Google has removed 16 apps from the Play Store for causing faster battery drain and using up excess data. Ars Technica, a security firm working with the tech giant, said these apps had a total of 20 million installations.
According to the firm's report, these apps allegedly performed ad fraud by opening web pages in the background to click on advertisements while masquerading as real users. These apps were downloading code once they were opened on a device. They will then receive notifications to open web pages without alerting the user. They will also click on links and advertisements in order to artificially raise engagement.
These actions will drain battery charge and cause increased data usage.
These apps were detected by McAfee. They were listed as utility apps that allow users to scan QR codes, turn on flash as a torch, and convert measuring units. Some of the now-removed apps are BusanBus, Joycode, Currency Converter, High-Speed Camera, Smart Task Manager, Flashlight+, K-Dictionary, Quick Note, EzDica, Instagram Profile Downloader, and Ez Notes.
They all came with an adware code called "com.liveposting" and "com.click.cas".