Latest news with #adfraud
Forbes
7 days ago
- Forbes
‘70 Million Downloads'—Delete Every App That's On This List
You have been warned — these apps are fake Google has deleted hundreds more 'fraudulent; apps that were 'quietly flooding Play Store.' Those apps amassed more than '70 million downloads,' and so it's critical you delete them from your phones as well to prevent any more damage. This latest report comes courtesy of IAS Threat Lab researchers, and they have dubbed the attack 'Mirage.' It follows on from the team's discovery in May that 'as many as 2.5 million dangerous apps were being installed each and every month.' Just as with those 'Vapor' attacks, the newer 'Mirage' campaign centers on delivering 'aggressive, out-of-context ads to millions of unsuspecting users.' The attack is enabled by 'sophisticated cloaking techniques, bot-driven fake installs, and a sprawling network of recycled developer accounts.' It's an industry generating millions of dollars. As I warned earlier this month, while ad fraud itself is painful rather than dangerous, once this malware tricks its way onto your phone it can morph into other purposes. Attackers fork such software to deliver more nefarious objectives, including credential theft, data exfiltration and even spyware. IAS says the "Vapor" fraud scheme demonstrates fraudsters' persistent ability to adapt and evade app store safeguards.' The team 'uncovered almost 300 app IDs linked to the Mirage operation, which collectively garnered more than 70 million downloads, despite providing users with no genuine functionality.' All of the apps identified have been removed from Play Store, and Google Play Protect should warn you if one is running your device and disable its features. But the best advice is always to manually delete any apps flagged in this way. Examples of fake apps. That's easier said than done though. Here's the list of fraudulent apps. It's extensive. The better plan is to root through your phone and delete trivial apps you no longer use — or more likely never used. You should also scan the list and see if you recognize any. Every app on this list is vacuous and pointless. 'Mirage reflects how these apps present the illusion of utility,' IAS says, 'appearing useful on the surface, but offering nothing real underneath. Like a mirage, the promise vanishes the moment users engage.' If your phone is infected you should know that. 'Ads begin popping up aggressively, often independent of any user action. These ads appear when they shouldn't. For instance, launching in the middle of unrelated apps or when the device should be idle.' That means 'screens hijacked by endless advertising.' The ads generate a return to the developers behind the malware, as they report the ads as genuine to advertisers who don't know their content has been abused in this way. And if you are hunting for trivial apps — PDF readers or phone cleaners for example, these apps are adept at ranking highly on Play Store lists. 'Almost every Mirage linked app investigated showed an unnaturally rapid rise in download count, especially in its first few weeks. IAS researchers observed that many of these apps launched with a flood of installs that appear to come from bots or coordinated install farms.' IAS says it 'worked in close partnership with Google to neutralize the Mirage operation. After correlating anomalous traffic patterns and confirming the ad‑fraud mechanics in late May 2025, IAS shared actionable intelligence with Google's Play Store team.'
Yahoo
21-07-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
Pixalate's June 2025 Delisted Mobile Apps Reports: 46,331 Apps Delisted from Google Play Store & 45,685 from Apple App Store
Pixalate research finds 12,790 apps delisted from the United States (U.S.) Google Play Store were ad-enabled (e.g., had an file), while 3,789 apps delisted from the Apple App Store were ad-enabled London, July 21, 2025 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Pixalate, the leading ad fraud protection, privacy, and compliance analytics platform, today released the June 2025 Delisted Mobile Apps Reports for the United States (U.S.) Apple App Store and Google Play Store. The reports analyze apps delisted in June, including those enabled for programmatic advertising. The reports include a list of the top delisted apps by app store, enabled for programmatic advertising (based on the presence of an file). The report identifies applications that are no longer available for download from the U.S. Apple App Store and Google Play Store, according to Pixalate's data. Delisted apps do not indicate which party initiated the delisting action, i.e., Apple, Google, or the app developer. While some apps are delisted for benign reasons, others are removed due to more nefarious behaviors, including ad fraud and non-compliance with privacy regulations or app store policies, which may expose advertisers to potential financial or legal risks. Because apps can be delisted for various reasons, Pixalate neither asserts nor assigns a reason for any delisting action. Additionally, it is generally not publicly available information as to who the initiator of the delisting is, so it is often not possible to know whether the app store or the developer triggered the research focuses on app profile information. It provides various insights observed in the programmatic advertising bid stream, such as the developer's country of registry, the level of app abandonment, and the number of delisted apps with advertising (as indicated by an file). Key Findings: Delisted Mobile Apps (June 2025) Google Play Store Delisted apps: 46,331 apps delisted in June 2025, representing a 7% decrease from May 2025 12,790 apps delisted were enabled for programmatic advertising (i.e., had declared an file) in June 2025 Google Play Store: Top 5 Delisted Apps in June 2025 (by downloads) Rank App ID App Title Estimated Downloads Developer Name 1 upday news for Samsung 100.0M upday GmbH & Co. KG 2 Doubtnut for NCERT, JEE, NEET 50.0M Doubtnut: Doubt Solving & Video Solutions App 3 RYT - Music Player 50.0M Alaskavinh 4 Shoot Hunter-Gun Killer 50.0M RAY3D 5 Masha and the Bear Child Games 50.0M DTC Lab Apple App Store Delisted apps: 45,685 apps delisted in June 2025, up 17% from June 2025 3,789 apps delisted were enabled for programmatic advertising in June 2025 Apple App Store: Top 5 Delisted Apps in June 2025 (by downloads) Rank App ID App Title Estimated User Ratings Developer Name 1 1316355277 Where is my Train : Live Train 301.8K NISHI SAHLOT 2 1525688578 月亮播放器 - 高清电影电视剧影视视频播放器 165.1K 智熙 郑 3 1266129086 叶罗丽精灵梦——魔法公主换装游戏 98.9K 丹 李 4 1467924305 Mother Life Simulator Game 72.7K Nadeem Munawar 5 293778748 PAC-MAN 69.3K BANDAI NAMCO Entertainment America Inc. To compile this research, Pixalate's data science and analyst team analyzed over 2 million apps delisted from the United States Apple App Store and over 5.8 million apps delisted from the United States Google Play Store between January 2021 and June 2025. Download the complete reports here: Google Play Store Apple App Store About Pixalate Pixalate is a global platform specializing in privacy compliance, ad fraud prevention, and digital ad supply chain data intelligence. Founded in 2012, Pixalate is trusted by regulators, data researchers, advertisers, publishers, ad tech platforms, and financial analysts across the Connected TV (CTV), mobile app, and website ecosystems. Pixalate is accredited by the MRC for the detection and filtration of Sophisticated Invalid Traffic (SIVT). Disclaimer The content of this press release, and the June 2025 US Google Play Store & US Apple App Store Delisted Mobile Apps Reports (the 'Reports'), reflect Pixalate's opinions with respect to factors that Pixalate believes may be useful to the digital media industry. Any data shared is grounded in Pixalate's proprietary technology and analytics, which Pixalate is continuously evaluating and updating. Any references to outside sources should not be construed as endorsements. Pixalate's opinions are just that, opinions, which means that they are neither facts nor guarantees. Pixalate is sharing this data not to impugn the standing or reputation of any entity, person or app, but, instead, to report findings and trends pertaining to programmatic advertising activity across mobile apps in the time period studied. CONTACT: Nina Talcott ntalcott@ while retrieving data Sign in to access your portfolio Error while retrieving data Error while retrieving data Error while retrieving data Error while retrieving data
Yahoo
21-07-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
Pixalate's June 2025 Delisted Mobile Apps Reports: 46,331 Apps Delisted from Google Play Store & 45,685 from Apple App Store
Pixalate research finds 12,790 apps delisted from the United States (U.S.) Google Play Store were ad-enabled (e.g., had an file), while 3,789 apps delisted from the Apple App Store were ad-enabled London, July 21, 2025 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Pixalate, the leading ad fraud protection, privacy, and compliance analytics platform, today released the June 2025 Delisted Mobile Apps Reports for the United States (U.S.) Apple App Store and Google Play Store. The reports analyze apps delisted in June, including those enabled for programmatic advertising. The reports include a list of the top delisted apps by app store, enabled for programmatic advertising (based on the presence of an file). The report identifies applications that are no longer available for download from the U.S. Apple App Store and Google Play Store, according to Pixalate's data. Delisted apps do not indicate which party initiated the delisting action, i.e., Apple, Google, or the app developer. While some apps are delisted for benign reasons, others are removed due to more nefarious behaviors, including ad fraud and non-compliance with privacy regulations or app store policies, which may expose advertisers to potential financial or legal risks. Because apps can be delisted for various reasons, Pixalate neither asserts nor assigns a reason for any delisting action. Additionally, it is generally not publicly available information as to who the initiator of the delisting is, so it is often not possible to know whether the app store or the developer triggered the research focuses on app profile information. It provides various insights observed in the programmatic advertising bid stream, such as the developer's country of registry, the level of app abandonment, and the number of delisted apps with advertising (as indicated by an file). Key Findings: Delisted Mobile Apps (June 2025) Google Play Store Delisted apps: 46,331 apps delisted in June 2025, representing a 7% decrease from May 2025 12,790 apps delisted were enabled for programmatic advertising (i.e., had declared an file) in June 2025 Google Play Store: Top 5 Delisted Apps in June 2025 (by downloads) Rank App ID App Title Estimated Downloads Developer Name 1 upday news for Samsung 100.0M upday GmbH & Co. KG 2 Doubtnut for NCERT, JEE, NEET 50.0M Doubtnut: Doubt Solving & Video Solutions App 3 RYT - Music Player 50.0M Alaskavinh 4 Shoot Hunter-Gun Killer 50.0M RAY3D 5 Masha and the Bear Child Games 50.0M DTC Lab Apple App Store Delisted apps: 45,685 apps delisted in June 2025, up 17% from June 2025 3,789 apps delisted were enabled for programmatic advertising in June 2025 Apple App Store: Top 5 Delisted Apps in June 2025 (by downloads) Rank App ID App Title Estimated User Ratings Developer Name 1 1316355277 Where is my Train : Live Train 301.8K NISHI SAHLOT 2 1525688578 月亮播放器 - 高清电影电视剧影视视频播放器 165.1K 智熙 郑 3 1266129086 叶罗丽精灵梦——魔法公主换装游戏 98.9K 丹 李 4 1467924305 Mother Life Simulator Game 72.7K Nadeem Munawar 5 293778748 PAC-MAN 69.3K BANDAI NAMCO Entertainment America Inc. To compile this research, Pixalate's data science and analyst team analyzed over 2 million apps delisted from the United States Apple App Store and over 5.8 million apps delisted from the United States Google Play Store between January 2021 and June 2025. Download the complete reports here: Google Play Store Apple App Store About Pixalate Pixalate is a global platform specializing in privacy compliance, ad fraud prevention, and digital ad supply chain data intelligence. Founded in 2012, Pixalate is trusted by regulators, data researchers, advertisers, publishers, ad tech platforms, and financial analysts across the Connected TV (CTV), mobile app, and website ecosystems. Pixalate is accredited by the MRC for the detection and filtration of Sophisticated Invalid Traffic (SIVT). Disclaimer The content of this press release, and the June 2025 US Google Play Store & US Apple App Store Delisted Mobile Apps Reports (the 'Reports'), reflect Pixalate's opinions with respect to factors that Pixalate believes may be useful to the digital media industry. Any data shared is grounded in Pixalate's proprietary technology and analytics, which Pixalate is continuously evaluating and updating. Any references to outside sources should not be construed as endorsements. Pixalate's opinions are just that, opinions, which means that they are neither facts nor guarantees. Pixalate is sharing this data not to impugn the standing or reputation of any entity, person or app, but, instead, to report findings and trends pertaining to programmatic advertising activity across mobile apps in the time period studied. CONTACT: Nina Talcott ntalcott@ in retrieving data Sign in to access your portfolio Error in retrieving data Error in retrieving data Error in retrieving data Error in retrieving data
Yahoo
17-06-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
Pixalate's May 2025 Delisted Mobile Apps Reports: 49,613 Apps Delisted from Google Play Store & 39,131 from Apple App Store
Pixalate research finds 14,602 apps delisted from the United States (U.S.) Google Play Store were ad-enabled (e.g. have an file), while 3,348 apps delisted from the Apple App Store were ad-enabled London, June 17, 2025 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Pixalate, the leading global platform for ad fraud protection, privacy, and compliance analytics, today released the May 2025 Delisted Mobile Apps Reports for the United States (U.S.) Apple App Store and Google Play Store. The reports analyze apps delisted in May, including those enabled for programmatic advertising. The reports include a list of the top delisted apps by app store, enabled for programmatic advertising (based on the presence of an file). The report identifies applications that are no longer available for download from the U.S. Apple App Store and Google Play Store, according to Pixalate's data. Delisted apps do not indicate who initiated the delisting action, i.e., Apple, Google, or the app developer. While some apps are delisted for benign reasons, others are removed due to more nefarious behaviors, including ad fraud and non-compliance with privacy regulations or app store policies, which may expose advertisers to potential financial or legal risks. Because apps can be delisted for various reasons, Pixalate neither asserts nor assigns a reason for any delisting action. Additionally, it is generally not publicly available information as to who the initiator of the delisting is, so it is often not possible to know whether the app store or the developer triggered the research focuses on app profile information. It provides various insights observed in the programmatic advertising bid stream, such as the developer's country of registry, the level of app abandonment, and the number of delisted apps with advertising (as indicated by an file).Key Findings: Delisted Mobile Apps (May 2025)Google Play Store Delisted apps: 49,613 apps delisted in May 2025, representing a 19% decrease from April 2025 14,602 apps delisted were enabled for programmatic advertising (i.e., had declared an file) in May 2025 Country of origin: United States-registered apps had the highest number of delistings (1,882) in the Google Play Store, followed by South Korea (929) in May 2025 Among the apps that provided a country of registration, 3,842 were registered in Asia-Pacific (APAC), which is the highest among global regions, followed by 2,812 in EMEA, 2,062 in North America, and 735 in LATAM, according to PixalateGoogle Play Store: Top 5 Delisted Apps in May 2025 (by downloads) Rank App ID App Title Estimated Downloads Developer Name 1 Qblock: Wood Block Puzzle Game 100M Oakever Games 2 PAC-MAN 100M Bandai Namco Entertainment America Inc. 3 mAst: Music Status Video Maker 100M mAst App 4 Control Center Simple 50M TD Application 5 Kpop Music Game - Dream Tiles 50M Dream Tiles Piano Game Studio Apple App Store Delisted apps: 39,131 apps delisted in May 2025, down 11% from April 2025 3,348 apps delisted were enabled for programmatic advertising in May 2025 Country of origin: United States-registered apps had the highest number of delistings (1,389) in the Apple App Store, followed by China (494) and South Korea (360) in May 2025 Among the apps that provided a country of registration, 1,755 were registered in APAC, which is the highest among global regions, followed by 1,502 in North America, 1,272 in EMEA, and 166 in LATAM, according to PixalateApple App Store: Top 5 Delisted Apps in May 2025 (by downloads) Rank App ID App Title Estimated User Ratings Developer Name 1 1668632772 爸爸的面馆-记忆中的小店 148.7K Guangzhou Yoqu Technology Co., Ltd 2 1417033792 BoxFresh 匿名質問アプリ - ボックスフレッシュ 67.1K App-CM Inc. 3 1393913947 Miles - Travel, Shop, Get Cash 66.0K ConnectIQ Labs Inc 4 417281773 Авито: бронирование отелей 37.8K LLC DOUBLETAPP 5 1578231174 グランサガ (Gran Saga) 33.7K Npixel Co., Ltd. To compile this research, Pixalate's data science and analyst team analyzed over 2 million apps delisted from the United States Apple App Store and over 5.6 million apps delisted from the United States Google Play Store between January 2021 and May 2025. Download the complete reports here: Google Play Store Apple App Store About PixalatePixalate is a global platform specializing in privacy compliance, ad fraud prevention, and digital ad supply chain data intelligence. Founded in 2012, Pixalate is trusted by regulators, data researchers, advertisers, publishers, ad tech platforms, and financial analysts across the Connected TV (CTV), mobile app, and website ecosystems. Pixalate is accredited by the MRC for the detection and filtration of Sophisticated Invalid Traffic (SIVT). The content of this press release, and the May 2025 US Google Play Store & US Apple App Store Delisted Mobile Apps Reports (the 'Reports'), reflect Pixalate's opinions with respect to factors that Pixalate believes may be useful to the digital media industry. Any data shared is grounded in Pixalate's proprietary technology and analytics, which Pixalate is continuously evaluating and updating. Any references to outside sources should not be construed as endorsements. Pixalate's opinions are just that, opinions, which means that they are neither facts nor guarantees. Pixalate is sharing this data not to impugn the standing or reputation of any entity, person or app, but, instead, to report findings and trends pertaining to programmatic advertising activity across mobile apps in the time period studied. CONTACT: Nina Talcott ntalcott@
Yahoo
16-06-2025
- Entertainment
- Yahoo
Pixalate's April 2025 Top Grossing Mobile Apps in APAC: ‘ToonBlast' Ranked No. 1 on Google Play Store in Japan; ‘OLX' Led on Apple App Store in India; ‘Spider Fighter 3' Ranked No. 1 on Apple App Store Australia
According to Pixalate's research, 'Weather Zone' ($74K) ranked at the top on Google Play Store in Australia; 'Craftsman: Building Craft' ($12K) was No. 1 on Google Play Store in China London, June 16, 2025 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Pixalate, the leading global platform for ad fraud protection, privacy, and compliance analytics, today released the May 2025 APAC Top Grossing Mobile Apps Reports for China, Japan, Singapore, India, and Australia. The reports cover mobile apps on the Apple App Store and the Google Play Store. The reports highlight the estimated top-grossing apps in open programmatic advertising revenue for mobile apps. In addition to the reports for China, Japan, Singapore, India and Australia, Pixalate released Top Grossing Mobile & Connected TV (CTV) Apps reports for the United States (U.S.), Canada, the United Kingdom (UK), Spain, France, Germany, Israel, Ukraine, Netherlands, Mexico, and Brazil. Top Grossing Mobile Apps in May 2025 - APAC China Mobile: '沙威玛传奇 - 中国版' was the top grossing app ($30K in estimated open programmatic ad revenue) on the Apple App Store, and 'Craftsman: Building Craft' was No. 1 ($12K) on the Google Play Store Japan Mobile: 'トリマ-移動・歩数がポイントに！お小遣い稼ぎの歩数計アプリ' ($864K) led on Apple App Store, and 'ToonBlast' ($395K) was No. 1 on Google Play Store Singapore Mobile: 'imo-International Calls and Chat' ($78K) was at the top on the Google Play Store, and ' ($42K) led on the Apple App Store India Mobile: 'OLX' ($177K) led on the Apple App Store, and 'TeraBox' ($590K)) was No. 1 on the Google Play Store Australia Mobile: 'Spider Fighter 3: Action Game' led on the Google Play Store ($107K) and 'Weather Zone' ($74K) was No. 1 on the Apple App Store In May 2025, Pixalate's data science team analyzed over 27 billion global open programmatic impressions from over 6 million Apple App Store and Google Play Store apps. For this research, Pixalate also examined over 6,000 CTV apps and 2 billion global ad impressions across various platforms, including Apple TV, Amazon Fire TV, Roku, and Samsung Smart TV. Download the Global Top Grossing Mobile & CTV Apps Reports: Mobile U.S. Canada Mexico Brazil China Japan Singapore India Australia United Kingdom Spain France Germany Israel Ukraine Netherlands CTV United States Canada Mexico About Pixalate Pixalate is a global platform specializing in privacy compliance, ad fraud prevention, and digital ad supply chain data intelligence. Founded in 2012, Pixalate is trusted by regulators, data researchers, advertisers, publishers, ad tech platforms, and financial analysts across the Connected TV (CTV), mobile app, and website ecosystems. Pixalate is accredited by the MRC for the detection and filtration of Sophisticated Invalid Traffic (SIVT). content of this press release, and the May 2025 APAC Top Grossing Mobile Apps (the 'Reports'), reflect Pixalate's opinions with respect to factors that Pixalate believes can be useful to the digital media industry. Any data shared is grounded in Pixalate's proprietary technology and analytics, which Pixalate is continuously evaluating and updating. Any references to outside sources should not be construed as endorsements. Pixalate's opinions are just that, opinions, which means that they are neither facts nor guarantees. Pixalate is sharing this data not to impugn the standing or reputation of any entity, person or app, but, instead, to report findings and trends pertaining to programmatic advertising activity across mobile apps in the time period studied. CONTACT: Nina Talcott ntalcott@ in to access your portfolio
