Potentially Disturbing New Ad Model for Android: Pop-Up Ads

[dgstorm]

A fellow writer over at PhanDroid recently discovered what we hope will not become a disturbing new trend in Android advertising. He downloaded an active wallpaper on the Market, called 3D Fireflies, made by developer The Go Wallpaper Dev Team. He made comment that although the wallpaper was well-done, the wrinkle for getting the wallpaper free was that it had "pop-up ads" just like what we annoyingly experience on our computers. He said that within an hour's time the ad popped up on his home screen, or whatever he was doing, at least twice.

He couldn't determine what company they teamed up with to use this advertising model, but he found that the "cost" for disabling the pop-ups was to purchase the app for $2 bucks. He made it clear that he has no problem with developers trying to make money on their apps, but we can all probably agree, that this is definitely not the best way, especially on the Android. You may be able to browse the web on an Android, but that doesn't mean it is just a web-browser. Can you imagine getting a pop-up ad slowing you down while trying to make an emergency call? Simply ridiculous. Let's cross our fingers that this doesn't become a trend. Sound off in the forums if any of you have also experienced this.

Source: PhanDroid

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[Ollie]

I have the wallpaper on my Xoom, but have not experienced any ads. I will shut down my ad-blocker in Droidoverclock to see what happens.

[furbearingmammal]

This = NOT GOOD.

I wonder if Google would have any interest in blocking this at a core level. Might even fall under their no-compete clause.