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Posted on 07/03/2004 8:40:12 PM PDT by wagglebee
J.P. Morgan Chase, Verizon Communications, Merck and T-Mobile are among the mainstream companies that buy pop-up ads on controversial "adware" network WhenU, according to a new report.
Adware is software, often available as a free Internet download, that requires consumers to agree to accept advertising messages in order to use them. Some of these programs have been criticized for failing to adequately disclose their terms, which may include allowing companies to monitor consumer Web surfing activities, among other things.
A report scheduled to be released Wednesday provides a rare glimpse into the inner workings of WhenU, the second-largest adware network. Prepared by Ben Edelman, a Harvard University graduate student who has testified in spyware cases as an expert witness, the independently prepared report reveals that Fortune 500 companies have turned to the often-controversial networks as a way to stand out in an increasingly ad-saturated online environment.
In the last few months, WhenU and rival Claria (formerly Gator) have faced mounting criticism from privacy advocates and politicians who liken the controversial software to "spyware," saying Net surfers may not be aware that they're getting it when installing applications like Kazaa or Morpheus.
The line between adware and spyware is fuzzy. But even critics of WhenU and Claria concede that those companies' practices are nowhere near as objectionable as malevolent ware that surreptitiously infects a PC and uses it to send out spam or divulges a user's credit card numbers.
Major League Baseball has taken a stand against advertising networks such as WhenU and Claria and will no longer sign deals with companies that advertise with them, The Wall Street Journal reported Tuesday. In addition, recognizing that Web surfers are increasingly frustrated with pop-ups, the Interactive Advertising Bureau has published guidelines designed to limit their use and ensure correct labeling.
The forthcoming report shows how WhenU advertisers target competitors' Web sites. According to the report, Best Western appears to throw up ads on 208 domains, including those of Comfort Inns and Days Inn; Thrifty aims ads at the sites of rivals Dollar Rent A Car and Enterprise Rent-A-Car; and Verizon DSL ads are triggered by visits to the sites of broadband providers Covad Communications Group, Direcway and 71 other domains.
"They like to cover other people's Web sites with their ads," Edelman said. "When you go to The New York Times, the ad you see isn't helping to pay for the expenses of The New York Times. It's money that's going into (WhenU's) pocket."
While Edelman said he performed this research on his own without being paid, he was hired as a consultant last year by financial companies that sued WhenU. Edelman has prepared a similar report for a court case that was filed under seal.
WhenU said it would need more time to review the report, but it did not immediately contest the methodology. In the past, "he made a lot of mistakes in his assessment" of WhenU's inner workings, Avi Naider, WhenU's chief executive, said Tuesday. "It hasn't been my habit and policy in the past to respond specifically to what Ben Edelman says."
While prominent companies advertise with WhenU, many of the advertisers hail from seamier sections of society. The report says 49 companies run gambling or betting ads on PCs with WhenU installed, and nine firms have purchased a total of 99 ads related to sexual enhancement. The largest advertisers are Priceline.com, J.P. Morgan Chase, Casino On Net, Verizon and Orexis (which sells sexual-enhancement pills for men).
WhenU's practice of placing ads over competitors' Web sites has landed it in legal trouble. The company has been sued by 1-800-Contacts, Overstock.com, Quicken Loans, U-Haul, Weight Watchers and Wells Fargo. 1-800-Contacts, which claims that WhenU's ad practices violate copyright and trademark law, has won a preliminary injunction blocking further ads targeted at its Web site.
Claria, a WhenU rival, has filed for an initial public offering. Documents it disclosed list 20 of its top advertisers, including Orbitz, Buy.com, Lycos, Amerix, Motorola and Sprint.
WhenU is also exploring how to raise additional money, CNET News.com reported earlier this month.
unfortunately it is only going to get worse before it gets better....
Its getting worse every damn day. Two weeks ago I had to wipe out the hard-drive on my laptop just to get rid of all the garbage on it.
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I totally agree. I just spent a week clearing out my hard drive. I had downloaded a program called ad-ware(don't know if it is the same as above), but it was a pop-up blocker, which did not serve me well due to the fact it slowed the speed of my computer. But after I tried to remove it, holy shite, my computer did nothing but consistently lock up. I am still amazed that I am able to use my computer tonight.
Thanks for the information, martin.
Highly recommended.
Ummm... can I get Miss Internet 2003 to come protect my PC? :o)
And a murderer is nowhere near as objectionable as a MASS murderer.
Jerks.
It's a sad thing, but accepting that you've got to have a main program to run automatically on
a daily basis and run a couple of back-ups on the weekend will be necessary until a few
hackers are found hanging from highway overpasses some day during morning rush hour.
Yeah, they bury the "agreement" waaay deep in the EULA.
Most people never know they've "agreed" to host scumware on their PC's.
I'm having to run security daily. One virus killer and Spybot S and D. There's almost no possible run through the internet these days that doesn't pick up something. The more insidious stuff is still on porn sites, but that is changing as the mainstream sells more and more scams.
I'm also downloading security updates about twice a week. This has been going on for about two months. The internet is becoming a slum.
These guys are low-lifes similar to spammers and should be shunned at minimum. Actually, I think they should be tarred and feathered and run out of town on a rail.
That works for me. How do I contribute to a fund to make that happen?
She's protecting my PC at the moment. I'll send her over when she's, um, done.
RE: Popups
I've had good luck with Mozilla's ('lite') Firebird (an earlier version of Mozilla's free little trim 'Firefox' browser). I was concerned about security using IE, and Netscape couldn't cut it.
Firefox has built in (configurable/seamless) popup blocking, among other good features. You can read more at: http://www.mozilla.org/products/firefox/ ...to see if it might be right for you. ("Visualize...No More PopUps")
I am not a big 'techie' (nor am I associated with any of Mozilla's developers), but Firebird installed easily for me with the available installer, and has SIGNIFICANTLY reduced the number of system hangs I was getting - which, aside from security, was my main reason for changing browsers.
There were a number of reviews online in various places, when I was considering changing, many of which I read before installing, and there are a lot of help files, faqs and sites for how-to tips of all kinds on line as well (...easily found with Google.)
Do 'look before you leap' however - everyone is working in a different environment with different needs - but I myself will go back to IE... probably the same week I decide to go vote for John Kerry.
I did try Linux - installed it, ran it.
If my nextdoor neighbor told me he wrote that in his basesment, I'd have said "Wow! That's amazing!"
But for something that's supposed to be ready for primetime... sorry!
It ain't!
It kinda sorta almost works; and the version I used popped up this useful fact:
"The developers of this software only drink tea, not coffee."
I dunno, maybe that explains a lot...
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