Google removes apps from the Play Store for advertising fraud and other offenses

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A successful Android application developer, with over half a billion installations to his credit, sees his apps removed by Google from the Play Store. DO Global, based in China, had 46 apps removed from Google's online store after a survey by BuzzFeed revealed serious problems with apps. Before Google began to take action against the developer, DO Global had about 100 apps in the Google Play Store, making it one of the largest ever actions against a Google app developer. . The remaining applications will be removed shortly. DO Global was a wholly owned subsidiary of the famous Chinese Internet company Baidu. But last year, the unit was split and Baidu retained a 34% stake.
BuzzFeed's initial report indicated that at least six of the DO Global applications would click on ads even if the application was not being used. Online security company Checkpoint, in partnership with BuzzFeed, found malware-laden applications called PreAMo. This is because apps have fraudulently clicked banner ads on Presage, Admob, and Mopub mobile ad networks. Checkpoint indicates that the malware has been installed from these six applications 90 million times.

Some of the applications involved have been assigned to developers such as "Pic Tools Group" and "Photo Artist Studio", and their true property has been obscured by DO Global. This is another violation of the rules of the Play Store. The developer's contact information was also different on many of the apps, obscuring their true owners. Current titles include applications such as RAM Master-Memory Optimizer; Photo retouching, makeup, photo effects and cops. DO Global says its apps have 250 million active users a month and that its mobile advertising platform reaches 800 million people.

"We fully understand the seriousness of the allegations and after reading the reports on our applications, we immediately conducted an internal investigation on this subject, and we regret to find irregularities in the use of certain AdMob ads for some of our products. We fully understand and accept Google's decision and have actively cooperated with them by conducting a thorough review of all relevant applications … in the future, we will strictly follow the regulations in force and will continue The complete review of our products process, we have caused misunderstanding and great concern because of our inability to communicate in a timely manner and to provide complete information.We sincerely apologize. "- DO Global

In a statement, Google said it would still investigate malicious behavior of applications. When it detects violations, it prevents a developer from monetizing an app via AdMob and / or removing an app from the Play Store.

Two of the apps removed from the Google Play Store

Two of the apps removed from the Google Play Store

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