Hidden pitfalls in mobile advertising

Source: Beijing Evening News

In the dating app, without a word, I began to ask for money.

Nowadays, various advertisements implanted in some mobile phone applications have affected the normal use of users, especially the elderly who are not familiar with mobile phone operations. Some of these ads even have hidden traps, and the target is already aimed at your money bag.

Whether it's playing a game or watching an advertisement

"Zhang Rui, you see, my Sudoku is stuck!" This "Sudoku" is a small game that Zhang Rui downloaded on the tablet for his grandmother. Today, somehow, it turned into a promotional video for another game. Zhang Rui fiddled with it for half a day, and he didn't know how to quit the game commercial, so he could only use the method of quitting all and then re-entering. But after a while, ads for other games were put on the tablet.

With two problems in a row, Zhang Rui must figure out what is going on. He quit the game again and re-entered, sitting on the side watching the old man play. Playing and playing, an advertising icon suddenly popped up on the interface. Grandma pointed to the icon and said that this thing had just appeared, and she "jumped out" at a point.

Zhang Rui looked carefully for half a day, only to find that there was a small "fork" in the upper right corner of the advertising icon, and finally turned off the advertisement after clicking. But not long after, a new advertisement came out. Cancel again and will come out again in a little while. Each ad, the point "fork" cancellation position is different.

Today suddenly appeared these ads, it turned out that the first day turned on the tablet's wireless network, on the network for a while. These mini-games immediately become "advertising bins", and one pops up every few minutes. Later, after turning off the wireless network, the game finally returned to purity, and Grandma's problem was solved.

As soon as you touch it, you can't stop downloading it

The elderly are not skilled in the use of smart devices, and it is understandable to fall into the advertising pit. And some of the ads in the app, even young people are invincible.

Just in the past month, Wu Chen found that the ads of an App he used more and more, and the implantation method had become a bit "faceless". Previously, the ads of this App would basically only appear when the screen was opened, and after clicking "Skip", you could enter the normal browsing message of the App. But now, not only will there be advertisements on the open screen, but there will also be advertisements in several posts on the home page, and even click into a post, and there are advertisements inserted between the netizens' replies. Ads and other replies are also very similar in style, which is difficult to distinguish at first glance.

What makes Wu Chen speechless the most is that these advertisements, as long as the finger is accidentally clicked, will immediately jump to the download page, directly open the download, can not stop. In just a few days, Wu Chen was "forced" to download at least seven or eight ads. Most of them are games, and a few are shopping platforms or video platforms.

The advertising implantation in this app is also very routine, the advertisement always "appears by chance", and every time the finger slides, you must be careful whether there will be an advertisement hidden underneath. In the upper right corner of each advertisement, there will be a canceled "fork" button, after clicking, you can also select "too many ads" to complain to the platform. But the reporter just finished selecting "too many ads" when browsing the previous post, and the next post appeared exactly the same ad.

Sending private messages to solicit customers is actually gambling

In addition to the ads that come with the app, the private mail box of many social apps has also become the hardest hit area of advertising. Among them, some private messages look like fraudulent advertisements at first glance, and some are cloaked in a layer of camouflage, which looks normal on the surface, but in fact is lured step by step.

Wu Chen once received a private message: "Go to the ××× website, watch the ball together!" Basketball and football, there are everything you need. Originally thought to be a piece of spam, but after trying to enter the URL in the private message in the browser, Wu Chen really entered a sports live broadcast platform. As said in the private message, the matches here are very complete, and there are several anchors broadcasting each game. Click on a football game and watch it normally.

"It seems that other platforms are pulling users." Wu Chen didn't think much of it in his heart, but when he looked at it, he found that something was wrong. On the live screen, there will be all kinds of strange numbers and symbols, and the anchor is not very serious about explaining the game, but always pays attention to a few yellow cards on the field, and the two sides get a few corners. Change a live broadcast room, and the anchor has done promotion. "Please download the ×× software of the live broadcast room, and the platform will send benefits for the first time." The anchor will push orders in the group, and everyone will buy balls together to make money. ”

After changing several live broadcast rooms in a row, Wu Chen understood that these anchors seemed to be broadcasting the game for the audience, but they were actually pulling customers for a gambling website. Each anchor claims to be "predicting god", and following him can make money by betting.

Credulous dating ads Money is adrift

The reporter found that some netizens believed in the advertisement of a dating App because they credulously believed, and finally "boyfriend and girlfriend" were not found, and the money was still adrift.

The reporter downloaded and tried this dating App, and in the first step of registration, he fully realized the intention of the App to screen users. The screen clearly reads: "Please fill in your annual income, fill in truthfully to help dating." After entering the App, the reporter did not do anything, and a young woman came up to "talk" and asked the reporter which city he was currently in. Before they could reply, several more women came to the door.

However, as more and more people came to talk, the reporter also found strange places. The women's greeting techniques are very similar, looking like robot messages. The reporter just wanted to reply, and a line appeared on the screen: "The conditions for private chat are insufficient, and she has set a private chat threshold of 100 gold coins for gifts." Then the reporter was asked to recharge, and on this platform, 90 gold coins will cost 29 yuan, that is to say, the reporter has not talked about a word, you have to pay a threshold fee of more than 30 yuan. And once you quit the app, the previous greeting record with the "beautiful woman" is gone.

On the black cat complaint platform, there are also many complaints about this app. According to the screenshots provided by netizens, in addition to directly setting the gold coin threshold to ask users for money, it is obvious that some "dating objects" know how to put long-term fishing for big fish, first chat, and then trick netizens into brushing gifts, and then black, the whole process is completed in one go. Because the app is not stationed on the black cat complaint platform, it is difficult to further verify whether the netizens' demand for a refund has been resolved and whether their money has been recovered.