Google pulls Samsung-backed adblock extension from the Play Store

Samsung announced a new customized browser for Android devices recently, but unlike its old browser, this one is based on Chromium and has full support for extensions. Samsung partnered with Rocketship Apps to launch an ad-blocker module called Adblock Fast for it’s new browser, but Google was not amused.

Just a few days after it debuted in the Play Store, Google has pulled the app. Annoying, sure, but not really surprising in the least.

Google contacted the Adblock Fast developers several days ago to let them know the app was removed for violation of section 4.4 of the developer agreement. That’s the section that deals with disruption of other apps or services. The relevant section includes a prohibition against any app that “interferes with, disrupts, damages, or accesses in an unauthorized manner” another app or service. Google has used this provision to remove other ad-blocking services from the Play Store, but the rules are usually applied narrowly.

You can go into the Play Store right now and find browsers that have built-in ad blocking. This is considered acceptable, as they aren’t interfering with how another app renders content. Likewise, there are apps like Firefox that have extension frameworks that can be used to block ads. Since the extensions aren’t Play Store apps, Google doesn’t have any say in this. The Samsung browser’s ad-block extension was listed in the Play Store, so Google was able to drop the ban hammer.

Here’s where things get sticky: The Rocketship ad-blocking module wasn’t accessing Samsung’s browser in an “unauthorized manner,” as Google’s guidelines state. It was using a Samsung API that was explicitly created for this purpose. You could make the argument that it’s interfering with Web pages, and maybe that opens Adblock Fast up to a ban, but then so do apps like Adblock Browser. To make matters even stranger, Adblock Plus has a Samsung browser extension that is still available for download in the Play Store. Either Google hasn’t noticed it yet, or this could be yet another example of inconsistent application of the rules.

Google has a lot of business ventures, but the main one is still advertising in search results, web pages, and apps. If people block those ads, Google can’t make money. So clearly, Google has a motive to get ad blockers out of its official store. In the past, it’s pulled root-only apps that could block ads everywhere on a device, a clear violation of the above rule. Perhaps we shouldn’t be surprised that Google is happy to bend its own rules a bit to reduce the number of people using ad blockers.

For heaters of ads, this isn’t as cataclysmic as it would be on the Apple side of the fence. These are just APKs that plug into Samsung’s browser, so they can be sideloaded if the developers make them available for download. Samsung could also host them in its own app store. Google didn’t kill this ad blocker, but it did brush it under the rug.

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