Google company removed CM File Manager and Kika Keyboard apps following an internal investigation.
The company found that these two apps contained code that can be used to perform ad fraud through various techniques. “We take these allegations seriously, and Google Play developer policies prohibit deceptive and malicious behavior on our platform. If an app violates our policies, we take action,” it said in a statement.
According to AppBrain, the CM File Manager app has more than 50 million downloads and the Kika keyboard has over 100 million downloads.
Last week Cheetah Mobile released a statement in which it attempted to shift the blame to third-party SDKs.
The company also said it was prepared to take legal action against the research organization Kochava, which uncovered fraudulent behavior in CM apps. A day later, in another press release, it said Kochava's methods were unreliable, as they made several fundamental errors.
It's hard to know if Cheetah Mobile knowingly participated in the scam. While the company blames the scandal entirely on a third-party SDK, it should have taken responsibility for what happened and should have reviewed these services before including them in its apps.
Kika Tech also denied the allegations and stated that no evidence of fraud was found in its apps.
These companies can ask Google to reinstate these apps to the Play Store, but they will definitely need to take steps to prevent future scams. They will also need to work hard to regain the trust of their users.
