifetime sub, have you inquired with the publishers of these apps about the price of a lifetime sub?

    3. Re:google should go one step better by maglor_83 · · Score: 1

      I don't think the OP was asking to block ads, but rather to not show apps with ads in the play store (as an option). In this case, the incentive for google would be the 30% cut they get from the sale of the app.

    4. Re:google should go one step better by FudRucker · · Score: 1

      if it is a really good app that i want and use a lot, i will pay for it, name the price, i dont expect it to be free, but dont gouge me or i will drop it like a hot potato

      --
      Politics is Treachery, Religion is Brainwashing
    5. Re:google should go one step better by Stan92057 · · Score: 1

      Search results for ad free/adless apps/games result in 99% ad supported apps and games. Searching google store is pure and utter BS.

      --
      Jack of all trades,master of none
  6. I am extremely annoyed by those ads by blind+biker · · Score: 2

    So much so, that as soon as I discover that an app uses the lock screen ads, I remove it immediately and make a mental note of that app.

    So, I find this move by Google to be unreservedly positive.

    --
    "The agriculture ministry is not in charge of Gundam" - Japanese ministry official.
    1. Re:I am extremely annoyed by those ads by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1

      Don't forget to leave a review so others can discover those apps before installing them.

  7. Re:Block Google ads (that infect/track/slow you) by tepples · · Score: 1

    Unfortunately, most Android phones aren't rooted. And if a phone isn't rooted, you can't install an APK flie to edit /etc/hosts.

  8. I just uninstalled 360 security for exactly that.. by Darkling-MHCN · · Score: 1

    I just uninstalled 360 security for exactly this reason. Some time ago they added this "feature", which wasn't too much of a problem as they had an option to switch off the retarded add filled custom lock screen. However, after installing a update it now ignores this setting, which caused me to immediately uninstall it.

  9. is the narrative finally out? by izzo+nizzo · · Score: 1

    Do people still bother to think that Android is a "non-walled garden"? Or have people realized that bit of rhetoric was simply overblown?