Motorola admits Amazon shoppers were secretly routed through 'tracking links', calls it 'unintended' bug

Motorola is at the centre of another controversy after users alleged that the smartphone maker was quietly hijacking the Amazon app to redirect users via affiliate links without their knowledge.

A user on Reddit first highlighted the issue after noticing that opening Amazon on their Motorola Razr 60 Ultra briefly opened a browser window leading to a “sketchy looking” URL before redirecting back to Amazon. The user noted that the issue seemed to stem from a hidden system app called Smart Feed, which appeared to intercept attempts to open Amazon on Motorola phones.

“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,” the user wrote.

“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!!” they added.

While we don’t have a Motorola device handy, a report by 9to5Google was able to replicate the issue on its own Razr Fold unit. The publication noted that the redirect using the Smart Feed app only happens when users open Amazon from the app drawer and not from a homescreen shortcut, making the behaviour harder to notice.

How does the affiliate redirect work?

Reportedly, when a user attempts to open Amazon from the app drawer, the Motorola software intercepts the tap, briefly flashes the Google Chrome browser, and routes the traffic through a third-party ad service called devicenative.com.

9to5Google further reported that Motorola devices appeared to be routing users through a website called “kira-abboud.com” before redirecting to Amazon. The website is said to be linked to fashion influencer “@kirasfashionfinds.”

However, the report notes that the specific affiliate code injected by the Motorola phone did not match any codes actually promoted on the influencer’s social media channels.

The report also notes that phones running older versions of the Smart Feed app did not appear to face the same issue, suggesting that the behaviour may have been introduced through a recent update.

In the meantime, one workaround that appears to stop the redirects is disabling the Smart Feed app on Motorola devices. Users can do this by navigating to:

Settings > Apps > Smart Feed > Disable

Motorola admits the Amazon app issue:

Motorola has admitted there was an issue affecting “some users in the U.S.” where launching the Amazon Shopping app routed users “through a web tracking link before opening the app.”

The company claims this behaviour was “unintended” and it “acted quickly to resolve” the issue and “promptly corrected the routing configuration.”

Motorola's statement:

“Motorola and Device Native jointly developed an app search and suggestion experience for the Moto App Launcher, designed to help users quickly find and launch apps they already have installed on their devices.

Recently, Motorola acted quickly to resolve an issue that was identified, which caused some users in the U.S. launching the Amazon Shopping app to be routed through a web tracking link before opening the app. This behaviour was unintended and resulted in an inconsistent user experience.

Upon identifying the issue, we promptly corrected the routing configuration. Users can now expect all installed apps to launch directly as intended.

Motorola takes user experience, privacy, and platform integrity seriously and will continue to closely monitor the system to ensure expected behaviour across devices.

We are committed to responsible disclosure, and to transparent, collaborative engagement with researchers to identify and address potential issues swiftly.”