A syndicated Wall Street Journal story reports that adware isn’t just for online casinos and pornographers:
Telecommunications giant Verizon Communications Inc. has been using adware for nearly two years to draw prospective customers to its high-speed Internet business. Claria Corp., the leading adware provider, names Sprint Corp., Motorola Inc. and online travel company Orbitz Inc. among its clients in a recent Securities and Exchange Commission filing. Claria’s chief rival, WhenU Co., says British Airways PLC and Bank of America Corp. are among the big-name companies that have used its service.
Advertisers like adware because they believe it works, delivering more customers at a lower cost than many other forms of online advertising.
“We find that it’s much more efficient than other means of direct advertising,” says John Bonomo, a Verizon spokesman.
Claria, of course, used to be Gator. They live on the semi-civilized fringes of the swamp of spyware and adware. Their software can be removed relatively easily, and they actually offer at least a partial disclosure what they’re doing (although most people blow past that disclosure pretty quickly).
WhenU is not so nice. PC Pitstop reports that 87% of people who have this crud installed are unaware they’re using it.
But I’m not inclined to be charitable with either company. Ben Edelman of Harvard University testified before the FTC earlier this year that both WhenU and Gator deserve the label spyware. His analysis is rigorous and worth reading if you’re interested in this stuff. They transmit personal information contrary to their disclosures, and they use deceptive practices to install their software. For no good reason, either. As Edelman notes, there are almost always spyware-free alternatives to the programs that carry spyware:
The FTCs call for comments asks what effects would result on the market for software if spyware were eliminated or reduced. … I believe consumers would continue to have essentially equal choices of software programs available at no out-of-pocket cost. Other programs would remain available that, for whatever reason, distribute their software without out-of-pocket cost and without spyware.
For example, Atomic Clock Sync 2.69 is an automatic computer clock synchronization program, but unlike WhenUs ClockSync and Gators Precision Time, Atomic Clock Sync does not require that users accept popup advertisements. Similarly, Weather Watcher 5.010 provides local weather monitoring and reporting, and unlike WhenUs WeatherCast and Gators Precision Time, Weather Watcher entails no popups.
Any company that uses this despicable advertising mechanism should be ashamed, and they don’t deserve to be rewarded. If these spyware/adware parasites can be driven into honest work, we’ll all be better off.
Ed Bott 