Chinese Developers and Advertisers Protest New Mobile Ad Blocker

Kingsoft shows off the app-by-app settings for mobile ad-blocking in its controversial SafeApp.

Ad-blocking might be routine for some people on laptops and desktop computers, but a new way to block in-app mobile ads is causing uproar in China. The new Android-only app, made by anti-virus firm Kingsoft (HKG:3888), is called SafeApp and effectively suppresses ads that appear within other Android apps on your phone. Almost inevitably, makers of in-app advertising platforms in the country are crying foul, and an alliance of 19 ad firms and app developers has issued a statement calling on SafeApp to be stripped of this ad-blocking function.

In-app mobile ads are a crucial revenue source for many app developers, especially with the trend for free games supported by adverts. The group’s letter, dated September 14th, is signed by some major Chinese developers such as Punchbox, makers of Fishing Joy, and local ad platforms like Domob.

Kingsoft’s SafeApp, which requires root privileges on the Android device, is not the first to do this, and Android tweakers worldwide can do the same, also after rooting their phone, via other means such as the open-source AdAway tool. Both AdAway and Kingsoft’s free app are in the Google Play store.

Kingsoft’s reasoning for blitzing mobile ads might be hard to justify if this comes down to a legal battle, since the app’s name in Chinese – Shǒu Jī Dú Bà – literally means “mobile virus master,” so it’s making an illogical leap between ads and malware. Sure, viruses are a particular problem in the Chinese Android ecosystem where piracy, and even maliciously-modded free apps, is a rampant issue, but an app that shows ads is not inherently unsafe.

China’s Kingsoft has been around since 1989, and has more recently been making a big push into Android apps with utility tools and anti-virus products. It also makes the Kingsoft Office suite for mobile word-processing.

SafeApp is free, but in the Chinese language only, if you want to give it a try.

[Source: 21CBH – article in Chinese]