Samsung to Remove Ads From Proprietary Apps ‘Later This Year’

Samsung has confirmed that it will stop showing ads in its proprietary apps by the end of this year.

Image source: Samsung

Samsung is infamous for duplicating apps and services that already come with Android and for using rampant advertising in its own apps. And while the firm isn’t promising to stop loading down its handsets with bloatware, it is at least addressing the latter issue.

“Samsung has made a decision to cease the advertisement on proprietary apps including Samsung Weather, Samsung Pay, and Samsung Theme,” a Samsung statement (via The Verge) reads. “The update will be ready by later this year.”

The move to cull in-app ads was first reported by Korean media who attributed it to TM Roh, president and head of mobile communications business, Samsung Electronics. In response to a question by an employee at the company’s online town hall, the exec said that ads would go away in future versions of apps like Samsung Pay, Samsung Themes and Samsung Weather.

Roh hinted that the reversal was made in response to user and staff feedback.

“Our priority is to deliver innovative mobile experiences for our consumers based on their needs and wants,” the company said. “We value feedback from our users and continue our commitment to provide them with the best possible experience from our Galaxy products and services.”

“We have been seeking new growth opportunities in the fields of content and advertising services such as games and media to strengthen the integrated Galaxy ecosystem experience,” Roh further added. “It is our most important mission to innovate the customer experience based on this.”

According to the report, Roh said that the ads would be removed via One UI software updates. But it’s unclear whether this will happen in the next big update or further down the line. There’s also no word if this change will be confined to Korea or if it applies to global markets too.

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