Ads Appear in Galaxy Phone's 'Weather App'... "Selective Display"

Ads Applied After Weather App Update from the 8th
No Option to Disable Ads Causes User Discomfort

[Asia Economy Reporter Han Jinju] Samsung Electronics has started applying banner ads to the default weather app on its Galaxy smartphones.

According to industry sources on the 10th, Samsung Electronics has been displaying banner ads at the top or bottom of the weather app on some Galaxy smartphones since the 8th. On Samsung smartphone cafes, posts have appeared showing that when the Samsung Weather app is decompressed, image files starting with 'ads' and application (apk) files are included.

The weather app ads are not customized to specific devices or users. They are randomly shown to users who have updated the weather app. The problem is that there is no option to turn off the ads. Samsung added ads to diversify its revenue model and did not obtain separate consent because it does not use user information. Users are complaining about the inconvenience of having to view unwanted ads while checking essential weather information.

One Galaxy smartphone user said, "After Galaxy Store and Samsung Pay, putting ads even in the weather app seems to have crossed the line," adding, "I worry that eventually ads might be added to the call or messaging apps as well. It’s becoming increasingly tacky."

A Samsung Electronics representative stated, "Banner ads in the weather app are being selectively implemented, and there are no plans yet to expand them to all devices."

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.