Perspective: Not all adware is badware

There is a lot of confusion among Internet users as to the difference between adware and spyware.

Adware--generally defined as software installed by consenting users seeking free, value-added services in exchange for exposure to advertisements--is often confused with, or used interchangeably with, the term spyware--advertising-based software often installed without the user's knowledge or consent. As a result, adware is frequently, yet inappropriately, treated like spyware as a virus or malicious software by anti-spyware programs.

To end this confusion, adware vendors and marketers must do a better job of teaching consumers and the software industry how to distinguish adware from spyware. After all, the notion of providing services in return for viewer eyeballs is not new and is comparable to viewing advertisements in any other medium, such as network television, radio and newspapers.

The mere fact that the software is showing ads should not taint it as illegitimate or cause users to associate it with malicious software.

The mere fact that the software is showing ads should not taint it as illegitimate or cause users to associate it with malicious software. However, when legitimate adware is listed in an anti-spyware scanning process, it acquires an unjustified negative reputation and falls victim to a serious churn problem that afflicts much legitimate software, since users usually eliminate the application by clicking on a default button to "clean" or "remove" suspicious software.

Industry leaders such as Symantec have come to recognize the need to differentiate between adware applications and also between vendors that practice 100 percent transparency and those that do not. As such, 100 percent transparent advertising-based software will be classified by Symantec as low-risk with the recommendation not to remove. That provides users with the choice, and it is a meaningful step for the whole industry.

I would like to go further and see a day when the term "adware" is reserved for platforms created solely for displaying ads, while the term "ad-supported software" is applied to programs that provide consumer benefits in return for exposure to commercial messages.

I also propose that we in the industry who produce legitimate adware and ad-supported software adhere to any guidelines set by online-privacy watchdog Truste and adopt the following practices and guidelines:

Adware should never be part of a third-party bundle deal or have any affiliate distributors. It should be downloaded only directly from the company's Web site.

• Adware should never be part of a third-party bundle deal or have any affiliate distributors. It should be downloaded only directly from the company's Web site.

• All advertisements should be easily identified and clearly labeled with the company's brand so that the association between the advertisements and the adware is totally transparent. Users should understand that instead of paying for the software, they are getting advertising.

• Software should be clearly identifiable in the standard Windows add/remove programs list so that a simple and complete uninstall option is available at any time.

• Software should be prominently displayed on computer systems, with a clear interface on the desktop to ensure that users are fully aware of its existence. It is not acceptable for adware or spyware to run behind the scenes, operate in stealth mode or in any way deceive consumers about its existence.

• Adware makers should offer ad-free (yet paid) versions of their software.

Adware companies that follow these rules of transparency should not be viewed as threats and should not be detected by anti-spyware/antivirus vendors. I also hope that those vendors embrace Truste's certification and respect it by not detecting certified software. Until then, anti-spyware vendors will continue to unjustly categorize much adware as malicious software.

Biography
Oren Dobronsky is co-founder and CEO of New York City-based Hotbar.com.

More Perspectives

[CivilLiberties]

All adware IS badware

Dobronsky, and the rest of his crew are full of it. Do some research. It appears he will do and say anything to make a buck. Get hotbar on your computer and see how you like it....Then try to get rid of it.

[inthewoods]

A simple test

Who are you trying to convince? Colleagues? Competitors? Webster? Look beneath the semantics to what customers want. Simply, it's malware if the user doesn't want it. That's a lesson I've learned supporting every conceivable type of user over the last 25 years. Antivirus/antimalware vendors respond to those demands.

Disqualifiers can be, regardless of the product's intended purpose, obfuscation of installs, transfer or lockdown of data, tracking, scanning, other unauthorized sneaking. Sometimes being lumped with the bad guys is as simple as failing to providing working controls for removal. These flaws can immediately qualify a product for malware status in the eyes of customers. The Sony DRM fiasco was a great lesson about failing the tests on every possible level.

As a semi-retired tech I still receive two or three calls a week with requests to remove a leading AV product for reasons of obscurity and program obesity. It's out of control, tends to make a system exist for its own purpose, and can't reliably remove itself. It's ironic yet telling that opinion of a product can grow so similar to opinion of the attackers it's meant to defend against.

So, somewhat in agreement with the spirit of your piece, make your software's purpose and control obvious and make it easily removeable. Best of all, make it work as advertised.

[spywareBob]

Re: a simple test

I agree with Inthe Woods - I, too, am a technician and have the same issues with 'that' AV suite. As for Mr. Hotbar, get used to the term adware being interchangeable with spyware - on current general understanding this is simply so. You'll need a creative new name for your type of software; you'll also need to change your company name as it is also merging as a synonym.

Rob
http://spywarebob.blogspot.com

[aabcdefghij987654321]

The Adware makers all deserve to go broke

Since NONE of them follow ANY of the suggestions made by the author of this article there's no such thing as "good adware". For now as always "Adware IS badware" don't doubt it and certainly don't try to posture it as good. For now all that posturing is just a smokescreen covering their illicit support of their adware being installed on botnets. They all claim to be making sure it no longer happens but the truth is they're still paying for those illicit installs.

[bare--2008]

all adware is badware

if we dont stop one adware program from running what stops them from running hundreds of them,which adware compainy gets to put the program into my computer, how many are accpetable, and who picks which compainies win, so that makes all adware badaware

[whytakeiteasy]

Blood sucking leeches

Hotbar and the likes should be banned. Their perpterators should be chained in alcatarz. These are nothing but computer pests. They get into your computer by dubious means and then refuse to go away.

[wbenton]

Adware is NOT GOOD WARE!!!

I CANNOT BELIEVE that some people still think that ads are wanted because they're unwanted by the majority. I think that most people would agree that they DON'T WANT TO SEE ADS!

Thus forcing an unwanted on people who don't want them is NOT a GOOD THING... and if it's NOT A GOOD THING... then it's A BAD THING.

No two ways around it. Some people might want to try and paint the picture another color... but it's still one and the same picture regardless of which color you paint it!!!

Unwanted is unwanted is unwanted is unwanted is unwanted.

[wbenton]

Adware is NOT GOOD WARE!!!

I CANNOT BELIEVE that some people still think that ads are wanted because they're unwanted by the majority. I think that most people would agree that they DON'T WANT TO SEE ADS!

Thus forcing an unwanted on people who don't want them is NOT a GOOD THING... and if it's NOT A GOOD THING... then it's A BAD THING.

No two ways around it. Some people might want to try and paint the picture another color... but it's still one and the same picture regardless of which color you paint it!!!

Unwanted is unwanted is unwanted is unwanted is unwanted.