Quick review| "shake a shake" open screen advertising is not innovative

Recently, there have been consumer complaints, and some APP opening screen advertisements have appeared to "shake a shake" new tricks. According to an investigation by the Jiangsu Provincial Consumer Rights and Interests Protection Commission, this "shake a shake" open-screen advertising function is suspected of infringing on consumer rights and interests. The media recently learned from the committee that a number of platforms have promised to rectify the opening screen advertisement in the form of "shake a shake".

Consumers are not unfamiliar with WeChat's "shake a shake", and what is the "shake a shake" open-screen advertisement? As the name suggests, when the user opens an APP, the user automatically enters the advertisement by "shaking" on the open screen advertising interface. Consumer criticism of this form of advertising mainly focuses on three aspects. First, "shake" too easily. Maybe with a blink of an eye or a shake on your body, you'll trigger a "click on ad" jump to watch. In this regard, some consumers joked: "Before opening the APP did not dare to mess around, now open the APP does not dare to move." Second, the advertisement is too "strong". After "shake it", it will not only automatically enter the ad detail page, but also may jump to open the ad-related software, or even directly enter the software download page. In the end, "closing" is so hard. Media surveys found that many APP "shake a shake" ads do not have a shutdown function.

Why do these apps invariably aim at "shake it" ads? This is no accident. In July this year, the special rectification action of the Internet industry was launched, and many settings that infringed on the rights and interests of users in the open-screen pop-up window advertisements were among the key rectifications. This makes many platforms "honest" a lot. However, the benefits of open-screen advertising are too tempting. As a result, individual platforms think that they are smart to engage in "innovation", and "shake it" is equivalent to "user consent". But this kind of opportunistic "consent" obviously cannot escape the fire eyes of consumers and relevant institutions. As the Consumer Protection Commission of Jiangsu Province said, any form of open-screen advertising should be entered in a way that ensures that the user's intentions are reflected, the right to choose is respected, and cannot be deceived or misled. However, some settings of the "shake a shake" open-screen advertisement are in disguise to force consumers to watch the advertisement, which is suspected of infringing on the consumer's right to choose. In addition, "shake it" ads require software to obtain specific mobile phone sensor data, and the current access to this data is not obtained without consumer consent. This also runs counter to the general trend of strengthening the protection of consumers' personal information.

Exploitative behaviors such as "shake it" are by no means innovative. All Internet platforms must understand that there is nothing wrong with continuous innovation for development, but innovation must also be the way, compliance with laws and regulations is the way, respect for users, improve user experience is also the way. If you blindly pursue interests and disregard the way of innovation, it will not only be strictly supervised by the regulatory authorities, but also attract the disgust and abandonment of consumers.

All Internet platforms must understand that there is nothing wrong with constant innovation for development, but innovation must also have a way.

Text/Guangzhou Daily, New Flower City Reporter: Hu Jun

Photo/ Guangzhou Daily, New Flower City Reporter: Mo Weinong

Guangzhou Daily New Flower City Editor: Liu Ranran