If you’re using an LG monitor and you suddenly see blaring ads for McAfee scam protection, it’s not because your PC’s been hacked (or, rather, not hacked by some unknown third party). LG, the maker of popular high-end screens, has been quietly stuffing its current and even past monitors full of adware.
For the last several weeks, multiple Reddit users have reported that their LG monitors had surreptitiously added an app to their PC through an automatic patch via Windows Update. The app then started sending them ads for services like McAfee scam detector through desktop pop-ups. It’s unclear how long LG has been pushing this app, though a Microsoft forum user reported this app all the way back in 2024.
Last week, the YouTube channel Gamers Nexus offered more clarity about how these monitors automatically push the “LG Monitor App Installer” alongside the routine driver updates. A brand-new high-end LG UltraGear 34GX900A-B display—a gaming monitor that costs close to $1,200 at its full suggested retail price—reportedly never gave users an option to decline the app or even notified users of what it’s meant to do.
The app supposedly only exists to push even more LG software to your PC through optional downloads. Beyond being bloatware that users may not even know was installed on their computer, the LG Monitor App Installer further promotes McAfee services. Gamers Nexus says the McAfee ads appeared on “every single boot.” LG Monitor App Installer may occasionally push adds for the company’s other apps, like the LG Channels streaming service.
The YouTube channel further claims they saw the ads suddenly appear on three-year-old LG monitors as well as more recent models. We still don’t know whether the app is being installed on all recent LG monitors. Gizmodo reached out to LG for comment on which monitors currently push this app, and we’ll update this post if we hear back.
By all accounts, LG Monitor App Installer is bloatware, running on your PC and hogging resources you don’t want it to. It’s also a form of adware, an app that pushes ads on your computer without your consent. Many laptops and prebuilt PCs come filled to the brim with these kinds of malicious or unnecessary apps, especially lower-end systems. A cheapo Lenovo IdeaPad Slim 3i I tested recently was filled to the brim with McAfee and other Lenovo software.
Dell’s Alienware brand notoriously does a similar trick with its monitors. Users have long complained that the gaming brand forces Alienware Command Center software on users’ PCs via Microosft Update, with no option to decline. However, I personally have not seen Alienware push its software on recent screens like the Alienware AW3426DW.
This practice should not become the norm. The high-end screens we buy for our PCs are meant to be “dumb” in a way that allows them to be disconnected from any potential software or subscription that could track what you do on your PC. LG’s privacy policy that’s linked to the LG Monitor App Installer’s listing on the Microsoft Store mentions LG can track device usage data and online activity, including what sites you visit and what activities you do on those sites. Gizmodo also asked LG to clarify whether the app was tracking this or other usage data.
There is no easy process to keep PCs from automatically installing these connected apps, especially since they come in quietly via Microsoft Update. And that seems to be the point. LG, one of the world’s largest makers of televisions, is using the smart TV playbook with smaller screens. It wants to push ads to your screen while potentially tracking your usage habits, turning users from mere buyers of a product into the product themselves.
Source: Gizmodo