Out-Law / Your Daily Need-To-Know
Large well-respected firms are helping to fund the spread of adware by paying for advertisements generated by the software, according to a new report by US non-profit interest group, the Center for Democracy & Technology.
The report, “Following the Money: How Advertising Dollars Encourage Nuisance and Harmful Adware and What Can be Done to Reverse the Trend,” details how through a complicated network of intermediaries major advertisers pay to have their products and services advertised though pop-ups and other ads generated by unwanted advertising software or "adware."
The report dissects the financial relationships behind these arrangements and identifies several mainstream companies that advertise through one particularly unscrupulous adware distributor.
"Knowingly or not, these companies are fuelling the spread of unwanted programs that clog people's computers, threaten privacy and tarnish the internet experience for millions," CDT Deputy Director Ari Schwartz said.
"Because the adware financing model is wilfully convoluted, many companies may not know where their advertising dollars are ending up. We're urging those advertisers to be more vigilant to ensure that they aren't unwittingly bankrolling one of the internet's fastest-growing problems," he added.
The report urges all companies that advertise online to adopt and enforce meaningful ad placement policies.
Elsewhere, behavioural marketing firm Claria Corporation (formerly known as Gator) has announced that it is hoping to sell its adware business by June. The firm was one of the pioneers of the adware marketing phenomenon.
