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New Banner Ad

markdoc

markdoc

Android Expert
This afternoon I got a banner add on my home screen. It is appearing everywhere and I can't get rid of it. It has an "Opt Out" button that takes me to http://tracker.tpc.re. I have uninstalled all recently updated and new apps without removing the banner. My next attempt is a factory reset, which I hate and still don't know which app to avoid. Please help me get rid of this.
 
Thanks for your input. I know you read a lot of entries, that's probably why you missed, "uninstalled all recently updated and new apps". Any other ideas?
 
What happens if you long press the banner? You may be able to determine which app is the culprit if the info (small circle with an i in it) option pops up.

Fwiw, just uninstalling any new apps/updates won't always work. If a malicious app decided to install another app (some new apps are tricky and can actually install themselves (or other apps) into your system partition. A place you, the user, can't access without having rooted your phone)
 
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Try running in Safe Mode, you'll find the culprit soon enough by process of elimination.
If it's there in Safe Mode without running any user installed apps, I'd go for a factory reset at minimum & if possible, a fresh flash
/install of the entire system.
Been a while since I've RUU'ed my M9,but, it was a rather painless procedure, admittedly, a bit more involved than a factory resetreset.
 
Thanks, Kolo, for the options. I tried the long press, unfortunately nothing. It's a free floating banner at the lower part of the screen. It blocks movies, games and my keyboard. It's really intrusive. I forgot about "Safe mode" that's next. I'll also check my app manager for unfamiliar new additions. Reall good advice!
 
It didn't run in safe mode, but I didn't find any strange apps. Is there anybody to report this ad to? It really interferes with the normal use of my phone by blocking the screen. That shouldn't be allowed. Will disabling the responsible app stop the ad? That way I could find the app faster.
 
markdoc said:
It didn't run in safe mode, but I didn't find any strange apps. Is there anybody to report this ad to? It really interferes with the normal use of my phone by blocking the screen. That shouldn't be allowed. Will disabling the responsible app stop the ad? That way I could find the app faster.
Click to expand...

You weren't able to boot into Safe Mode?
 
Sorry, I did boot into safe mode. When I did, the banner didn't show. When I rebooted into normal mode, it came back immediately. I'm making sure I have all my photos, music and documents backed up before I do a factory reset. I don't think I have a choice. Thanks for the help.
 
That's excellent! This narrows it down to an app that you can remove! (If it had still happened in safe mode, then we would know the app had made its way into your system. Now we just need to find out which one. Could you post a list of your "downloaded" apps in your app manager? Maybe something will jump out at one of us

Edit - I just saw that your chose to go the nuclear route. That should fix you right up as well :)
 
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Thanks for the offer but I have close to 100 apps. (You never know when you're going to need something) :oops: Weather, wifi, games, shopping, banking,etc, etc. The problem will be not to reinstall it. Before I nuke my phone, disabling the offending app should stop the banner, shouldn't it? That would make it easier to find.
 
markdoc said:
Thanks for the offer but I have close to 100 apps. (You never know when you're going to need something) :oops: Weather, wifi, games, shopping, banking,etc, etc. The problem will be not to reinstall it. Before I nuke my phone, disabling the offending app should stop the banner, shouldn't it? That would make it easier to find.
Click to expand...
Yes,that should do it.
Or,if the offending app has a Pro version that removes ads.........................
 
Well I tried disabling most of the apps listed in my App manager. They changed it in Android 6 so it shows all the apps together. No more system apps, just downloaded, bloatware, HTC, Verizon and Google. I disabled 10 at a time but I still had the banner. So now I'm uninstalling most apps so it won't get reinstalled after resetting. It will take me another day or so.
 
Thanks for that link. That seems to be the same problem I have. I can't understand why some idiot would want to advertise on such an intrusive ad. What's worse is it has big name advertisers like Amazon. It really screws up my phone. Isn't there some governing body that oversees these issues. "Opt out" doesn't get rid of the banner. It only changes the ads. I've also tried many virus and malware scanner apps without luck. It really pisses me off. I've decided to post on every advertisers game or site that they are using a horribly intrusive banner ad that covers my screen and interferes with the use of my phone. All in caps! Here is what I am posting,
"This author ADVERTISES with a banner ad that COVERS MY KEYBOARD & INTERFERES with using my phone. I have to do a FACTORY RESET so I can use my phone again. DO NOT USE!" I have to do something.
 
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markdoc said:
Thanks for that link. That seems to be the same problem I have.
...
"Opt out" doesn't get rid of the banner. It only changes the ads.
...
Here is what I am posting,
"This author ADVERTISES with a banner ad that COVERS MY KEYBOARD & INTERFERES with using my phone. I have to do a FACTORY RESET so I can use my phone again. DO NOT USE
Click to expand...

So just for clarification's sake
What was the problem you had? Did you have Premium Wallpapers HD installed? And uninstalling it got rid of the annoying ads?

The "opt out" I was bringing up is in the Google account settings. Not the opt out link provided on the ads or in the Premium Wallpapers HD application.

If you solved the problem without factory resetting, then why claim that you had to? I know how frustrated you must have been and you said you were on the verge of it as a last resort...but we figured it out. Why muddy the waters for other folks out there that might run into the same issue with this Premium Wallpapers HD application or developer?
 
Screenshot_20160315-144032.png I didn't mark my last post "Best Answer"
For clarifications sake, the problem I still have is a banner ad that appears every few minutes and covers a portion of the bottom third of my screen. It appears at any time and covers whatever is on my screen at the time. This includes my keyboard, my phone, my home screen and any open app. As of now, there is no way to remove it except with a factory reset. However, since nobody knows where it came from, I don't know how to prevent it from happening again. I have tried may malware detecting apps and none were successful. I am posting messages on the apps that show on the banner and writing emails to the support staff. Maybe one of them will know who they paid to advertise with the banner. BTW, the posted link described, what appeared to be, the same problem. One person removed a wallpaper app and solved his problem. Not only don't I have the wallpaper app, but when I tried to disable the apps on my phone, a few at a time, nothing worked. Is that clear enough? Screenshot_20160315-144032.png
 
markdoc said:
For clarifications sake, the problem I still have is a banner ad that appears every few minutes
...
Not only don't I have the wallpaper app, but when I tried to disable the apps on my phone, a few at a time, nothing worked.
Click to expand...

I see, I misunderstood. You had made it sound as though you had found the source of the problem and solution based on the link I provided.
I'm trying my best to help, I expressed that I can understand you're frustrated.

Any flashlight applications beside the stock one? I read in one post somewhere, that a flashlight application was the culprit in that case
Another bad application was called "Music Downloader"

The application permission "Draw over other applications" is specific and allows these ads to appear on top of eveything. The application causing or allowing these ads should have this permission declared (assuming of course the application is official, from the Play Store, and "on the up and up")
 
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"Draw over other applications" is a great tip, thanks. I can check my installed apps for that. I'll post what I find. My phone even has a list if all apps with that permission.:D
 
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OK, a banner popped up as I started turning off the "Draw over" properties. I was hoping that the banner would disappear when I turned off the offending app. No such luck. I turned off all of them and tapped a small "x" on the banner that closes it for a few minutes. (I just found that, but it's not 100% successful.) Will wait a hour it so and start turning them back on if I don't get the banner anymore. I'm hoping. Thanks again for the tip.
I got the banner almost immediately and realized that maybe I should wipe my phone's cache in case the banner was in memory. We'll see. ¯\_(ツ)_/¯
No luck, still have the banner. I am frustrated. I really thought this last thing would work.
 
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Final Post
I never found the cause of the banner. I did a factory reset without erasing my SD card (to save photos & music). After most of my apps got reinstalled, still no banner. What a nightmare.
Thanks eeveryone for your help. It was greatly appreciated.
 
markdoc said:
I never found the cause of the banner [ads]. I did a factory reset without erasing my SD card (to save photos & music). After most of my apps got reinstalled, still no banner
Click to expand...
Im glad that you are back running normal! Bummer that you had to Factory Reset and Bummer that a direct cause was not found.

Did you ever play around with your Google Settings and turn off targeted ads in there anytime prior to Factory Reset?
Also did you Restore any backup from Google?
And are ALL your applications from your old build back on the new building and fully updated?
 
I think I tried everything suggested and a few things that weren't. I use Nova Prime instead of Sense as my UI. I turned off targeted ads while in Nova and rebooted into Sense and turned it off there too. (I'm not sure that there was a difference, but I did it anyway.) I backed up my photos, music and my important apps to my external SD card. Then the factory reset excluding the card. After the reset, I used Verizon to restore the phone bbasics and Google to restore most of my software. I also updated all of them. I have most of my Google Play apps on "Autoupdate". I had deleted a number of the more suspicious apps before the reset. I haven't reinstalled them even though the banner was still present after they were deleted and the phones cache was cleared. I may reinstall a few, but I'm a little hesitant. I really expected the banner to come back after the reset because I never found the cause. I thought the "Draw over" tip was a great idea and that it would work. When that failed I resigned to do the reset. It still pisses me off that the only advertiser in the banner that made an attempt to help was HBO Now. They didn't do anything, but at least they tried. If you want any more info, I'll be glad to answer. Thanks again for your help.
 
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