Comments on: Grisoft modifies its free AVG product after complaints

AVG 8.0 no longer downloads the home page of every search result returned by Google, Yahoo, and MSN, and now uses a blacklist to check sites for malware.

[Daniel_Brandt]

I don't understand why Thompson is claiming why a DNS lookup is needed along with the URL for purposes of checking a local blacklist. Due to name-based hosting, many diverse sites frequently share the same IP address. This address by itself tells you nothing about how dangerous a site may be, unless you are willing to simultaneously incriminate every other site that may be on that same IP address. Until someone educates me about the esoteric discipline of anti-virus engineering, I stand by my statement that AVG is "pretending to prefetch." I suspect that the cool green check marks are alluring for mom and pop, who might otherwise feel uneasy about using the web. They are a psychological success but have no technical function, now that the site prefetch "feature" has been disabled, and AVG no longer needs the IP address to fetch each link that's shown on page of search results.

[pbitton]

Just a quick note - the AVG component at issue here is named Search-Shield, not Secure Shield.

[Vegaman_Dan]

They listened to web masters complaining about the sudden huge surge of artificial hits to their sites which costs some groups bandwidth and very real economic results.
They said earlier that they intended to break a few eggs (websites) in order to make the omelette.

Here they say they are now at war on the web- but they don't say with whom. To me it looks like they are at war with the entire web. I'm embarassed to have had this product on my system in the past and cannot in good faith ever suggest it to anyone ever again. Not when they pull this sort of drity trick- and there really is no other term for it. What they are doing is dirty and can only cause problems for everyone involved.

[c|net Reader]

A "dirty trick?" Such hyperbole. You apparently assume the worst of others and expect perfection.

AVG tried to improve browsing safety. It backfired. They said, "Oops!" They tried to keep as much of the original functionality as they could. What's dirty about that?

Their idea may not have been so good in retrospect, but I applaud their attempt to improve browsing safety. I don't use AVG or any other AV product, but appreciate their efforts.

[vamphyri13131313]

It's not real hard to understand, look...The real issue is that, like it or not, we're at war on the Web," said Thompson. "Criminals, both organized and opportunistic want our PCs and our money, and they're attacking via the Web.

[jasbjoe]

I can't believe some of the bunk that comes out of some of your keyboards!
Because a great company like Grisoft, who dedicates so much effort to help clean up this trash heap called internet, tries to use a method that brings unexpected side results you want to slam-bash them? And no credit for quick response either!

A very large portion of my business is cleaning up viruses & other malware let in by other lesser AV progs and AVG is one of my biggest and most successful tools. And then they produce a free version so that every average joe/jane can have AV protection without getting ripped off by others that don't work as advertised!

If your only experience with AVG or other AV or malware programs are limited to your own PC then perhaps you should keep your opinions to yourself anyway. But my experience is based upon cleaning, and keeping clean, several thousand PC's with AVG and I strongly recommend it to all my clients. And load it on all my residential clients' PCs that don't already have AV protection.

Confidential to Vegaman-dan: is "a drity trick" anything like "a dirty trick"? Perhaps you don't know the difference. And they are not "at war with the web", just those idiots that dedicate their pathetic existences to screwing up the internet for the rest of us.