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Adware, Should I be Afraid?
Developers offering
downloads are paying the price for the malformed truths
that have been put forth regarding downloads. While not a
political campaign the smears are ever present in the
adware arena.
Years ago developers saw
they could monetize freeware that was becoming expensive
to host. Developers began working with Ad Networks such as
the former Aureate and Conducent, who imbedded
advertisements in the software. The software in many cases
phoned home retrieving ads. In other cases adverts were
imbedded directly into the download only being removed
when the software was registered. Many well known software
companies, including Netscape distributed ad supported
versions, which allowed users to use the software for
free. Developers were compensated either by install or the
number of ads served. Advertisers welcomed new revenue
streams to reach potential customers.
Adware or
advertising-supported software is any software application
in which advertisements are displayed while the program is
running. These applications include additional code that
displays the ads in pop-up windows or through a bar that
appears on a computer screen. Adware helps recover program
development costs, and helps to hold down the price of
making the application for the user, often making it free
of charge. As a result of the AdWare revenue programmers
were motivated to write maintain, and upgrade valuable
ad-enabled software. Adware was a great consumer trade
off, so were did it all go wrong?
Unbeknownst to the
developers a handful of ad serving companies were logging
and profiling the surfing habits of those who had
downloaded the ad-enabled software. After downloading free
software, the new adware companies delivered pop-up and
pop-under ads based on the consumers surfing interests.
Adware has been criticized for including code that tracks
a user's surfing habits, email address and personal
information, which are passed to third parties, without
the user's authorization or knowledge. This was the
downfall of the ad serving technology and ad-enabled
software.
In many cases consumers
rightfully believe they have been and are being spied on,
which prompted an outcry from privacy advocates. Adware is
not a virus and may not be detected by anti-virus scanning
programs. It does not spread the same way as most viruses
spread. Many users do not know they are downloading a free
program along with adware onto their computer. The lack of
disclosure tarnished reputations of many well known, but
misfortunate developers and software companies. The
collapse of a number of venture backed ad-serving
companies including Aureate and Conducent.
Fast forward to today. Few
applications are now ad enabled. Those that are generally
follow strict disclosure guidelines. Some developers opt
to insert static (not changing) ads for other applications
in their product line, into free versions, but these ads
do not change and there is no record of what ads are
clicked. Freeware can therefore be used free of charge and
there is no evaluation time period as with shareware.
Freeware is also often a basic or stripped down version of
the shareware version. Developers make money off ads or
those who want to upgrade from the free version. There are
also developers who provide freeware out of principle,
occasionally asking for a donation. The majority of
freeware that employs the use of imbedded advertisements
are provided in the true spirit of adware without the
intent to track users, but just to be safe consumers
should read the fine print.
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