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Help Adware calamity. Tablet not usable.

Spright

Spright

Lurker
Dear people,

I was recently shocked to discover that I'm one of the unfortunate ones to own a tablet that came from the factory with pre-installed adware.

The adware in question are 2048, Tap Black Tile, and File Explorerr (with two 'r'). The latter was definitely present upon purchase, the other two not, but are simply impossible to get rid of.

I have a few questions:

1. I tried the common advice of rebooting in Safe Mode, then removing the adware. Doesn't help, it comes back. The adware doesn't have an entry under "App permissions". Why should the adware come back if I removed it in Safe Mode?

2. How can it be that numerous malware-removal apps that I've tried don't detect my adware? I thought the sole purpose in life of MalwareBytes and co. was to remove the infamous 2048 adware and its friends. My tablet is severely infected, with adds popping up every 30 seconds, yet this isn't detected. Any explanation?

3. Some of the adds that are displayed are from legit providers. For example, I'm getting lots of adds from Deutsche Bahn (the german train company), from real banks, from real apps and games on Google Play. I'm very curious about the chain of food here. What's actually going on? Deutche Bahn representatives meet in dark rooms virus composers and pay them money under the table in unmarked bills so that the latter create viruses that show DB adds on tablets? Doesn't make any sense.

4. I'm trying to understand the commercial incentive of the adware people. If somebody's tablet becomes unusable due to constant adds of Calvin Klein's new fragrance, this person wouldn't normally run to the shop to buy the perfume. They would try to remove the adware, swear to never buy anything by Calvin Klein, and tell all their friends on Facebook. So do adware writers actually earn money? This is beyond me. Please explain.

5. I've read that millions of tablets and phones come pre-infected. Yet it seems that most people are able to use theirs just fine, perhaps with an occasional add now and then. But my tablet is now bricked. An add pops up every 30 seconds and freezes the tablet completely. This isn't fair. Why does the situation on my tablet seem to be so much worse that normally?

6. Any advice on how to make my tablet usable again? I've read something about "reflashing" my Android. But I'm a layperson, this may be above my league (?) And besides, my tablet is a Chinese no-name, so I suspect I can't just download a clean version of my OS just like that. Or am I wrong?

Please help! Thank you...
 
I got a different tablet.

But regardless, I'm still curious about the mechanics of adware and all my questions above. There seems to be lots of mystery surrounding this topic. Adware is so ubiquitous, yet no one seems to know how and why it's there...
 
It's not ubiquitous: I've been using android for 9 years now and never suffered it, and actually nor has anyone else I know in real life. So it's actually a lot less common than it appears from forums, where people typically post when they have problems and don't when they don't.

The motivation is money. People buying ads pay for the number of ads delivered and the number clicked on. So if an ad provider (an app or thebad service they use) can inflate those things they are paid more, and hence there is an incentive for bad actors. And if they don't have to wait until you open the app to post an ad they will post a lot more ads, and so get paid more. Some of the people paying for the ads may know, but many will not: there will be layers of outsourcing and subcontracting in the ad business.

The fact that the user doesn't know which app is responsible means that the infection lasts longer (more money). And sure, it's not in their interests for you to get so annoyed that you trash the device or reset it, but this is a numbers game: most people don't do that, or don't do it quickly, so they still make money. It's only going to be a limited time before a particular adware gets squashed anyway, so if you post more ads in a week than a legitimate app would get to show in 6 months you're ahead.

The fact that you had adware pre-installed is something that's typically only seen in really cheap, unbranded, usually Chinese devices. But I've known reputable devices get caught when a previously trusted app changes after an update.

And yes, progress is made: culprits are identified and removed from the Play Store, the adware SDKs are blocked, some big app developers have been banned. But it's a whack-a-mole game: the incentives are there, so some creep will always have a go.
 
Spright said:
I got a different tablet.

But regardless, I'm still curious about the mechanics of adware and all my questions above. There seems to be lots of mystery surrounding this topic. Adware is so ubiquitous, yet no one seems to know how and why it's there...
Click to expand...

Is your different tablet also a Chinese no-name cheapo? And given the questions you posted previously, I suspect the adware might be baked into its firmware. Which doesn't usually happen with phones and tablets from reputable known manufacturers.

How and why it might be there? Well those putting it there, receive $$$ for every ad you see.

I'm pretty sure it isn't ubiquitous, I've certainly never had this problem myself, and don't know anyone else who has.
 
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