William Hill criticised after mobile ad error

Mobile phone users automatically redirected to the operator’s App Store listings following supplier slip-up

 

William Hill incurred the wrath of mobile phone users in the UK yesterday after some were automatically redirected to the operator’s App Store listing.

Users began to report the error on Sunday, complaining that they were being redirected when they opened various non-William Hill sites or apps on their mobile devices.

Many took to social networking sites to complain with some labelling the redirection as “ridiculous”, while the operator was also accused of deliberately hijacking app store URLs.

Sites and applications said to have been affected included the Guardian, the Radio Times, Sky Sports and rival sportsbook operator Betfair.

A spokesperson for the operator confirmed there to have been an issue for a “short period”. “This was due to a link wrongly set up by one of our suppliers – this is a common problem on mobile ad content across many industries,” the spokesperson said.

“Once this was identified we acted quickly to rectify the situation. It has now been resolved – we apologise for any inconvenience.”

The news comes just a month after Apple opened up its own iAd mobile advertising platform up to egaming operators, having previously prohibited them from access to it.