Lesser known mobile adtech domains where data is sent

https://jamesoclaire.com/2025/08/28/uncovering-lesser-known-mobile-adtech-domains/

89•ddxv•13h ago

Comments

ddxv•13h ago

Just wanted to share a quick blog about figuring out who owns the lesser known adtech domains since most of these I couldn't find anything about when I did quick searches.

If you found this interesting, let me know!

qingcharles•10h ago

Good info!

What's the best way to log the API calls from an Android app? I want to document the undocumented API calls the Reddit app makes.

adithyassekhar•10h ago

Without root, pcapdroid might work.

ddxv•8h ago

You can follow my tutorial here: https://github.com/ddxv/mobile-network-traffic

Overview: I use Waydroid + MITM

Feel free to contact me for a call if you need help. Additionally, I'll scan the Reddit app, the new API calls should show up in a day or two on AppGoblin: https://appgoblin.info/apps/com.reddit.frontpage/data-flows

You can see some of the SDKs Reddit's Android app uses from a decompile in October 2024: https://appgoblin.info/apps/com.reddit.frontpage/sdks

Let me know if there was something specific to look for for the API calls, usually I don't interact with the app, but I can do it manually if there is something interesting to check out.

Happy to share the raw MITM logs with you as well.

qingcharles•1h ago

Thank you so much!

6LLvveMx2koXfwn•6h ago

Just an FYI your link to this conversation actually goes to: https: //appgoblin.info/apps/com.adidas.app/sdks

ddxv•6h ago

Thanks, my bad, will fix.

netsharc•11h ago

I've started noticing unity3d.com, I thought it was a game... oh, nope, they also operate an ad network called Unity Ads, I guess they like their reputation!

miohtama•10h ago

It's spyware they acquired some time ago, discussed here

https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=44334167

anttiharju•10h ago

Unity Ads have been a thing long before (2014) ironSource merger (2022)

https://unity.com/news/unity-technologies-acquire-applifier-...

https://unity.com/blog/news/welcome-ironsource

politelemon•11h ago

Nice work on the author to do this digging. Thanks for sharing it.

marketingcloudapis.com has namesevers on salesforce.com and I see it in their documentation too, so it's Salesforce integration?

https://developer.salesforce.com/docs/marketing/marketing-cl...

ddxv•8h ago

Wow! That's it! Docs match and each app has a SalesForce SDK as well: https://appgoblin.info/apps/com.adidas.app/sdks

Did you just search that and find it or did you recognize it? I tried searching but not sure what I was missing.

PS: I'll update the article to say it's Salesforce and give you a shoutout, thanks again!

tux3•5h ago

Nit: You updated the wrong line in your table at the end!

ddxv•4h ago

Well that was a good nit, fixed.

DownGoat•10h ago

Would be interesting to snatch one of these domains should the ever be available. If the author has a list of the domains 40k different apps called, there must be some requests going out to domains that are no longer registered.

ddxv•8h ago

That's pretty interesting! I was surprised how many domains like this show up as fairly recent registrations.

mxuribe•3h ago

So, the mischievous part of my brain is activated....what could be done with such domain names? :-)

raffael_de•9h ago

Seems like none of those 8 domains is denied by my Pi-hole :/ Added them manually but I'd prefer to rely on Pi-holes blacklists.

mmsc•8h ago

It'd be nice to have a feature in uBlock origin where you can block certain websites' ip addresses, with a requirement to re-resolve the ip address every few days to ensure the ip hasn't been rotated (blocking unnecessary websites due to the cache).

noja•6h ago

Reminder that a website you are visiting may be proxying your data to the adtech company through their services a domain.

Check out the Facebook Conversions API Gateway.

usernomdeguerre•2h ago

qa-analytics.com's oldest entry in Internet archive redirects to www.qwickanalytics.com, so not sure if that domain changed hands?

ectospheno•2h ago

This is the first site I’ve encountered that caused Obsidian Web Clipper to fail.

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Lesser known mobile adtech domains where data is sent

Comments

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