Yes it is gross, it Apple does the same thing in their app store. So it is nothing that can be avoided with using the major players.
Android
DROID DOES
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Aurora Store works like a charm without ads or tracking.
... and they've removed all images from the site too 🙈
Probably easier to tell if there were images. Why are they missing
Play Store doing this since September, at least in my region (SE Asia). If you disabled personalized ads on your Google Account, Play Store homepage displays ads that are frequently installed from your country/state.
Always have been
Isn't that normal?
I mean, it's literally a store, this is not a space where you'll be free from ads.
I'm going with--not in the top 10 of terrible things Google is doing lately.
But sure, ok, it sucks.
It clearly says sponsored, so not really no.
It's not icky for a literal advertising company to advertise, no. Can it be annoying at times, sure. I'm getting more from them than they are me, so I'm good.
But Im not stock and they don't have their super power over my phone.