Carriers in the United States are notorious for preloading a bunch of bloatware on Android devices. Among the top four carriers in the region, Verizon is the worst and preloads the most number of bloatware on the devices that it sells.
Despite all the hate that bloatware are subjected to, Verizon does not seem to be in any mood to mend its ways. The carrier has reportedly offered big companies with an option to install their apps on the home screen of the devices it sells. For this, the carrier is asking clients to pay $1-$2 per device on which the apps were installed.
“The wireless carrier has offered to install big brands’ apps on its subscribers’ home screens, potentially delivering millions of downloads, according to agency executives who have considered making such deals for their clients,” Advertising Age reported yesterday. “But that reach would come at a cost: Verizon was seeking between $1 and $2 for each device affected, executives said.”
Verizon is pitching this offer to retail and finance companies since late last year. The carrier has been making this offer only for Android devices since it does not have the ability to install apps on the iPhone. The report states that Verizon plans on making use of Google Play Store’s Auto Install feature to automatically install the apps on first boot of the device.
Thankfully, some agencies have told their clients not to accept the offer since customers can easily uninstall the apps.
[Via Advertising Age, Ars Technica]