Google Backup Transport [What is it & why is it serving ads I've never seen which AdClear had to then block?]

[Arlen Holder]

Google Backup Transport com.google.android.backuptransport
[What is it]
[And why is it serving ads I've never seen which AdClear then blocked?]

Recently I installed AcClear as per this thread:
o How to set up AdClear on unrooted Android to block all ads
<https://groups.google.com/forum/#!topic/comp.mobile.android/GouWPiwXuaw>

Where AdClear blocked 2 ads from "Google Backup Transport"
<https://i.postimg.cc/s2wxgYYm/adclear02.jpg>

Looking up what Google Backup Transport is, I see it's cloud based:
o Google Backup Transport
<https://google-backup.com/back-up-google/google-backup-transport/>
"Google Backup Transport is a mechanism that Android applications
& system (including 3rd party apps) use to restore your data in Cloud."

Hmmmmmmmmmm.... never do I store anything on the cloud I don't have to!
o Do people of reasonable technical ability store their private data
on the Internet (if so, for what gain?)
<https://groups.google.com/d/msg/comp.mobile.android/mBIZ-8jGdmk/aLDJkSJQAAAJ>

The good news, apparently, is this may be a great way to kill Google stuff!
"Google Backup Transport contains Google Play Services, aka the backbone
of Android. If you disable it, many things will stop working - Gmail,
GDrive, Google Now, Google Assistant, etc. (anything that relies on
Google's cloud)."
<https://www.reddit.com/r/Nexus6P/comments/64nj14/best_way_to_stop_google_backup_transport_from/>

This suggests "Google Backup Transport" is inside "Google Play Services:,
along with:
o Google contact manager,
o Google contacts sync,
o Google services framework,
o Google play services,
o Google Backup Transport,
all of which I'd be happy to kill (since I don't use any Google stuff).
<https://forums.androidcentral.com/general-help-how/506066-how-disable-only-google-backup-transport-non-rooted-device.html>

Since I have backup turned off (I don't even have a Google account):
Settings > System > Backup > Bqck up to Google Drive = off

I'm wondering why Google Backup Transport is said to be serving ads.
<https://i.postimg.cc/s2wxgYYm/adclear02.jpg>
--
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[David Oseas]

On 3/21/2020 6:03 AM, Arlen Holder wrote:
>
> I'm wondering why Google Backup Transport is said to be serving ads.
> <https://i.postimg.cc/s2wxgYYm/adclear02.jpg>
>

I got pop-ups from the Google app on both my devices over the past
couple of days with coronavirus info. Perhaps this is what AdClear
flagged for you as ads??

Regards,

-David

[Arlen Holder]

On Sat, 21 Mar 2020 09:35:46 -0700, David Oseas wrote:

> I got pop-ups from the Google app on both my devices over the past
> couple of days with coronavirus info. Perhaps this is what AdClear
> flagged for you as ads??

Thanks for that input about "google app ads" serving coronavirus ads of
some sort (clearly none of which have I ever seen on my phone).

Unfortunately AdClear doesn't seem to have an option to simply "clear" and
start over, so I uninstalled and reinstalled AdClear to see what happens
moving forward with respect to "Google Backup Transport" serving ads.

Apparently there is a new version 9.14.1.794-ga "Fixed update bugs" which I
also updated to (although, in general, I rarely update any apps because
nothing good usually comes of an app update in my experience).

So now I'm "cleared" for zero ads being blocked.
I'll keep folks informed if something interesting occurs.
--
Each thread to Usenet should strive to add value to our tribal knowledge.

[Arlen Holder]

On Wed, 25 Mar 2020 07:32:58 -0000 (UTC), Arlen Holder wrote:

> So now I'm "cleared" for zero ads being blocked.
> I'll keep folks informed if something interesting occurs.

I'm curious what good is an ad that shows up in a program that you're not
even using, which means the ad never shows up anyway?

While I haven't seen actual ads (even before AdClear was installed),
what's interesting is that the ad count for Google Backup Transport has NOT
gone up from zero after I re-installed AdClear; so I must have killed it
effectively simply by disabling it.

Interestingly, in the past coupld of days, only 2 ads showed up as blocked
in AdClear, one of which was "TextPlus" and the other "Aloha Lite", where,
interestingly, I haven't _used_ either of those programs in that time
frame.

I'm curious what good is an ad that shows up in a program that you're not
even using, which means the ad never shows up anyway?
--
Usenet is where purposefully helpful adults can share common ideas.

[David Oseas]

I suspect that those apps autostart in background on device boot. You
can use a util, such as "All-In-One Toolbox" to see/control which apps
autostart.

I'd also bet that the apps that present ads that aren't actually
displayed are compensated for the number of ads served, rather than the
number of impressions that they generate (however, a number of bad-actor
apps actually spoof impressions to increase their revenue stream).

Regards,

-David

[Arlen Holder]

On Thu, 26 Mar 2020 10:09:28 -0700, David Oseas wrote:

> I suspect that those apps autostart in background on device boot. You
> can use a util, such as "All-In-One Toolbox" to see/control which apps
> autostart.

Thanks for that suggestion of "all in one toolbox", which I've installed
just now to see how it affects apps autostarting in the background.
o All-In-One Toolbox: Cleaner, More Storage & Speed, by AIO Software Technology CO., Ltd.
o Free, has ads, is GSF dependent
<https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=imoblife.toolbox.full>

Generally I don't go for the "cleaner" type apps, but I'll check it out as
if someone's gonna recommend it, at least you liked it! :)

Also, I almost never get GSF-dependent apps, nor apps with ads, unless
there's nothing else out there that does a job I need to do.

> I'd also bet that the apps that present ads that aren't actually
> displayed are compensated for the number of ads served, rather than the
> number of impressions that they generate (however, a number of bad-actor
> apps actually spoof impressions to increase their revenue stream).

That might be the reason.

I don't remember seeing an ad in a looooooong time on any Android phone,
where, as I noted, I have over 450 apps but I generally aim for the best in
their class, e.g., New Pipe, as an example, which are:
o Free
o Ad free
o GSF independent

In fact, given I don't use Google Play (I don't even have a Google Account)
my Aurora filter is set to only show those apps that are free, ad free, and
gsf independent, so I had to relax my filter in order to even _see_ the
suggested all-in-one cleaner app.

In summary, it's interestingly odd that Ad Cleaner found in a few days two
ads, one each in apps that I didn't even open, but the good news is that
the Google Backup Transport seems to have been effectively killed simply by
disabling it in the Android settings (as AdClear is no longer showing that
Google Backup Transport is serving _any_ ads anymore).
--
Usenet is where purposefully helpful adults publicly help each other.

[David Oseas]

On 3/26/2020 1:00 PM, Arlen Holder wrote:
>
> Thanks for that suggestion of "all in one toolbox", which I've installed
> just now to see how it affects apps autostarting in the background.

Unfortunately, the quality of All-In-One Toolbox has declined over the
years: more ads & a few useless features enabled by default (I suggest
turning off "Smart Charge" under Settings).

To tune the start-up apps, select the second icon (looks like a
suitcase), then scroll down to "Boot Speedup" in the "Speed" section,
about midway down.

From there, you can turn off user-installed as well as pre-installed
("system") apps that are set to autostart.

Regards,

-David