Tag: mobile ads

Mobile advertising firm in China issues apology for App Store policy violation

| October 22, 2015

The company has released an official statement explaining that it was sorry for the privacy threat it caused.

A mobile advertising company from China has now issued an apology for having disseminated code that made it possible for hundreds of iOS based apps to access the personal data of their users.

This dissemination of code was in direct violation of the policy of the Apple App Store.

Guangzhou Youmi Mobile Technology Co., the mobile advertising company in question, stated that they were offering their “sincere apologies” after Apple had expressed that the firm’s offerings would all be taken down from the App Store. They were taken down because they were discovered to have been collecting and extracting private user data such as device identification, email addresses and other information.

So far, there have been 256 apps that were taken down as they were in violation of the mobile advertising policy.

Mobile Advertising - Apple App StoreResearchers at SourceDNA, an American security company, stated that they had identified 256 different mobile apps that were involved in the practice of collecting personal data in a way that was against the policy of the App Store. Those applications were all created through the use of a software development kit (SDK) that was made by Guangzhou Youmi Mobile Technology.

A statement was released by Apple in which the company explained that the collection of personal data in that way is in direct violation of the privacy and security guidelines at Apple. It also said that any new apps that used Youmi’s SDK would be rejected from now onward if they are ever submitted to the App Store.

Youmi has also said that it is now working with Apple in order to be able to bring resolution to this situation. The mobile advertising company’s statement of apology explained that “For those products that have been temporarily taken down, we will provide reasonable compensation once this matter has been properly resolved.” This makes it look as though reimbursements may not be issued right away, but that when the circumstances are better under control, some compensation will occur for customers who paid for the products.

Intrusive mobile marketing boosts suspicions among French shoppers

| October 15, 2015

Consumers in the European country are less likely to trust ads that they feel will use their personal data.

According to the results of a recent survey conducted by the Mobile Marketing Association (MMA) France, consumers in that country feel suspicious of advertising they receive over their smartphones and tablets when it becomes intrusive or will utilize their personal information.

This survey involved the participation of more than 1,000 people with smartphones or tablets.

The research was conducted on behalf of the association by GfK. Among the respondents to the survey, about 60 percent said that they felt as though brands were being invasive on their smartphones or tablets as a result of too many spam like mobile marketing messages. Another 67 percent said that they were uncomfortable with the fact that they felt as though they were sharing information with brands, even without their knowledge. On top of that 68 percent expressed that they felt as though they were being spied on through their mobile devices.

The Mobile Marketing Association France said that it is vital for companies and brands to take care with privacy.

intrusive mobile marketing suspicious securityThe MMA France said that the results of this survey show that it is very important that they take careful control over mobile advertising so that they will understand when consumers will find their actions to be relevant, and when they will find them to be intrusive or unwelcome.

Although 56 percent of the respondents to the survey feel that it shouldn’t be useful at all to have a company or a shop recognize them and while they haven’t any real interest in being personally welcomed when they enter a store’s physical location, it doesn’t stop there. Half of the respondents said that they did find it useful when stores use geolocation based marketing in order to provide them with discounts to the stores that they have just entered (or that they’re walking by at that moment).

This showed that it isn’t necessarily mobile marketing in general that is putting off French consumers, but it is the relevance that matters to them. Renaud Menerat, the president of MMA France explained that this research places the spotlight in the expectations that consumers have toward brands for understanding the notion of simplicity, service and transparency when it comes to their advertising overt his channel.