Frequently, I see people ask me, “Why do I keep getting popups on my android device when I am doing nothing?” The answer is that you have a shady app on your device that started showing full screen ads. It’s possible, however, that people do not realize this (in which case they may not know they could find and uninstall the problematic app), or even if they do realize it’s a bad app, they may not know which one it is.
Using free services always comes with a cost. You’ll see lots of popups and ads across the web and in many free apps. They only show up when you are actively using the app or website – they should not show up when you do not have the app open at all or are not using your android devices. In other words, we don’t have to worry about those types of pop-up ads here. Adware apps will always display pop-ups even when their host is not using the device. Most likely a legitimate mobile application you downloaded from Google Play, and likely even one that seemed legit. So, it’s not always obvious which kind of app it is.
Identification and removal of Adware
It’s impossible to simply uninstall the last app you installed if it’s been happening for some time. If it just started happening now, you probably installed an app recently or it auto-updated recently.
Android device ad blocking options
Option 1: Using Chrome, block advertisements
Chrome lets you disable ads, pop-ups and ads with sound in its settings if you use it as your default browser on Android devices.
Steps to follow:
- Click the Chrome browser button.
- To access settings, tap More.
- Click on Site Settings.
- Don’t forget to block ads and pop-ups.
Option 2: Setting up your website.
Android devices often display notifications from websites over the locked screen if one allows them. Push notifications are a popular form of advertising for many websites.
It can be avoided, which is good news:
- Press Settings in the menu of a browser (Chrome in our case).
- To access Site Settings, scroll down and tap it.
- The toggle to disable ads can be found under Notifications.
Option 3: Ad blockers on Android can be used to block ads.
The Google Play Store provides a wide variety of ad blockers for Android, which can block ads in apps, games, and even websites. However, they may not be 100% effective in blocking ads because users do not need to root permissions. Choosing an ad blocker, such as AdBlock or Free Ad blocker Browser, is as simple as installing it, configuring the rules for it if needed, and you’re set.
Option 4: Chrome’s data saving mode.
Chrome users can prevent some annoying and malicious websites and ads by using a less known method. Lite Mode can be turned on by tapping the settings menu again, scrolling down to it, and then tapping on it. This feature enables Data Saver to compress website pages before they are actually downloaded into Chrome, which reduces the download time while using the browser.
Besides detecting and eliminating web pages with harmful ads, Data Saver is also using Google’s compression servers. Data Saver may not look exactly like the sites, but downloading and browsing with it is safer than viewing them unmodified. A smartphone can also be configured to display adverts in a less intrusive manner.
Set Google settings to reduce advertisements
It makes sense to remove the Ads personalization setting on Android devices that sync with Chrome desktop browsers and Google accounts. At least this method can be used to opt-out of Google Ads that track browsing activity, but it won’t prevent all unwanted content from appearing.
This can be done as follows:
- Select Manage your Google Account from the Settings menu in Chrome.
- You will see Ad personalization when you tap Data and personalization. Choose Go to Ads settings to access the ad settings.
- Switching off personalized ads requires moving the toggle, then selecting Turn off.
Android device settings allow you to disable ads personalization
The following step can be taken after the previous one. You can turn off targeted ads on the phone after completing those steps. Although some information will continue to appear on the device, the history of searches you perform won’t be tied to the device.
If you want to disable ads directly on your device, follow these steps:
- Your smartphone’s settings can be found by scrolling down to Google.
- You can opt out of personalized ads by tapping Ads and then Opting out.
Conclusion
With this knowledge, you will be able to block ads on Android. Despite the fact that browser ads and pop-ups continue to be annoying or harmful, there are still ways to avoid their effects.
– Anamika Ray