Free Website Content - Adware, Should I Be Afraid
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.
About the Author:
Sharon Housley manages marketing for NotePage, Inc. http://www.notepage.net
a company specializing in alphanumeric paging, SMS and wireless
messaging software solutions. Other sites by Sharon can
be found at http://www.rss-specifications.com
, http://www.softwaremarketingresource.com
and http://www.small-business-software.net
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the issue or a link to any online posting would be greatly
appreciated send an email to sharon@notepage.net
.
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