“I noticed something weird happening lately on my Razr 60 Ultra: when I tried to open the Amazon app, it would instead open the browser and send me to some sketchy looking url, which then redirects to amazon.com with an affiliate code,” wrote a user named Trypocopris on Reddit. 

What was happening behind the scenes? 

• When you click the Amazon app, a system-hidden app called “Smart Feed” intercepted the action before the original Amazon app opened.
• Through the Smart Feed app, users were redirected to a third-party website that inserted an Amazon affiliate link or code into the original Amazon app link.
• Generally, affiliate links provide a revenue share to the owner of that affiliate link. So, when users navigate to the Amazon app, they may not notice anything unusual even though affiliate links are being used in the background. As a result, the owner of those affiliate links could potentially earn a revenue share if users made a purchase.
• This entire process was reportedly happening through an ad service called Device Native Ads (https://devicenative.com). According to the allegations, this ad service company secretly instructed Moto phones on which apps to target and which affiliate codes or links to use.

What does Device Native Ads do? The company says it provides “personalized, on-device mobile ad serving without sharing user data,” according to its homepage.

Claims zero data collection; says opt-in not required: Device Native Ads claims it can serve hyper-personalized, on-device ads without collecting user data.

“Ad targeting and selection happens on devices so zero user data is sent to the server, giving total user privacy,” the company claims. Since it says it does not collect user data, the company also claims that user opt-in for its ad services is not required. However, archived technical documentation reportedly suggests otherwise.

Removed technical documentation: Device Native Ads has removed the documentation from its website. However, The Verge linked to an archived version of the documentation page. The archived link can still be accessed through the Internet Archive.

Here are some excerpts from Claude’s explanation of the SDK (software development kit), along with source explanations supporting Claude’s response:

• QUERY_ALL_PACKAGES — it can see every app installed on your phone – [Source]
• PACKAGE_USAGE_STATS — it tracks which apps you use and how often – [Read more]
• Optional: BIND_NOTIFICATION_LISTENER_SERVICE — it can read your notifications to “improve suggestions” – [Source]

What does the log information reveal? We asked Claude and DeepSeek to analyze the log details (“adb logcat”) posted by the Reddit user. The AI chatbots responded as follows:

• Claude:
  “Smart Feed served the user an ad or content card. Tapping it didn’t open Amazon’s app — instead it sent a web URL (possibly an affiliate or tracking link) to Firefox. The kira-abboud.com domain is not Amazon’s own, so this could be a third-party affiliate link, a redirector, or potentially a suspicious/phishing URL dressed up as an Amazon promotion.”

  “Worth noting: The BAL_ALLOW_PERMISSION flag means the system permitted the background activity launch because the calling app had explicit permission — this was a sanctioned launch, not a rogue one,” it further added. Read the Claude response. Read the full response here: [Claude]

• DeepSeek:
  “This log snippet reveals that a Motorola system component (com.motorola.smartfeed) performed an unexpected redirection: when it recorded a click on the Amazon Shopping app, it instead launched an external website (https://kira-abboud.com/…) in Firefox.” Read the full response here: [ DeepSeek | Archived Link ]

“I expect this sort of scummy behavior from some third-rate Chinese company selling phones for $100, not from a brand like Motorola and certainly not on a phone that retails for $1300!!” the user wrote.

Quick fact check: Motorola is owned by a Chinese company. In 2014, Lenovo acquired Motorola from Google, which had purchased the company in 2012. Lenovo’s parent company, Legend Holdings Corporation, which reportedly held a 22.92% ownership stake as of June 2025, is based in Beijing, China.

What is Motorola’s response? Without providing a detailed explanation, Motorola reportedly said that the above-mentioned actions were “unintended and resulted in an inconsistent user experience,” according to a statement by Allison Yi, Motorola’s executive director of product management, as quoted in The Verge’s report.

Full Quote: “Recently, Motorola acted quickly to resolve an issue that was identified, which caused some users in the US launching the Amazon Shopping app to be routed through a web tracking link before opening the app. This behavior was unintended and resulted in an inconsistent user experience,” Motorola’s Allison Yi said.

Motorola’s recent partnership with privacy-focused GrapheneOS: In March 2026, the GrapheneOS Foundation announced a partnership with Lenovo-owned Motorola at Mobile World Congress. Read their press releases here: [Link]

Note: We have emailed both Motorola and Device Native Ads for comment. We will update this copy if and when we receive a response.

Disclosure: We used AI chatbots to help us understand the technical details during the reporting process.

Also Read: 

• How Major Indian Apps Are Bypassing Google’s Policy to Spy on Your App Drawer?
• Motorola gets court order to block YouTube videos critical of its phones in India
• Why the DoT Mandate on Sanchar Saathi App Pre-installation on Smartphones is a Privacy Concern?
• Empowering Young Minds: Rethinking Regulation of Behavioural Monitoring and Targeted Ads Under India’s DPDP Act