Grindr is Breaking the Law by Being So Shitty
When an ad pops up, you try to hit the “X” to close it (which universally means “dismiss”), but instead it opens the advertiser’s page or those other stupid apps. That interaction then gets counted as a click. If that’s happening at scale, it means advertisers are being charged for what looks like genuine engagement, when in reality it’s people literally trying to close the ad.
If Grindr knows that it's happening (which of course they do), then this would count as deceptive practices (fraud) and is illegal.