CooTek Says Some Apps Temporarily Disabled by Google

By Colin Kellaher

CooTek (Cayman) Inc. (CTK) on Wednesday said Alphabet Inc.'s (GOOG) Google has temporarily disabled some of the company's apps from the Google Play Store and Google Admob, but it denied allegations that apps it submitted last month engaged in malicious ad activity.

BuzzFeed News on Tuesday said Google was banning the Chinese app developer from its Play store and ad platforms after BuzzFeed and a security company provided evidence that CooTek's apps continued to bombard users with disruptive ads even after the company claimed it had stopped the behavior.

According to the BuzzFeed report, more than 60 of CooTek's apps had been removed from the Play store, and CooTek had been completely banned from Google's lucrative ad platforms.

CooTek on Wednesday said it reexamined its apps and found no evidence to support the BuzzFeed allegations, and the company said the updated apps it submitted to Google Play in June didn't engage in any malicious ad activity.

CooTek said is "in continuous communication with Google to clarify the potential misunderstandings," adding that the matter won't affect existing users.

However, CooTek warned that its ability to attract new users and generate revenue from Google Admob may be hurt, pending the restoration of access.

Shares of CooTek were recently down 5.6%, to $8.65.

Full BuzzFeed story at: https://www.buzzfeednews.com/article/craigsilverman/google-banned-cootek-adware

Write to Colin Kellaher at [e-mail]

(END) Dow Jones Newswires

July 17, 2019 10:12 ET (14:12 GMT)

Copyright (c) 2019 Dow Jones & Company, Inc.