Claria to exit adware business

Claria, formerly known as Gator, plans to sell its pop-up advertising business by June, as it seeks credibility among online publishers and privacy watchdogs.

The company on Tuesday said it has hired Deutsche Bank Securities to handle the sale of its adware assets and that it is in "active discussions" with a number of interested buyers. It emphasized that it will sell its assets only to a company that is in strict compliance with the standards of online privacy watchdog Truste and other anti-spyware organizations.

Claria last year had announced that it was branching out from its adware business to focus on search, but it didn't give a time frame or say it was dropping its adware entirely. It began testing a search service that analyzes user habits to deliver personalized results.

The company has suffered from its association with pop-up advertising, and in February 2003, it settled a high-profile lawsuit brought by The Washington Post, The New York Times, Dow Jones and other media companies.

Claria said this week that it will announce partnerships connected to the new personalization technology and launch a beta test of PersonalWeb, a consumer application using the platform, in April.

"We are delighted by both partner and market acceptance of our new personalization technologies," Claria CEO Scott VanDeVelde said in statement.

Personalized search is considered to be a major innovation in the multibillion-dollar marketing business. Many big players, such as Google, Yahoo and Amazon.com, have been creating services to allow consumers to customize their search experience in a bid to maximize their share of the industry.

[bobby_brady]

Yeah! May Claria now burn in hell for

their spyware and tactics.

[_chad_]

Yes

I couldn't have put it better myself.

[_chad_]

Fool us once shame on you, fool us twice...

Yeah right. This is not the first time Gator/Claria has "come clean". The repeated deceitfulness and shady tactics of this company has more or less permanently ruined it reputation in my book. Anybody remember when they sued pcpitstop.com for labeling their hidden adware as [gasp] adware?

[umbrae]

Yep

They will definately find another way to scr3w us. They always have, and the CEO of the company has always defended adware/spyware.

[lazarus_vendetta]

I HATE ADWARE

How can a company get by with putting thier junk on the net spyware/adware is bs. I cant bielieve they can legally get away with what they do. Claria can go have intercourse wit themselves.