How to find out what adnetwork an app is using? (12)

Im pushing app installs via adwords and I see a lot of apps stop sending traffic after some time, I tried to bid higher so being outbid shouldnt be the problem, so I think the apps simply switched the ad network they were using. The problem is I do not have any adroid device right now, so I cant really check who serves the ads in the particular apps in case of android apps. Is there any easy way to find out what ad network an app is using?

Thanks

Originally Posted by matuloo

Is there any easy way to find out what ad network an app is using?

Originally Posted by bbrock32

Pro tip here, if you wanna spy on apps install android on virtualbox and use a VPN

On my blog I have a guide which sort of answers your question [here's the link]

In short, install Ad Network Scanner on your phone by Lookout from Google Play; install the app you want to find out what ad network its using and scan it.

Brilliant, thanks for that blog link!

So looks like I gotta buy some android device

Fair warning, I have never tried this with a .jar or .apk file. However:

Strings are static data that typically get put in the RODATA section of a code page. The following should dump a list of static strings in a given static lib, dynamic lib, or executable:

$ strings | grep "*http*"

$ hexdump -C filename | grep "*http*"

Originally Posted by t0mmy

Fair warning, I have never tried this with a .jar or .apk file. However:

Strings are static data that typically get put in the RODATA section of a code page. The following should dump a list of static strings in a given static lib, dynamic lib, or executable:

Code:

$ strings | grep "*http*"

You may need to unzip your archive first (.apk will have some XML data describing its layout). By default the "strings" command is only setup to target architectures that your kernel is compiled for so you might need to play around a bit to get it to work. If all else fails:

Code:

$ hexdump -C filename | grep "*http*"

will give you an ASCII-annotated hex dump.

I would assume so, I don't use Windows really at all though.

@iamattila - You can open them in notepad, but getting useful human-readable information out of them that way may be harder. You're better off opening them in a hex editor and then looking for strings.

Yes carumen is correct, I probably should have clarified that. You generally won't see the same strings in a standard text editor that you will in a hex editor due to byte offsets and a number of other factors.

The app probably removed your ads. They can do that. Similar to how you can drop an app if its performance sucks, if your ads don't appease the app owners, they'll cut you. Sometimes it's just about branding.

There are networks that show you a list of eligible ads when you sign up as a publisher / website/app owner. Easy to drop offensive or shitty ads.