Adblock Fast was one of the first third-party ad-blockers to be available on the PlayStore soon after the rollout. In fact, just two days ago Samsung rolled out support for ad-blockers on its default web browser for the Android OS. Amid all of that though, Google suddenly does not want any third party ad-blocking apps on PlayStore and has hence booted Adblock Fast from the PlayStore yesterday.
This however, isn’t the first time that ad-blocking apps have been pulled down from the PlayStore by Google. Earlier in March 2013, Google had taken a similar action by taking out Adblock Plus from PlayStore. It was only recently that Google allowed Adblock Plus to function, but only by coupling with Chrome.
The reason behind Google’s decision to remove the apps is primarily driven by the fact that the ad-blocking apps interfere with the functionality of other apps, which is in violation of Google’s developer distribution agreement. Google, however, has not clarified, neither has it confirmed the exact reasons for the removal of the app.
Adblock Fast was certainly the first app to partner with Samsung when it announced support for ad-blockers on the lines of iOS 9. But soon after the announcement from Samsung, other two ad-blockers, Adblock Plus and Crystal also partnered with the smartphone maker during the rollout phase. As of now, the two apps are still listed on PlayStore. Even though Adblock Fast has Samsung’s backing and is using the same code as Adblock Plus, it has been taken out from the PlayStore, which is quite surprising.
By rolling out support for ad-blocking apps, Samsung followed on the lines of its biggest competitor, Apple to start supporting ad-blockers, similar to iOS 9 supporting apps on its platform.
Google has made it clear that it will not stand any app interfering with the business of other apps, mainly displaying ads on their apps. This could be due to Google not wishing to lose considerable ad revenue generated from mobile browsers.
