Google Now Censoring Android Apps!, page 1

Google Takes the Dark Path, Censors AdBlock Plus on Android

In a shocking move, Google has recently deleted AdBlock Plus from the Android Play Store. This is hugely disappointing because it demonstrates that Google is willing to censor software and abandon its support for open platforms as soon as there's an ad-related business reason for doing so.

Until now, the Internet and software development communities have relied on Google to be safely on their side when it comes to building open platforms, encouraging innovation, and giving users maximum choice about how their computers will function. But with today's news, that commitment to openness suddenly looks much, much weaker.

Read the rest of the article here: www.eff.org...

This is very disturbing news. Personally I rely on a number of privacy apps and add-ons that help to protect my identity online and prevent tracking without my consent. It is my right to control what is and sent sent to and from my computer, since I own my computer; same goes for my smart phone. Privacy software is becoming increasingly important in this day and age.

We are entering a new age of censorship that is based on protecting profits rather than censoring political ideologies, and is being perpetrated by corporations rather than governments, and I think this is a lot more dangerous. You can't trust anyone who bases content censorship decisions on financial motives; these kinds of people are the least trustworthy and in my opinion, the lowest form of scum. They hide behind their same tired argument of "we're a private company so we can do whatever we want" which in their minds, apparently absolves them of any moral responsibility and intellectual integrity. (No doubt the shills will be on here soon to beat that dead horse.)

I'm just glad I have enough of a facility with technology to know how to root devices and install 3rd party apps, so this won't directly affect me, but not everyone is as privy with technology, and I feel a great disservice has been done to Android users who might care about what kind of content is sent to and from their devices.

reply to post by winofiend

---

Thanks for the laugh.

reply to post by snowspirit

---

Thanks for the reply. At least I'm not the only one with the problem. This only started within the last couple of weeks.

reply to post by Ex_CT2

---

So you guys want free stuff and you attack the source of the income that gets you your free stuff...

Google might think you're being the greedy ones... and give you some ads to indulge in.

ATS is in a similar boat as the owners have stated before.

reply to post by Turq1

---

Way to oversimplify things. Viewing static ads is very different from having your personal data tracked and shared across multiple corporations without your consent. Adblock has its PrivacyList feature which protects you from non-consensual tracking and is a separate feature from element-hiding. And element-hiding only makes a difference if the add is PPV (pay per view), because if it's PPC (pay per click) it isn't going to generate any revenue from me anyway. If ads are PPV, you're paying for them whether you view them or not, because every time you buy a product at the store, you're paying for a small portion of their advertising budget, whether you viewed the ad or not. As far as what sites get compensated, it's easy to whitelist sites you choose to support (ATS, for example, is whitelisted in my ABP).

Originally posted by Turq1
reply to post by Ex_CT2

---

So you guys want free stuff and you attack the source of the income that gets you your free stuff...

Google might think you're being the greedy ones... and give you some ads to indulge in.

ATS is in a similar boat as the owners have stated before.

edit on 3/15/2013 by Turq1 because: (no reason given)

Show me the alternatives? Google didn't start off with the ad agenda they have so eagerly become entrenched with. They started off as a service. FREE. No charge. to NOT be evil. Everyone said yes.

Now they're slipping in m$ traps at every corner now they've become a monopoly.

Give me the alternative... to the damn alternative.

The hide of such a company to buy out, monopolise, and then restrict everything they get their hands on.

They've made sure that it is simply not feasible to have an alternative.

I tire of these people who come along and say "But you get it for free wah wah stop complaining they deserve their money wah wah"

If your product is that crap that it cannot stand on it's own price tag, and requires you to make a profit by using advertisements to completely unrelated products, then STOP MAKING CRAP PRODUCTS.

Stop justifying the inability of your rubbish to sell, by forcing people to look at adverts. If one crap app doesn't get it, 50 will.. who needs to make something people WANT.. just make 50 idiot proof apps that work just enough to get people to use it once.

Oh the poor programmers.. poor google...

Let me go clean my super sonic jet and take the yacht out for a spin, then I'll get back to you on how sad it makes me.

reply to post by kingears

---

I was gonna say the exact same thing till I saw your post. Root is required for this to work. Honestly I never knew adblock plus was on the play store. I use adfree. Just checked and it has also been removed from the play store. A quick Google search and you can still find the raw .apk any way.

Pokemon discovered in Venezuela
  Posted 14 days ago with 47 member flags

89-Year-Old Man Develops Bladeless Bird-Friendly Wind Turbine
  Posted 11 days ago with 45 member flags

Amazing snowflake images that you have never seen before.
  Posted 14 days ago with 44 member flags

Energy Solutions THEY don\'t want you to know about
  Posted 14 days ago with 35 member flags

High speed video reveals the bizarre physics of an ordinary water droplet
  Posted 4 days ago with 32 member flags

Does this video show a working self propelled magnetic engine?
  Posted 7 days ago with 31 member flags

Viruses: alive or not?
  Posted 11 days ago with 30 member flags

NASA reveals secrets it has hidden on the Curiosity rover.
  Posted 17 days ago with 29 member flags

Newest topics, updated in real-time:

Newest topics getting flags, in real-time:

Newest topics getting replies, in real-time: