While it’s understandable that Android OEMs these days feel they have to be creative when it comes to finding new ways to make money, they also have to be careful that they don’t overstep their bounds and significantly annoy their user base. Earlier this month we saw that HTC had started serving some One M8 and One M9 users ads in their notification centers, which is something that didn’t go over very well among Android diehards. After all, if you’ve already paid hundreds of dollars for a phone, why should that phone spam you with marketing you didn’t ask for?
RELATED: Now is the winter of Android fans’ discontent
Now Android Police is reporting that Samsung is pulling the same trick and is pushing out ads to some users’ notifications centers.
“In case you have not heard, here’s an ad in your notification shade,” writes Android Police. “It looks like this has happened to at least a few people thanks to the Samsung Push Service. In a separate incident, I myself have been served an ad by the bundled Peel remote app. Is nothing sacred anymore, Samsung?”
Apparently not.
And it’s not as though Samsung devices are $200 zero-margin cheapies like the devices Xiaomi pops out on a regular basis. These are high-end devices that charge you a premium price to use.
In addition to the degradation of the user experience, pushing ads into our notifications is also a perfect piece of propaganda for Apple. After all, many of us probably already get enough notifications as it is — why should we have to deal with our smartphone manufacturer sending us notifications for things we don’t even want?
While Samsung and HTC may get short-term revenue boosts out of these tactics, over the long haul they’ll drive users to either embrace the iPhone or Google Nexus phones.
