Random Ad Videos playing

[46paintball]

So again at 4:30am, while sitting on a wireless charging stand in do not disturb mode, a random google ad choices video played. This happens every few days. I think I have disabled everything and have run several forum recommended malware and ad detector apps. How can I find the culprit once and for all?

 

[B. Diddy]

Have you already tried uninstalling apps one by one? This is almost certainly adware attached to an app you installed at some point. If this doesn't help, you may have to do a factory reset, and then choose to set the phone up as brand new (i.e., not restoring from a previous backup). Then install your apps one by one, with plenty of time between installations to see if those ads crop up again.

 

[Lappolozza]

I have the same problem Mr Diddy. And your solution is that I uninstall, one by one, every app I have installed - all through Play Store and all bearing the imprint of Google itself - to find out which of them has picked up adware? This means I have to leave my tablet on and wait for one of the remaining apps to wake me in the middle of the night, so I will then know that it wasn't the app I uninstalled that was causing the trouble. I then reinstall the one I uninstalled, uninstall another and wait to see if my sleep is disturbed again. This could take weeks, possibly months, of insomnia. And you are seriously putting this forward as a solution to a high-tech problem in the year 2018. Have you slipped through a time warp from 1918?
If this is what your product does then it is simply junk.

 

[Scienceguy Labs]

B. Diddy's advice is sound. It's a very thorough way of figuring out which app is causing the problem. You can skip straight to resetting your phone, if you like, though.
Things you might also try:

Go into your app list through settings. Go into Chrome and clear cache and data.

Do a quick Google search for each app you have installed plus adware - "app name adware". Maybe someone else has had the same problems.

What were the most recent apps you installed before this started happening? Delete those few and see if the problem stops.

 

[Canyoner]

46paintball I've been getting these too on my 3 month old S7. All since a recent update to several Apps.
I'm also getting various Google Ads (for Google Home Mini, & several Google Play Store ads) appearing on my screen when I wake the phone up after about 30 min or more or after turning it on. I turn the phone off each night.
I've been through all the options of uninstalling recently installed apps, then disabling Google Play.
Don't use Chrome due to the Big Brother attitude they have to everything online & use Firefox for minimal browsing on that device.
Turned off any Ads options in Google settings & Apps settings & still getting them. Very Annoying!!!
I've just uninstalled all Google Updates to see if that works.

 

[Canyoner]

OK. I found one way to stop the ads on my S7...

Disable Google Play Store!!

I no longer get the annoying ads... BUT, several other apps now keep leaving notes... 'xxx won't run unless you update Google Play Store.'
Tough titties Google! If you can't run a system without pushing ads forget it!
If I enable Google Play Store I then get random ads for Uber, Google Play Store, Google Home Mini, Wish, Mark Logic & Zoosk, etc... Some of which are video with sound... EXTREMELY annoying whilst in a meeting!

 

[46paintball]

The good news - from a simple long press, I determined these are being driven by facebook. So I deleted the app.

The bad news - the ads keep happening, now say m.facebook or i.facebook when I long press.

I updated every privacy and ad option on facebook, but they still play so I no longer use facebook from my phone. We will see if that helps.