Google starts blocking VPN software with built-in ad blocking

At present, Google occupies a large market in mobile advertising, and many free versions of applications obtain revenue share by increasing Google affiliate advertising. However, when it comes to advertising, it must involve collecting user information and tracking users. VPN software providers usually block the advertising domain name directly.

This is easy to do. After all, encrypted tunnels take over user traffic throughout, and VPN providers only need to configure rules to block common advertising domains. Obviously, this situation will affect Google’s market revenue, so Google’s new developer rules clearly stipulate that encrypted tunnel providers must not block such ads.

“Google claims to be cracking down on apps that are using the VPN service to track user data or rerouting user traffic to earn money through ads,” Reda Labdaoui, marketing and sales manager at Blokada, wrote last week in a forum post. “However, these policy changes also apply to apps that use the service to filter traffic locally on the device.”

Based on user privacy protection considerations, encrypted tunnel providers shall not be used to collect users’ personal and sensitive information without explicit disclosure and user consent. Providers may not redirect user traffic for their own benefit, such as redirecting ad network traffic to countries other than the user’s home country. The updated Google Play policy, announced last month, will take effect on November 1. Apps that violate the above developer rules may be warned by Google and required to be rectified. If they refuse to rectify and continue to violate the rules, they may be forcibly removed by Google.