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The US could forcibly break up Android, Chrome from Google

September 24, 2024 No Comments

By Aamir Siddiqui

The US Department of Justice is exploring a couple of remedies, and it could possibly suggest a couple of them on Google.

We just had an exciting Pixel 9 series launch from Google, and those devices certainly warrant our attention. However, on the business side, things are not looking that good for the company. Earlier this month, a US District Court ruled that Google violated US antitrust laws when it preloaded its search engine and web browser on Android devices, capitalizing on its monopolistic position. As part of the remediation, the US Department of Justice is exploring the possibility of breaking up Android and Chrome away from Google.

Google will appeal the District Court’s decision, but the judge has also ordered both sides to begin plans for the case’s second phase. The second phase will involve government proposals for restoring competition, including a possible breakup request, which the judge can then impose upon Google and its parent company, Alphabet.

A report from Bloomberg, citing unidentified people discussing private conversations, suggests that the Department of Justice is exploring several options, including:

Breaking up Android and Chrome from Google.
Banning exclusive search contracts.
Forced sale of Google’s AdWords business.
Forcing interoperability requirements for AdWords to make it work seamlessly on other search engines.
Stopping Google from forcing websites to allow their content to be used for some of Google’s AI products, in order to appear in search results.
Forcing Google to divest or license its data to rivals like Bing or DuckDuckGo.

The report corroborates an earlier analysis from The Information, which also examined the possibility of the government ordering Google to divest of Android. It also suggested that Google’s search exclusivity deals with Apple and Mozilla, worth tens of billions of dollars in revenue, are also in the crosshair. Google may also be forced to open its training data to competing AIs.

Breaking up Android away from Google would be quite a severe move. The US DoJ tried to dismantle companies, such as Microsoft, for illegal monopolization two decades ago, but it didn’t succeed then. The most plausible remedy would be to stop the exclusive search contracts, which would still profoundly impact all the parties concerned.

From how the analysis and the reports are worded, there’s also a chance that a combination of these remedies could be forced upon Google. It remains to be seen what the future looks like for Android, Chrome, and Google in light of this antitrust case.

We’ve contacted Google for comments on the report. We’ll update the article when we hear back from them.

Feature Image Credit: Edgar Cervantes, Android Authority

By Aamir Siddiqui

Sourced from ANDROID AUTHORITY

In News

How to block pop-up ads on an Android phone

November 16, 2022 No Comments

By Luke Baker

(Pocket-lint) – No one likes to be interrupted by an annoying advert, but on our phones, it has become an all too common experience.

Most people know that they can block ads on their desktop or laptop computer, but our phones tend to be plagued with the things. Long gone are the days when you could install Ad Block Plus from the Play Store, Google doesn’t allow system-wide ad blockers anymore.

So, how do you go about blocking ads? Thankfully, it’s very easy, and we’ve got everything covered in this guide.

But first, a few things to mention. It’s important to remember that ads help keep sites going (including this one) and they’re important for content creators, too. So even though they can be irritating, in some cases, it’s worth allowing ads to help support the content that you love.

Also, we’ll be focusing on browser-based ad blocking, so keep in mind that these solutions won’t block ads in other apps, like games, for instance.

With that said, let’s get into the guide.

How to block pop-ups and intrusive ads in Chrome

Chrome is the default browser on the majority of Android phones, and as such, it’s the one the vast majority of people stick to.

You don’t need to swap to another browser to block ads, though. Thankfully, Chrome has some handy tools built-in to help with this.

The only caveat is that Chrome doesn’t block all ads, just pop-ups and ads that it deems intrusive or misleading. Here’s how you activate the features:

Open Chrome on your Android phone
Tap the three dots in the top right corner
Tap on Settings
Scroll down to Site settings and select it
Tap Pop-ups and redirects
Make sure the slider is toggled to the left
Go back to the previous page
Tap Ads and do the same thing

Now, Chrome will prevent the majority of pop-up ads from loading, and block ads entirely on sites that have misleading and intrusive ads. In some ways, it’s the best of both worlds as it allows you to support the content that you care about without suffering through egregious pop-ups.

But what if you want to take things a step further and block everything? Read on.

How to block ads with different browsers

If you’re willing to ditch Chrome, there are plenty of browsers that offer more robust ad-blocking options. Just keep in mind that you won’t be able to sync your history and bookmarks with Chrome on desktop, if you use that.

Our favourite option is Firefox, it allows for add-ons to be installed, and they work like Chrome extensions on desktop. uBlock Origin is a powerful, free and open-source ad blocker that can easily be added to the Firefox Android browser, and it’ll block just about everything.

Another great and full-featured option is the Opera browser, which has a solid ad blocker built-in and even a free VPN. There’s even a straight-up Adblock Browser, if all you care about is blocking ads.

How to block ads with an app

So, that’s browsers sorted, but what if you want to block ads in other apps? As we mentioned up top, Google has long since removed ad-blocking apps from its Play Store, but that doesn’t mean that you can’t block ads elsewhere.

You’ll have to side-load these apps, which can be a little daunting if you’ve never done it before, but it doesn’t mean the apps are untrustworthy – just that Google’s not so keen on you using them. Which is understandable, given its business model.

Best iPhone apps 2022: The ultimate guide By Maggie Tillman · 30 April 2022

These are the absolute best iPhone apps available right now, from productivity apps to apps for traveling, reading, listening to music, and more.

Apps like AdGuard and AdLock come from notable cyber-security brands and so should be perfectly safe to use. The downside is that they’re subscription based, so you’ll have to pay a monthly fee once your trial ends.

By Luke Baker

Sourced from Pocket-lint

In News

Google will soon stop VPN apps blocking ads on Android

September 23, 2022 No Comments

By Jon Mundy

Google will soon clamp down on VPN apps that block ads on the Android platform.

The tech giant, which still earns most of its vast revenue from advertising, will prohibit VPN apps on the Google Play Store from actively interfering with ads from November 1.

Google updated its Google Play policy last month, setting down strict stipulations for VPN apps. This includes a rule that such apps can’t “manipulate ads that can impact apps monetization.”

Another stipulation is that “Only apps that use the VPNService and have VPN as their core functionality can create a secure device-level tunnel to a remote server”.

These measures appear designed to secure user data with such VPN services, as well as to prevent ad fraud. As part of the new terms and conditions, VPN developers must encrypt data across the whole process.

However, as The Register reports, some developers aren’t too happy with Google’s new stipulations, feeling that it’s too sweeping with its requirements. Older versions of Blokada and Jumbo could be ruled out based on the new rules.

Blokada’s developers also speculate that the likes of privacy-focused web search app DuckDuckGo could be a casualty of Google’s new rules, though DuckDuckGo’s developer itself believes that it will be alright.

Apple applies a similar set of VPN-focused rules for iOS, though interestingly it doesn’t specifically rule out interfering with ads.

Around this time last year, Google announced that it was offering its own VPN service to subscribers of its 2 TB and higher Google One plans in the UK and other countries after an initial 2020 rollout in the US.

By Jon Mundy

Jon is a seasoned freelance writer who started covering games and apps in 2007 before expanding into smartphones and consumer tech, dabbling in lifestyle and media coverage along the way.

Sourced from Trusted Reviews

In News

Android Phone Sending To Many Ads? How To Get Rid Of Ads On Any Android Device

October 29, 2021 No Comments

Sourced from News18

One of the many reasons why some smartphone users prefer iOS over Android is the clutter-free experience that Apple offers. Android users have often complained about being bombarded with unwarranted ads while using the phone. These ads at times pop on the lock screen of the device even it’s not being used – most common in Android-based skin from manufacturers like Samsung, Xiaomi, Realme, Oppo, and the likes. While some smartphone manufacturers promote ads from their end, this problem is prevalent even in brands like Samsung where the company does not send out ads from their end. If you are an Android user and have faced similar issues with your device, this could probably be caused by the downloaded apps on your phone.

How to remove ads from the lock screen?

Uninstall app sending out lock screen ads- If you have recently started using lock screens on your phones, chances are that the unwarranted ads are being sent by an app on your device. You can easily check the recently downloaded apps on your device and uninstall them to remove the problem.

– Open the Google Play Store on your smartphone

– Tap on ‘Menu’ and then on ‘My apps & Games’

– Tap on ‘Installed’

– Sort the list on basis of the last used app

– Among the most recently used apps, select the app that has been sending unwarranted ads on your device, and uninstall it.

Additionally, you can the following things in mind to get rid of unwarranted ads

– Always download apps from reputable sources based on the ratings and reviews.

– Make sure that you never give administrator’s right to any app especially.

– Update your device regularly with Android security patches. Keeping tracking for new updates

– Do not download apps that you don’t trust or are published by unknown publishers

As per the Google Play policy, apps listed on Google Play Store must not send any fraudulent ads to the device. Further, ads can only be sent when that particular application is being used. Ads appearing on the apps are considered part of the app and hence they have to adhere to the Google play Policy.

In case you spot any app with inappropriate ads violating the policies, you can report it to the Google Play store

– Go to the Google Play Store on your device

– Go to the Install page of the app

– Tap on ‘More Option’ (three vertical dots) on the top right corner of the screen

– Tap on Flash as inappropriate to report any fraudulent ads sent out by the app

Sourced from News18

In News

Apple’s App Tracking Transparency enforcement pushes advertisers to Android instead

July 27, 2021 No Comments

By José Adorno,

With Apple’s App Tracking Transparency having been available for several months now, advertisers have begun shifting their spending patterns. A new report indicates that the prices for mobile ads targeting iOS users have dropped, while prices targeting Android users have increased.

When Apple released iOS 14.5 with the new App Tracking Transparency feature, a report by the Post-IDFA Alliance showed that two weeks after that, advertisers have started spending more on the Android platform.

Now, according to a report by the Wall Street Journal, “the prices for mobile ads directed at iOS users have fallen, while ad price has risen for advertisers seeking to target Android users.”

“Digital advertisers say they have lost much of the granular data that made mobile ads on iOS devices effective and justified their prices. In recent months, ad-buyers have deployed their iOS ad spending in much less targeted ways than were previously possible, marketers and ad-tech companies say.“

Digital-ad agency Tinuiti Inc., for example, says its Facebook clients went from year-over-year spend growth of 46% for Android users in May to 64% in June. Its iOS clients, on the other hand, saw a corresponding slowdown from 42% growth in May to 25% in June.

Research director Andy Taylor explained that “Android ad prices are now about 30% higher than ad prices for iOS users.” The report also shows many advertisers have shifted their spending on Facebook’s owned-and-operated app as well.

“Instagram and its namesake social network, which form the core of its business, Mr. Taylor said. Spending to reach iOS users on Instagram and Facebook also slid since Apple’s change, he said, but by less than on third-party apps.

Since the switch, Facebook has significantly altered its Audience Network, which has relied heavily on device identifiers. The company told advertisers in an email last week that it was adding the capability to place contextual ads—which consider factors like time of day and the app’s content—as a way to continue providing relevant ads when certain identifiers aren’t available.“

In May, Flury Analytics data provided the unsurprising evidence that vanishingly few Americans were choosing to allow apps to track them, although it has risen from 4% at that time to 9% now.

The ad industry was afraid that users would largely opt out as a matter of course, and this data does suggest that’s the case.

A 9to5Mac reader poll also showed that almost nobody is opting -in for App Tracking with all apps, while a fifth of readers are letting trusted apps track them while blocking others.

BY José Adorno

Sourced from 9 to 5Mac

In News

Brand loyalty increasing for iPhone and dipping for Android, survey suggests

April 6, 2021 No Comments

By Mike Peterson

A new survey suggests that Apple iPhone brand loyalty increased as Android users became less loyal to their device makers and more willing to switch to another brand.

The survey, carried out by SellCell earlier in March 2021, involved more than 5,000 smartphone users who owned various models of the most popular handset brands. The results suggest that iPhone users are more loyal and less willing to switch to another brand than their Android-using counterparts.

Brand loyalty for Apple reached an all-time high of 92%, up from 90.5% in a SellCell survey the same time in 2019. During that same period, Samsung brand loyalty dipped from 85.7% to 74% in 2019. The SellCell results also indicate that iPhone users are about 18% “more loyal” to the Apple ecosystem than Samsung owners.

While only 8.1% of iPhone users said they planned to switch to another brand, about 26% of Samsung users indicated that they would jump ship with their next smartphone upgrade. Among those potential switchers, 53% said they’d buy an iPhone. Privacy is the primary reason for 31.5% of those switchers, the results indicate.

It isn’t just Samsung that lost loyalty in the survey results. Brand loyalty among Google Pixel, LG, and Motorola users all dipped. For the Google Pixel lineup, brand loyalty dropped 18.8% in two years.

A slim majority of respondents, 46.6%, also said that the iPhone 12 is the current best flagship smartphone range. That’s compared to 30.4% who said the Samsung Galaxy S21 was the best flagship series on the market.

When it came to survey participants explaining why they were sticking to the iPhone, 45% said they liked their current brand, 24% said they’re too tied into the ecosystem, and 16% said they didn’t have a reason to move.

Those who did say they would choose another brand cited better technology (38%) and a preference for the design of other manufacturers (26.4%) as the primary reasons for a switch.

When asked to choose their favorite model of current smartphones, 17% of respondents chose the iPhone 12 and 12.7% chose the iPhone 12 Pro Max. The Galaxy S21 came in third with 11.4%, while the iPhone 12 Pro ranked fourth with 10.6%. In fifth place was the Samsung Galaxy S21 Ultra with 10%.

SellCell conducted the study via online survey between March 3 and March 10, 2021. It involved more than 5,000 smartphone users aged 18 and up in the U.S., and included 2,000 iPhone users, 2,000 Samsung users, 400 Google Pixel users, and 600 Motorola or LG users.

By Mike Peterson

Sourced from ai

In News

This is the list of apps that Android users should avoid downloading

November 26, 2020 No Comments

Sourced from Entrepreneur Europe.

According to Avast, various user reviews on the Google Play Store They mentioned that the platforms caught their attention through ads on YouTube and promised a different game than the app finally offered.

Do you want to install a game because you saw its advertising and it caught your attention? Better think twice. According to a group of experts from the antivirus company Avast , some applications from the Android store that disguise themselves as harmless games show you intrusive advertising that compromises the security of your data.

The researchers found 21 applications that can compromise your data, through intrusive advertising, known as ‘adware’, some of them are still active in the Play Store although they have already been reported.

According to Avast , various user reviews on the Google Play Store mentioned that the platforms caught their attention through ads on YouTube and promised a different game than the app finally offered. According to SensorTower, these platforms have been downloaded eight million times.

Among the applications that have these characteristics are:

Assassin Legend – 2020 NEW
Cream Trip – NEW
Crush Car
Desert Against
Find 5 Differences – 2020 NEW
Find Hidden
Find the Differences – Puzzle Game
Flying Skateboard
Helicopter Attack – NEW
Helicopter Shoot
Iron it
Jump jump
Money destroyer
Plant monster
Props Rescue
Rolling Scroll
Rotate Shape
Rugby Pass
Shoot Them
Shooting Run
Sway Man.

Feature Image Credit: The Average Tech Guy vía Unsplash

This article was translated from the Spanish edition using AI technologies. Errors may exist due to this process.

Sourced from Entrepreneur Europe

In News

What Apple left out overshadows iPhone 12 launch

November 9, 2020 No Comments

By Toby Shapshak.

Accessory-gate: Loyal Apple fans’ long-standing gripe with new adaptors being required following a new launch.

First published in Daily Maverick 168

The biggest news from Apple’s usual hypefest announcement about this year’s latest iPhone 12 models was the removal of the charger and headphones from the box. The internet erupted, not just with rage, but with hilarious memes about it, pointing out the stark similarity to the iPhone 5 with its square, steel edges.

Apple says the lack of charger and headphones is a move to minimise its carbon footprint – a seemingly “woke” response to climate concerns but one that falls apart when scrutinised, quicker than an ANC integrity commission hearing.

Sure, it will reduce the footprint of the box for iPhone 512, as I’m calling it, but it won’t for the two new added accessories most users will now have to buy separately. Similarly, Apple announced that last year’s prices would remain unchanged, which appears correct, except that last year it included two items you now have to fork out for.

There goes any attempt to challenge the long-held belief by Macheads that there is always a cable or connector tax for Apple products.

This year the lack of charger is particularly problematic because Apple has abandoned (as it should) the old USB format for the new USB-C – which both charges and transfers data faster. Such chargers were distributed (in the box) with iPhone 11s and I have upgraded all our household chargers because of the quicker charging.

How much does a charger actually cost? Like just about every other iPhone user, I can’t tell you off the top of my head. Now, after a quick trip to the official Myistore.co.za website, I can tell you an 18W USB-C power adaptor costs R649 and another R499 for a 1m USB-C to Lightning cable. An extra R1,148.

People will grumble, but they will buy them anyway. “It’s always the way,” as an Irish friend liked to say in her lilting accent about perennial behaviour.

Apple critics like to point to this accessory tax as another reason the company profits off its customers. But … isn’t that what a company is supposed to do? Isn’t profit the whole bloody point? Can a case be made that many people buy additional headphones, anyway, given that they’re buying a more expensive iPhone in the first place? Is Apple trying to trim costs after a global pandemic?

Apple and Microsoft are the two exceptions to the Big Tech habit of mining our personal data for profit. Both sell you something, often on a monthly basis. I pay an annual licence for Microsoft 365, and I pay monthly for Apple’s iCloud offerings. It’s called business. I am happy to pay for these services because that’s what I am doing: paying for a service. Remember that immortal adage of the social media age: if the product is free, you are the product. Also, I know they won’t let anyone steal my credit card details. That’s their job.

What are the alternatives? Android as an operating system? Remember who owns it. And don’t think for one minute that Google doesn’t make all its services point back to the one thing that makes it the vast majority of its income and profit: search advertising.

Android is a free operating system, we’re still told. Free for whom?

Google effectively sells it to the handset manufacturers on condition they include all Google’s default apps, including search, Chrome, Gmail, Maps and the Google Play Store. Google locks you into its own form of the walled garden, a seemingly huge garden but walled nevertheless.

Apart from Facebook, WhatsApp, Instagram, Messenger (all from another global giant that gives its services away free as part of its surveillance capitalism), banking and streaming services, most people don’t instal other apps on their phones. Even if they do, the funnel always leads to Google advertising, either programmatic advertising in a browser or inside the apps themselves, which make money from … showing Google ads.

At least with Apple and Microsoft, I know the transaction is transparent.

I am paying for a service with my credit card, instead of paying for it with my personal data. An extra R1,148. Worth every cent. DM/DM168

Feature Image Credit: The Apple logo is illuminated at the company’s store in Hong Kong, China.

By Toby Shapshak

Toby Shapshak is publisher of Stuff (Stuff.co.za) and Scrolla.Africa.

Sourced from Business Maverick

In News

YouTube Music tweaks in-app branding on Android, iOS

September 9, 2020 No Comments

By Abner Li

YouTube Music has seen a flurry of changes in recent weeks ahead of Play Music shutting down by year’s end. A smaller change sees YouTube Music for Android and iOS revamp its branding.

Original 8/28: YouTube Music has always maintained two logos. There is the homescreen app icon where the white play symbol is at the center of a bright red record/CD, while at other times the main YouTube logo is used followed by the word “Music” in the service’s custom font.

That second brand has long been at the top-left corner of YouTube Music for Android and iOS. Version 3.81 changes it to the first instance on both mobile platforms, though the web client has yet to be updated. That said, the Progress Web App (PWA) has always used the round variant.

Meanwhile, the other place users encounter the dueling logos is on playlist cover art. There is seemingly no logic in whether the circular icon or broader symbol is used in the top-left corner of official playlists. For example, “Your Mix” and “New Release Mix” use the latter, while “Released” takes advantage of the round logo. All three have been recently updated/revamped by Google.

3.79
3.81

Update 9/2: A week later, music.youtube.com has followed in implementing this change. On the web, the logo is quite small.

More about YouTube Music:

By Abner Li

Sourced from 9TO5 Google

In News

Microsoft takes first whack at browser ad blocking with Edge on Android, iOS

July 16, 2018 No Comments

By Gregg Keizer

Microsoft in the past week updated its Edge browsers for Android and iOS, adding a built-in web advertisement blocker – a first for the Redmond, Wash. company.

The browser, Windows 10’s default but since October available on the two mobile operating systems, was refreshed June 19 and 21 for Android and iOS, respectively, with technology based on eye/o GmbH’s Adblock Plus, one of the world’s most widely-used ad blockers.

Eye/o spokesman Ben Williams confirmed that a partnership deal between the two companies had been reached, but he declined to comment further or answer questions about the financial terms. “The real beneficiaries here are users, who now have more options to customize and improve their online experience on the go,” Williams said in an email.

The in-Edge ad-blocker is disabled by default in both the Android and iOS versions, requiring the user to manually switch it on. In both, the setting is accessible from Settings/Content blockers once within the browser.

“You’ll see acceptable ads. Change this any time in Settings,” reads text displayed in the iOS edition of Edge once Adblock Plus has been engaged.

This is the first time Microsoft has added a web ad blocker to any of its browsers, although Adblock Plus – and a multitude of rivals – have been available for years as browser add-ons for Internet Explorer as well as Edge.

Microsoft declined to answer questions about the partnership and, when asked whether it plans something similar for Windows 10’s browser, would only say that an Adblocker Plus extension is available for that version.

The move puts Microsoft in the same category as Google’s Chrome and Mozilla’s Firefox, two others of the Big Four browsers with ad-blocking technology already baked in or planned for this year. Google introduced a form of ad blocking in Chrome earlier this year – an effort that purports to scrub the most annoying ads – and Mozilla has laid out a timetable for its own stab at deleting ads that will reach users in September or October.

Notably, Microsoft didn’t broadcast the news that it had integrated Adblock Plus with Edge on Android and iOS. That was decidedly different than the tack that Google took with Chrome; it made sure users – as well as site publishers – knew that ad filtering was coming, talking it up for a year prior to actual launch.

In the past, Microsoft has been hesitant to weigh in on one side or another when browser controversies have developed, perhaps remembering antitrust actions in the U.S. and European Union that originated in complaints about its integration of browser and operating system. For example, when the Do Not Track (DNT) privacy movement got rolling, Microsoft was initially adamant about automatically enabling DNT as it was developing Internet Explorer 10 (IE10) in 2012. Later, Microsoft backed away after ad industry lobbying groups yowled, calling the DNT move “unacceptable” and arguing that IE’s setting would “harm consumers, hurt competition, and undermine American innovation.”

At the time, IE accounted for more than half of the global browser share.

But Edge, whether on the desktop or on a mobile device, is no IE. According to analytics vendor Net Applications, Edge is the preferred browser on fewer than one out of every eight Windows 10 PCs. On mobile, Edge’s user share was an anemic eight-tenths of one percent last month.

In lieu of a mobile browser of its own – Microsoft forfeited that market when it surrendered to reality and gave up on putting Windows on smartphones – the firm used the guts of Chrome (the Blink rendering engine) to build its Android Edge, and the foundation of Apple’s Safari (the WebKit engine) to craft the iOS version. The company has pitched these Edges as companions to Edge on Windows 10, especially to flesh out a feature dubbed “Continue on PC” in the desktop OS.

Edge for Android can be downloaded from Google Play; Edge for iOS can be downloaded from the App Store.

adblocker in edge android — Disabled by default, the baked-in Adblocker Plus can be switched on from Settings/Content blockers in Android (shown here) and iOS.

By Gregg Keizer

Senior Reporter Gregg Keizer covers Windows, Office, Apple/enterprise, web browsers and web apps for Computerworld.

Sourced from COMPUTERWORLD