Google has removed 16 apps that engaged in ad fraud to artificially increase ad interaction.
Google is reported to have removed 16 apps from its Play Store which were causing faster battery drain and high data usage on the Android devices. The removed applications were performing ad fraud by redirecting to web pages in the background to click on ads impersonating as a real user, the security firm which identified these bugs alleges. The apps are said to have 20 million downloads before they were removed from the store, according to the security firm.
Ars Technica reports that Google removed 16 apps from its Play Store, which were detected by McAfee. The removed app fall into the category of “utility” apps – these apps generally perform the basic tasks such as allowing users to scan a QR code and visit the linked website, turned on the device’s flashlight, or as basic as a currency convertor or a calculator, according to McAfee. Google has removed the 16 utility apps from its Play Store. The list includes –
- High-Speed Camera
- Smart Task Manager
- Flashlight+
- com.smh.memocalendar memocalendar
- 8K-Dictionary
- BusanBus
- Flashlight+
- Quick Note
- Currency Converter
- Joycode
- EzDica
- Instagram Profile Downloader
- Ez Notes
- com.candlencom.flashlite
- com.doubleline.calcul
- com.dev.imagevault Flashlight+
When these apps were launched, McAfee discovered that they would automatically download code, receive notifications to access web sites without notifying the user, and click on links and adss. This would be an instance of ad fraud because it would artificially increase the interaction on these ads impersonating as a real user.
California’s security firm discovered that the uninstalled apps had libraries such as “com.liveposting” and “com.click.cas” that allowed users to click on links and ads without the user’s knowledge which ultimately led to increasing battery drain and network consumption.
