It's almost impossible to prevent, take inventory of the built-in advertisements in the mobile phone

In this era of mobile Internet, the mobile phone has become the most important electronic device for everyone. It seems that it is not impossible even to call it the second ID card of a person or even an external organ.

However, mobile phones contain so much personal privacy and sensitive information, but they are far from sacred and inviolable. Especially Android phones, not to mention that all kinds of apps unscrupulously ask for permissions, push advertisements, and even their own systems have become the soil for the crazy growth of ads.

As a basic part of a mobile phone, the mobile phone system is supposed to serve the basic functions of users, but it is regarded by many manufacturers as a way to make money by serving customers. After many friends get a new mobile phone, they do not appreciate it carefully, but close the advertisement step by step according to the tutorial - this is not bad, many Android phones do not even have the channel to close the advertisement!

Not all phones are like this, however, and many don't start out that way. In the Android camp, many models, especially products of foreign brands, do not have any advertisements in the system; many domestic mobile phones did not have advertisements in the system at the beginning, but now they have to follow the trend, and even some manufacturers have promised in recent years. No ads, but can't stick to it and re-added system ads. In addition, there is not much promotion information on the iPhone. Compared with many domestic Android phones, it is absolutely pure and clean.

To what extent have domestic Android system advertisements been flooded? Why is everyone rushing to add advertisements to the system? Why can the iPhone insist on no ads? Let's have a chat today.

Notice ads

Let's first feel the proliferation of advertisements in the mobile phone system. As a communication tool, the mobile phone has long been not only a terminal for receiving calls and text messages but also a gateway for the influx of Internet information into personal life. For this reason, the mobile phone system also popularized the notification center earlier than the desktop system, but now, a large part of the notification center contains promotional information, and the notification advertisements brought by the system are dazzling.

The notification advertisements pushed by the mobile phone system are varied. It can come from a pre-installed app in the system or from the system itself. In fact, mobile phone manufacturers are very happy with notification advertisements, because it is difficult for users to completely eliminate the notification advertisements of the system - although users can prohibit the notification push of a system app to curb notification advertisements, but many system apps do also push notifications useful. Information, such as the update of the app version pushed by the app store, is always impossible to be one-size-fits-all, and the system components of push notification advertisements are locked in a small dark room. Add some ( ) to your meal, you have to eat it, this is the subtlety of notification advertising.

With the increase in the functions of mobile phones, the pre-installed apps are also constantly enriched, and the number of notification advertisements that the system can push has become more and more massive, which is hard to guard against. Having to endure that useful information being submerged in the ocean of notification advertisements is probably a dilemma that users have to face for a long time.

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Now that the notification system has been compromised, how can the flow of information be safe? Many mobile phones have built-in information flow with a negative screen or a similar mechanism. The original intention is to allow users to obtain information more efficiently, but now it seems that it is a surprise for manufacturers to allow users to obtain advertisements more efficiently.

In the information flow, the system can use a variety of forms to place advertisements. For example, most traditional banners and icons occupy the same area as the common information flow style. You can't turn a blind eye; what's more, you can directly cover your face with the screen. If you want to search for something, first feel the advertisement Bring inspiration!

The information flow has almost become the standard of the Android mobile phone system, and the advertisement has also become the standard of the information flow. A design that was supposed to improve the efficiency of information acquisition for users has become an advertising hypermarket. Does this reduce the efficiency of users' information screening? It has to be said that this is somewhat contradictory.

System component advertisement

In the mobile phone system, there are many basic components that everyone sees every day, such as the lock screen, the desktop, and even the phone, text messages, and so on. These places seem unremarkable, but they can't stop the surging torrent of advertisements. Even if you use your Android device as the most common non-smartphone, or even if you don't use a mobile phone, ads are pervasive, making you addicted.

I received a text message and wanted to see the verification code, but I didn’t expect the advertisement to become a banner in the text message interface; well, I stopped reading the text message, just clicked on the desktop of the mobile phone, but in the folder of the App, there were also Ads promoting other apps! Then just install an app. Unexpectedly, the installation interface is also interspersed with advertisements; I don’t even want to use my mobile phone, put it aside, I can’t see the advertisements this time, right? I'm sorry, only lighting the screen, the lock screen is a big advertising poster ...

It is said that people are prone to mobile phone addiction, often use mobile phones, and often see a lot of advertisements, which seems logical. However, even if mobile phones are not addictive, they do not use mobile phones very much, and advertisements that are deeply bound to the basic functions of the system have long been lingering. go. Heavy users can't escape, and light users can't escape, and people have to sigh at the subtlety of the system's advertising settings.

System App Advertisement

The selling point of many Android ROMs is that they are rich in functions, and these rich functions are naturally realized by relying on the pre-installed apps in the system. For example, if you want to pay, the system must pre-install the wallet app; if you want to manage the application, you must bring your own application store; if you want to play smart home, the corresponding IoT app is also indispensable... And these rich pre-installed apps have also become A breeding ground for advertising.

In fact, it is not surprising that people have long been accustomed to the advertisements attached to the pre-installed apps in the system. Whether it’s checking the weather calendar, scanning junk to upgrade apps, or even listening to songs and watching movies with the system’s built-in player, ads can always follow. With the increase in the functions of the mobile phone system, the number of pre-installed apps and the advertisements that come with them is still growing. When is this going to end? I'm afraid no one can make accurate predictions.

App opening ads

Everyone should have encountered the opening advertisement that covered the screen when the app was opened. With open-screen advertisements, it is already the norm for commercial apps. But have you ever thought that a certain app has an on-screen advertisement, but it is not its own pot? That's right, the current mobile phone system has developed to the point of adding open-screen advertisements to apps without authorization.

Take a domestic ROM as an example. In the system, it will have a built-in module called " smart service ", which is actually related to the advertising function. When the user opens the app, even if the app is not built into the system, the "smart service" will still add a layer of on-screen advertisements to the app. Many friends feel that the frequency of app opening advertisements is too high, and they complain that the apps are becoming more and more unscrupulous, but they never thought that this is actually a bad experience brought by the system itself. Isn't it too surprising?

Why does the system add ads?

As mentioned above, the mobile phone system did not have so many advertisements from the beginning. Why did this trend suddenly arise? Perhaps it is closely related to the revenue of mobile phone manufacturers.

We can look at the chart below. This chart comes from the market research agency Counterpoint, which counts the revenue changes in the global mobile phone market from 2017 to 2021. It can be seen that Apple's revenue is unique, far apart from the various manufacturers in the Android camp, and has reached a new height in 2021; in the Android camp, Samsung's revenue is also significantly ahead.

We know that compared with Apple's revenue, iPhone sales are not too high, and Samsung's representative models are also high-end. And we can also observe that Apple and Samsung's mobile phone systems are very restrained in advertising, far less than the average Android manufacturer. It can be seen that there should be a certain correlation between the revenue of manufacturers and the placement of advertisements.

This is not difficult to understand. Apple and Samsung's flagship products are expensive, and by selling hardware, you can get rich returns. At the same time, Apple is also able to obtain a considerable commission on software sales through the App Store, which makes Apple's revenue stand out from the crowd.

This is not the case with other mobile phone manufacturers. Under the influence of various factors, a large number of mobile phone manufacturers can only take the route of small profits but quick turnover. When manufacturers cannot directly obtain sufficient value returns by selling software and hardware, they will inevitably seek income elsewhere. The advertisements attached to the system are the way for many manufacturers to choose to make money.

However, making money from system advertisements comes at the expense of user experience. If you can get considerable income by directly selling software and hardware, I am afraid that many manufacturers will not choose such a business model. After all, who can happily pay with one hand and deliver with one hand, who would be willing to go around twists and turns?

In short, a large part of the reason for adding advertising to the system is that the product is difficult to sell at a high premium. Building a high-end brand is not something that can be done overnight, and many domestic manufacturers still need to work hard.

In general, mobile phone system built-in advertising has become a trend. Cost-effectiveness is a price to be paid, and perhaps advertising is an integral part of the price.

At the same time, it is also hoped that manufacturers can put more emphasis on experience and make advertisements more user-friendly - for example, if users really don't want to see advertisements, can they provide paid services such as premium memberships and no longer display advertisements after purchase? Woolen cloth? Or is it possible to popularize the switch to turn off ads? After all, users who try to toss and close advertisements will definitely not be the audience of advertisements. Displaying advertisements simply and rudely will only increase user troubles and not bring real benefits.