Google removes NSFW app XShorts from Play Store after ads scandal: Report

Google has removed the adult short video app XShorts from its Play Store after an Adweek report revealed that the platform—despite carrying a “Teen” rating—was hosting sexually suggestive and racially offensive content, while also running ads from major brands including Verizon, Shell, and Amazon.

XShorts, a short-form video app similar to TikTok, had been trending among the top five apps on the Play Store this week. However, the app’s misclassification allowed it to sidestep typical ad safety controls, exposing top brands to reputational risk. Ad servers and demand-side platforms (DSPs) such as Facebook Audience Network, Amazon, AppLovin, Basis, InMobi, and Moloco had unknowingly served ads to the app based on its maturity rating.

The incident highlights the complex challenges of digital ad placement in the automated, fast-moving programmatic ecosystem—particularly with emerging platforms that escape proper vetting.


Following outreach from Adweek, DSPs including Meta, Basis, InMobi, and Moloco took steps to either block or reclassify XShorts. Meanwhile, brands such as Roblox, Puck, Todd Snyder, and &SONS tightened their ad placement controls or blocked the app entirely.

ADWEEK independently confirmed ad placements on XShorts for companies including Audible, Walgreens, Microsoft, Popeyes, Starbucks, Roblox, Gatorade, Wayfair, Instacart, and Square. The app displayed both banner ads beneath videos and full-screen ads between videos.

Although a Google search may still list the Play Store link for XShorts, the page now shows an error message: “We’re sorry, the requested URL was not found on this server.”