Airpush

Airpush ad network continues to grow *cough* SPAM on the Android platform

Posted Feb 28 2012 by Drew Dauffenbach in  with 48 Comments



Have you ever had one of those pesky “Star” advertisements in your notification drop down? Ever wondered where they come from? Well, it’s likely they came from an ad service known as Airpush. With over 100% increase from last quarter, they are becoming one of the leading application monetization solutions for Android developers.

I’m going to take this time to address an issue with the Airpush fiasco. I personally despise this type of service, essentially spamming its users with notifications that lead you to more spam. Thankfully there are several “airpush detector” type applications on the Android Market. We’ve covered the Lookout Ad Detector application in the past, and I would highly recommend it if you think your device has been compromised. It’s very easy to determine if some of your applications are using the service to spam you. One discovered, it’s suggested that you uninstall whatever applications are using Airpush and live happily ever after. Hit the link below to test your device.

[app]com.lookout.addetector[/app]

Click Here for Full Press Release

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About the Author

Drew DauffenbachI love Android & Linux. Had a blast at the AndroidBBQ this year, would highly recommend everyone to go.View all posts by Drew Dauffenbach →

  • Joey Heck

    Thanks, I had that issue for weeks before changing ROMs. I’ll keep this in mind if it happens again.

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  • Rob

    I don’t see what the big deal is. If you actually do your research you would see that AirPush will only put 1 ad in the notification bar PER DAY. I would gladly allow that and have the extra screen real estate in the app than lose 10% of in-app my screen to an ad. You can also install the OFFICIAL air-push removal application from the market.

    Seriously, do some research before you start changing the minds of your readers…

    (I’m an android developer, and not affiliated with Air Push in any way, I don’t currently use them)

    • Lblacklol

      The big deal is that most of this junk goes on without users ability to easily opt out of the advertising. Much like the first commenter here, most people don’t associate the connection between an airpush ad and the app that generated it.

      Within an app if you see an ad, its obvious that the particular app you are using is ad supported. With air push, ads show outside the app making it potentially difficult to figure out what piece of software is doing it so you can remove it.

      Furthermore, air push can generate ads outside of the app even when its not running making the user even less in control of how and when they are delivered. All in all I’d much rather take an in app ad service to this. At least I know what I’m getting.

      Would you be OK with an advertisement randomly scrolling across your windows or Mac OS desktop, independent of any connection to which program had initiated it? I wouldn’t.

      • Jaqua

        No….there is an optout

        • BGGaudreault

          I’m not sure where that “optout” is, but I at first thought I had an infected phone as it’s 1) NOT clear, or clear enough, that this service is being installed when you’re installing an app and 2) NOT clear what the name of this service is!  I just realized it must have been downloaded with or installed by an app so I started uninstalling ALL recent apps!  Then I saw it appear with another app one day and realized it must be some monitization effort with little respect for communicating that to users.

          I wouldn’t mind this “notification bar” advertising if it was clear what would happen when I install and app (mention that it only prompts 1x/day or after every reboot and that it’s a way to prevent in-app advertising) and if it’s later clear who is providing this service and if it’s later very clear how to opt-out.

          This behavior just gives good marketing ideas bad reputations from the start.  Try changing a poor reputation; it’s an uphill battle.

          • Ross

            It is very clear what app the ad came from, when the ad is first served the name of the app (i.e. com.this.app) is shown. 

            Plus Airpush have a clear policy of making developers  inform user in their app descriptions of notification bar ads. The problem is most users just download apps before reading the descriptions then complain and get angry, saying they where not told of the ads, when they clearly were. 

          • android underground

            The problem is that AirPush doesn’t enforce that policy. The market is full of AirPush-infected apps that don’t tell you in advance, and AirPush doesn’t lift a finger to stop it.

            Another problem of AirPush is that it loads ads each and every day for apps that you only use once a week or less. If you have multiple AirPush-infested apps installed that adds up quickly.

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  • http://www.facebook.com/angeljovelvasquez Angel Jovel Vasquez

    airpush detector clearly and easily tells you which app is using it. I will ABSOLUTELY UNINSTALL whatever app is using airpush no matter how good the app is. ADS need to have a limit and that is within its on app. Imagine getting ads in the wallpaper of your phone thats how serious i take airpush. 

  • Theodopolis13

    i don’t see what the big deal is. sure the app devs should make it clear that they are using airpush & that it should only send an ad to your phone once a day. but it’s just a notification. nothing says that you have to click on it. just clear it from your notification bar and move on. no problem.

    • Dreamcasting

      It will cause your phone to vibrate and can otherwise interrupt your task at hand with items you do not wish to be bothered with.

  • Mvp

    This overall issue with people expecting developers to produce great apps and not charge for them. If the debate was a simple notification or paying 99 cents for an app, I am positive more people would accept the notification ad. If you don’t like ads, buy your software. And yes for years companies having been putting ads on Windows and Macs to lower the cost to the consumer. Free software is not free.

  • hathor777

    So true!! I downloaded several live wallpapers that had this app. I would have gladly paid the developer directly for them instead of getting these stupid apps. Anyway,  this “once a day” ad limit is crap. I get ads pushed to my phone several times a day, and even started having mysterious icons added to my phones desktop!!!  It was ridiculous! There “opt out” option involves giving airpush.com your phone’s EIN number, which personally identifies your phone.. sort of like an IP address for wireless phones. Yeah, I’m not comfortable with that. I eventually wrote the developer and told him I would gladly pay him for the live wallpaper rather than deal with these ads and told him I was uninstalling the apps until that option was given in the market. Hopefully, they will offer it in the future. This developer was one of my favorite live wallpaper creators..

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