Clean Master Review: Quick Expert Summary
We won’t be writing or publishing a review of Clean Master at this time. Why not? The short answer is that we can’t recommend it and don’t want to test the software. Cheetah Mobile, the company behind Clean Master, has been the subject of multiple controversies and the target of legal action. These issues stem primarily from its handling of user data and manipulative business practices. If you’re looking for a reliable antivirus suite, I’d encourage you to check out Norton, Bitdefender, or our highest-rated antiviruses.
If you’re curious about what makes us so concerned about Clean Master, here’s a brief rundown of some of its scandals and the allegations leveled against it:
- Deceptive advertising: In 2014, Clean Master was found to be injecting malicious ads into its Android ad ecosystem to pressure its users into keeping an active subscription. These fake ads were designed to make it look like the app discovered and blocked nonexistent malware.
- Unethical market practices: Clean Master manipulated users into uninstalling Google Chrome and replacing it with Cheetah Mobile’s browser.
- Ad fraud: In 2018, Cheetah Mobile was implicated in a large-scale click fraud scheme. The company used a script that made it so users would automatically click on advertisements. For every ‘click,’ Cheetah earned money, essentially defrauding advertisers.
- Bans and removals: In 2020, Google banned all of Cheetah Mobile’s apps from the Play Store for violating policies on disruptive ads, indicating that the company was still using malicious ads 6 years after the first of these were publicized. The company’s apps were banned in India in the same year.
- Insider trading: As recently as 2022, the SEC (America’s financial instruments regulator) charged current and former Cheetah Mobile executives for violating antifraud provisions, lying about company revenue, and other financial misdeeds.
As of now, Clean Master hasn’t changed its business practices. By all accounts, it still mishandles user data and engages in all manner of financial and technical trickery. There is reason to suspect that the company will generate similar controversies in the future. Simply put, it can’t be trusted to produce reliable software.
As said, I highly recommend checking out one of our top-rated antiviruses. Regardless of what apps you choose to protect or optimize your devices, ensure they come from a trustworthy developer with a clean record.
