2022 was a busy year for AppEsteem. Here's what we accomplished:
- We moved forward with two new ACRs that affect the bundler industry: ACR-013 (which prevents interrupting install/uninstall/conversion with un-consented offers), and ACR-060 (which requires offers to disclose the offering network). These two ACRs are meant to reduce consumer confusion and dissatisfaction, and they will go into effect on April 1. You can read more about them, including the requirement, our intent, and our guidance, on our Requirements checklist.
- We took a stand against ad pollution by publishing pollution indicators, and publicly calling out our first set of ad polluters.
- We updated our browser safety consumer apps and services (available on Browse.live) by releasing Browse.live Ad Control, a free browser extension that blocks ads from ad polluters, and Browse.live Search, an ad-pollution-free, anonymous search engine.
- We called out hundreds of active Deceptors, and we certified hundreds of clean, consumer-respecting apps.
- We ran monthly tests against the main AV products to determine how good they were at blocking Deceptors and allowing certified apps.
Not bad for a year where we're mostly still working from home and postponing almost all customer visits.
In 2023, our mission won't change. We'll continue to help clean apps thrive by finding ways to protect consumers from getting tricked, scared, or fooled. Here's what we plan to focus on:
- We'll start enforcing the bundler ACRs (ACR-013 and ACR-060). We'll work to stop apps from violating these ACRs, including hunting for them, reaching out to them, and listing them on our active Deceptor list.
- We'll keep calling out Deceptors and Ad Polluters, so we can get them to clean up.
- We'll continue to expand our Browse.live consumer safety product line so that consumers can have safer and cleaner internet experiences.
- We'll look for more ways to encourage the AVs to better protect consumers, both on the system and in the browser. We'll do this with our feeds, our testing, our technology, and with releasing our own apps.
We're winning the fight against deceptive apps, and our clean ecosystem makes this possible. Thank you to our app makers who get their clean apps certified, our AV partners who use our Deceptor and Certified feeds to protect consumers, and our customers who use our Browse.live apps to make their internet experiences safer and cleaner.
Happy New Year from all of us at AppEsteem!
