The developer Stefan Hurzlmeiercreator of LocalCast, an application to cast content to the television, noticed something strange while reviewing the ads that appeared in his own app: they were all promoting competing appsthey shared the same visual style and aimed directly at their users. It caught his attention, and he pulled on the thread.
What he found was much fatter than expected. These apps are part of developer networks, mainly in Vietnam and Pakistan, that operate more than 280 applications distributed among dozens of fake accounts, with a cumulative total of 1.8 billion installations. Hurzlmeier defines it as “systemic manipulation” of the Play Store: coordinated advertising campaigns that deliberately target legitimate apps like yours.
Apps that don't work, and also charge you
I noticed the ads inside my own casting app were all for competing casting apps — and they all looked suspiciously similar. So I investigated.
What I found: a handful of developer networks in Vietnam & Pakistan running 280+ apps across dozens of fake developer accounts, racking…
— theHurz (@stefan_pledl) March 31, 2026
The problem goes beyond the numbers. According to the report, these applications do not directly casting nothing. And on top of that, they show ads that cannot be closed without restarting the phone, activate “free trials” that charge immediately, and in some cases lead to weekly subscriptions of $25.99.
One of the most notable groups is iKame/Begamobwith more than 130 apps and 1.5 billion installations alone. There is another case that summarizes well how the scheme works: an app that was originally an artificial intelligence chatbot was renamed to inherit its positioning in the store's search engine. The business is not in offering a product, but in capture visibility and users by any means.
Android Authority has tried to contact Google to give its version. For now, no response. The problem is not new either, and it has been the independent developer research The one who brings it to light does not leave the store's moderation system in a very good position.
As a side note: from the beginning of 2025, Telegram integrates native support for Chromecastallowing you to send videos to the TV directly from the app without the need for anything else. For those who want to avoid this type of software, it is an alternative worth considering.
