Ads and privacy do not usually go well together, and you have every right to be skeptical. Most apps use your personal data to serve you hyper-targeted ads, building detailed profiles about your interests, habits, and behaviors to sell to the highest bidder. Buddzy does things completely differently, and this article explains exactly how.
How It Works
Buddzy features rewarded ads — these are optional video ads that you can choose to watch in exchange for Orbs, the premium currency. Here is the critical distinction:
- You choose when to watch — Rewarded ads are never forced on you. They appear as an option, and you tap to watch them voluntarily
- You get real value — Every ad you watch gives you Orbs, which you can spend on cosmetic upgrades for your Galaxy and profile
- No profile data is shared — When you watch an ad, the advertiser does not receive your username, your phone number, your friend list, your Star history, or any other Buddzy profile data
What Advertisers See
Let's be transparent about this. When an ad plays in Buddzy, the ad network knows that someone in the app watched their ad. That is about it. They do not get:
- Your Buddzy username or profile
- Your phone number
- Your friend connections or social graph
- Your gameplay stats or ranking
- Your contact list or hashes
- Any personally identifiable information from Buddzy
What they do get, and we would rather tell you straight: the ads are served by Google AdMob, so when an ad loads, Google receives your device's advertising ID and your IP address — the standard stuff any ad needs to be delivered and counted. Google may use it to pick which ad you see. Buddzy does not build advertising profiles, does not target ads based on your in-app behavior, and does not sell audience segments to anyone.
You are in control of that identifier. Reset it or switch off ad personalization whenever you like — on Android in Settings › Privacy › Ads, on iOS in Settings › Privacy & Security › Tracking. You still earn the same Orbs from rewarded ads either way.
Rewarded Ads vs Traditional Ads
Traditional mobile ads track you across apps, build behavioral profiles, and serve you increasingly specific ads based on everything you do online. Buddzy's rewarded ad model is fundamentally different. You opt in, you get Orbs, and the transaction is done. There is no tracking tail that follows you around after the ad ends.
Pro Tips
- Watch rewarded ads when you want extra Orbs for cosmetic purchases. It is free premium currency with no privacy cost.
- You are never penalized for skipping ads. They are purely optional and have zero impact on gameplay.
- If you buy Orbs directly, you can skip ads entirely and still have the full Buddzy experience.
Good to Know
Our ad model exists to give free-to-play users a way to earn premium currency without spending money. It does not exist to harvest your data. That is a fundamental difference, and it is one we will never compromise on.