They’ve started inserting a subtle ad as the first result instead of the actual app you’re searching for.
This has to have been a change over the last month or two I feel like?
I’m having to reprogram myself to view the first result as irrelevant. Really makes me want to increase the F-Droid alternatives that I use.
I’ve always been amazed by how unusable the play store was. I’d actually like to browse apps sometimes, but it always was choke full of useless ads pushing the worst apps possible. I only go there once every blue moon when I exactly know what I want, download it and get out of there.
Same. It’s actually impressive how bad the play store has gotten in last 12 years as per my experience.
I’ll just point out this isn’t only an Android issue.
If there any IT person here who has had to direct an employee to download the Microsoft authenticator app from the iPhone App Store, you’ve almost certainly seen that it promotes a deceptively similar looking authenticator above the Microsoft one, and you have to make sure the user knows not to download it.
I work IT and I hate having to help people with that. I usually bring up a pic of the app’s icon so they can compare it.
It’s not surprising, that’s how their search engine has worked forever. But yeah, icky is a good word for it.
Google rocketed past ‘icky’ long ago, around the time they awkwardly removed ‘don’t be evil’ from their motto.
100% agree that Google is icky/morally corrupt.
But imo, having “don’t be evil” isn’t a great motto even if it was for the most moral company to ever exist. It’s just a really suspicious motto
Really? They were evil way before that.
makes me want to increase the F-Droid alternatives that I use
Just go this way, and if you’re fed up with the Play Store switch to Aurora Store: same apps, no ads.
And/or set up something like Obtainium for those apps you can pull directly from their source.
Gets you updates a lot faster, too
Can you link it please?
Edit: got it now and it looks great! Thanks to all those who linked.
that
I definitely didn’t know about Aurora store until this post. Currently have it downloaded on my tablet and phone now, thanks for the great advice!
Play Store search is horrible. You can literally search for the exact name of the app you want and NOT have it anywhere in the results.
It’s not a subtle ad. Google has sold the top slots of your search to companies in exchange for money.
When your search for “Excel”, Google doesn’t try to find you the most relevant result. They find you the highest paying ad, and then what you’re searching for.
Just like Google Search results. I don’t even really notice those anymore because my brain ignores them automatically.
I used to think the same thing: first three results or so are always ads, so just ignore. And then recently they’ve changed to be 90% ads even after the initial few. It’s hard to find something that someone hasn’t paid to display :(
uBlock Origin is your friend.
How does this work in the Google Play store?
I’ve clicked the “install” button on the ad by accident, more than once. The ad precedes an exact match, super dark pattern.
Yeah that’s the part that is frustrating. It’s such an aggressive implementation of a dark pattern knowing the users muscle memory. It’s akin to suddenly switching the placement of ‘Accept’/‘Decline’ after years of being in the same place.
What surprises me is that it feels more like a money grab from a struggling app than the company in charge of ads across a large percentage of the world.
I always imagine you people as the boomers on infomercials. Accidentally clicking shit, installing zero days from random sources, and just heavily fighting to practice cyber hygiene with commission unsuccessful results.
As a person that has a muscle memory for pressing the first row. I disagree with you here. I had to relearn pressing the actual app. For iOS I do not have this issue even though they also practice this as I had no muscle memory since I rarely use iPhone.
“You people”, very kind. As if people doing things on autopilot isn’t universal and implementations like these aren’t meant to trigger that exact thing. Read up on UX, and implementations of dark patterns. Perhaps have an attempt at empathy too.
“People like you” make the internet such a bad place sometimes. Generalizing, exaggerating, calling names…
You can use the Aurora Store, it’s basically the Google Play store but without the annoying ads.
How legit is it ?
It pulls everything (apps, metadata, search results, etc.) directly from Google Play. It’s entirely free and open source and recommended by almost everyone in the Android and privacy community, so yes, it’s definitely legit.
Sweet so use that over Google play? Why isn’t it used instead of gapps and such
Can you use F-Droid without root ?
Yes you can
Thanks to the suggestions in this thread, I started using it today and it’s amazing! Thanks for the recommendation.
TBH, Google itself is kinda “icky” and has been for awhile.
Don’t be evil.since they were manifested they been icky
Yes.
I don’t mind suggested or even sponsored apps, but trying to get downloads via misclicks is underhanded.
Yeah I think it’s pretty wack. If I search doordash then Uber eats will be the first result or if I search Uber eats then doordash will be the first result lol the ads are getting so extreme it pretty much evens out in the end and it’s all completely pointless aside from making everything more annoying for the user
Same thing on iOS. I just search for the app on the browser so it takes me directly to the app without these ads.
The layout is very confusing. It makes it look like Excel is also an ad.
I’m glad I basically never use the play store.
This has always been the case in Google search (you know the search engine Google started with as a company). Drove me crazy when I would see an old person click the AD link instead of the actual search result
The digital zeitgeist is a fuckin dystopia.
