Android apps abound for the vast majority of cookies, including ads. A study from the University of Michigan says that news-related and child-oriented apps, like games and entertainment apps, are the main ones that are affected.
A study published by a research team from the University of Michigan points to Android apps for the presence of a large number of advertising cookies. According to the report, two types of apps in particular attract the most viewers: those related to news and particularly the media, and apps aimed at a young audience targeted at children. This is followed by games and entertainment apps, while so-called productivity tools are the least affected.
Android: news, games, these apps are full of ad trackers
Below are the types of apps that are most likely to have a large number of viewers, with a minimum share of these apps being 10 and average in brackets:
- News: 29.9% (7)
- Family / Children: 28.3% (7)
- Games and entertainment: 24.5% (6)
- Art and photography: 16.8% (6)
- Music: 13.5% (6)
- Health / Lifestyle: 15.4% (5)
- Communication and social: 16.2% (5)
- Education: 13.3% (5)
- Efficiency and tools: 11.9% (5)
To reach this conclusion, 959,000 Android apps available on the Google Play Store were analyzed. It turns out that 90.4% of them contain at least one cookie. Another study, previously conducted by two security researchers from Yale University on a smaller app sample (350), revealed that three-quarters of Android apps are spying on us.
You don’t know the names of the editors of these trackers: they are software from Google (88.44% of apps at least), Facebook (42.55% of analyzed apps), Twitter (33.88) . %), Verizon (26.27%, this is an American ISP), Microsoft (22.75%), and Amazon (17.91%). Tools that can slow down apps and spoil the browsing experience. Also, Firefox blocks ad trackers on websites by default to improve performance.
Some Android apps are really bad learners: 17.9% come with at least 20 cookies. Their purpose? Collect loads of personal information about the user, data used and even sold to create ad profiles, and then offer products and services that we’re more likely to click on. Another benefit of viewers is how users use the app, which features are most or less popular, how a particular action is performed, etc. is to understand.
- Also read: Google Play Store: These 125 apps spy on Android users, here’s the list
