Why are Grindr and Hornet users being auto-redirected to William Hill?
Gay apps like Grindr and Hornet have been criticised by users for auto-redirecting to the William Hill app in the iTunes app store.
Users of the gay social apps have voiced annoyance at the auto-redirect, which takes them out of the app, and into the iTunes store, to the William Hill betting app.
The bookmakers has in the past responded to criticism from users being redirected to the site. In March 2014, a William Hill spokesman told the Mirror that the redirect was “not intentional”, and promised to “resolve the issue”.
Despite this, Grindr users took to social media to voice their disapproval at the redirect as recently as this week, some saying that they were being redirected every five minutes.
Dear @Grindr seriously, why does your app keep opening the William Hill gambling app entry in iTunes? Driving me up the wall.
— Tom [PositiveLad] (@PositiveLad) September 22, 2014
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Okay, I am officially deleting Grindr. I’ve had it with Grindr forcing me to view the William hill app on the store whenever open it -w-
— Lupo (@LeonJFletcher) September 25, 2014
A William Hill spokesman told PinkNews: “There has been a small issue due to a link incorrectly set up by a supplier. We are working to resolve this as soon as possible and thank people for their patience.”
Grindr did not respond to users’ questions about the redirect on Twitter.
PinkNews briefly experienced similar issues earlier this year, which were caused by an ad network.
Grindr has not returned a call for comment from PinkNews.