Talk:Adware
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[edit] Revisions Oct 2005
Sorry to butt in. I reorged the page a bit, and trimmed down the definition to the suggeston below. (The sentence had grown long and contorted.) I tried to break things out into "definition" "how it is used" and "the spyware / malware thing" which seem the succint concerns to anyone who might visit.
If I have breached etiquette badly or stamped on anyone's toes, I'm sorry. Please send an feedback you may have to dannyman@toldme.com. Thanks! /danny
[edit] Definition seems narrow
"Adware or advertising-supported software is any software application in which advertisements are displayed while the program is running."
How about adware products that display advertisements while the software program is not running?
I think it is enough for a software product to install a third-party component that runs in the background and displays popup ads while a user is browsing the web (an activity not necessarily related to actually using the product installed) to be considered adware.
I think any software package at all that includes some component which causes vendor-supplied or vendor-partner-supplied advertisements to be displayed (with the exception of advertisements provided by the creator of a document the user opens) is adware.
Which is considerably more broad than the very narrow definition given in the article --Mysidia 02:39, 9 Jun 2005 (UTC)
I propose as a definition for adware:
Adware or advertising-supported software is any software package which automatically plays, displays, or downloads advertising material to a computer after the software is installed on it or while the application is being used.
I think this better reflects what is understood by adware, i.e.
From http://sarc.com/avcenter/expanded_threats/adware/ :
Programs that facilitate delivery of advertising content to the user through their own window, or by utilizing another program's interface. In some cases, these programs may gather information from the user's computer, including information related to Internet browser usage or other computing habits, and relay this information back to a remote computer or other location in cyber-space.
From http://www.viruslist.com/en/glossary?glossid=153599593 :
Adware includes programs that show end users advertisements, often banners, independently of user activity. This type of software is often installed on victim machines from remote sites without the user's knowledge or consent. Many free programs available on the Internet include adware. Adware will continue to function even if the program that it comes with is closed or deleted.
From http://www.visiontm.com/Spy/Glossary.htm :
while not necessarily malware, Adware is considered to go beyond the reasonable advertising that one might expect from freeware or shareware. Typically a separate program that is installed at the same time as a shareware or similar program, Adware will usually continue to generate advertising even when the user is not running the originally desired program. See also cookies, Spyware, and Web Bugs.
From http://www.wired.com/news/technology/0,1282,63345,00.html :
Dubbed spyware, adware, sneakware or malware -- depending on who you talk to -- these programs embed themselves deep inside a computer's operating system and spawn windows full of advertising messages, preventing users from accessing any other application.
--Mysidia 22:50, 11 Jun 2005 (UTC)
[edit] Error in Firefox
This article, along with the article for Pop-up ad, doesn't show up correctly for me in Firefox. In both articles the first paragraph does not appear. Does anyone know why this is? -- LGagnon 23:33, Jun 9, 2005 (UTC)
- Discussion continued at Talk:Pop-up ad#Error in Firefox. ··gracefool |☺ 01:13, 10 Jun 2005 (UTC)
[edit] AIM
I use a Mac, and on AOL Instant Messenger there's an ad at the top of my buddy list window. I'd like information on A: Does that count as adware too? B: Is it there on the Windows version too? Thanks. Worldmaster0 15:14, 27 December 2005 (UTC)
mmm, seems MSN Messenger has some ads too.--Skyfiler 04:33, 31 July 2006 (UTC)
Hmmm.. lol, you bring up an interesting point... Man, I think that's already under discussion, on the actual page that holds MSN Messenger. I don't understand why windows comes with "messenger," which is the original chat client that coems preinstalled AND, has no ads.
[edit] The negativity of the general article
This is one of the worst articles I have seen on wikipedia. Much software is ad supported now-a-days the artricle implies that it all all ad supported software is from the Devil and is SpyWare. I think the article should be split. Respectable (well big companies) have ad supported like Microsoft, Google, AOL/TW, etc. And many video games now-a-day come with ads to support the software. These are not classed as spyware which this article implies it all ad asupported software is. I am going to re-write this article this week. It is shocking and biased tbh.Rovastar 19:05, 6 December 2006 (UTC)
- It actually reflects the general perception of adware these days. I think a discussion of the history of the term is worth while doing. Adware in the past was generally benign that displayed cycles of static ads with the software whenever you started or closed down the software (much like Tv ads really), but it became more and more aggresive, to the point of tracking user habits (whether indivually or in aggegate) and sending dynamic customised ads, which I think moves it to the spyware area to some extent. There was a time when vendors tried to insist that their products was adware but not spyware, but these days the battle is already lost.Aarontay 02:48, 17 February 2007 (UTC)
- Come to think of it the Spyware article section on advertising already has a excellent discussion of adware! Aarontay 02:52, 17 February 2007 (UTC)
- Shouldn't Google and Amazon be classified as Adware/Spyware? Google displays ads when the software is started, and track emily sayre was here on Sept. 14 2007 at 9:27 s user habits. —The preceding unsigned comment was added by 69.119.92.25 (talk) 19:16, 4 March 2007 (UTC).
[edit] BitComet
Is bitcomet really adware? Is it because of the URL links on the right? and the small ad on the side bar? I've never really considered it to be adware... but, if anyone can clarify
[edit] Example Picture
The picture containing "an example of mild adware on Windows Media Centre edition" really looks more like mild popup-advert on Windows XP. Someone who believes in ad-supported applications (like the one above) could pick and post more relevant picture like embedded ads in a program, as the current picture hardly makes much sense other than showing a random advert.
[edit] Oh no!
I downloaded Smiley Central! Is that going to affect my computer?68.215.58.82 19:33, 28 March 2007 (UTC)
[edit] Prevention section
I think the Prevention section is not really appropiate in the article, as it deals with Anti-Spyware software. Ok, it is a fact (which is discussed in the article) that a lot of adware can be also spyware, and that it can be a natural pairing, etc. But putting a "Prevention" section implies that you want to prevent Adware, and that Adware by itself does bad things, again confusing spyware with adware. As it is put in the article, it's spyware you want to prevent, not adware. For example, I seem to recall GetRight was adware, but why would I want to prevent that? I may want to buy the registered, ad-free version, or prevent spyware if it was bundled with it, but it's not logical to "prevent" ads; ads may be skipped, ignored, avoided, not prevented; spyware may be prevented.
A reason to keep the section was that many people may come to this article, and not move on to the Spyware article to understand what's happening to their PCs. But I don't see Wikipedia as a fix-your-pc resource; it's an encyclopedia, and it's not the way that people will use it which should dictate what to keep; it should be the consistency of the article and that the information belongs to the article, and it not repeated somewhere else. Maybe the prevention section could be kept, changing it to "avoiding" or "protecting", and summarizing it with a couple hints and mentioning again the spyware relation, poiting to the spyware article to check software that deals on that
Maybe the reason that there is that section is that adware may often take the form of invasive programs that bury themselves in the PC and show the ads, being difficult to remove (even if they are not spying on you). It's atually "malware adware" which you want to prevent; not adware by itself. If that is the case, I think it should be made clear in the article; then it would make more sense for the prevention section to be there. Sega381 17:40, 2 September 2007 (UTC)
[edit] Vendors
The listing of all these anti-adware vendors seems to be inappropriate as there are many pages on Wikipedia where links to 'examples' vendors or companies related to the article are removed by admins as they are deemed as being against Wikipedia guidelines of not promoting for-profit commercial organizations. I believe that all of the anti-adware vendors listed are reaping great monetary rewards from being listed on this Wikipedia page. If Wikipedia wishes to be consistent across the board all of the vendor names and links should be removed. —Preceding unsigned comment added by Shaniquabrown (talk • contribs) 23:57, 11 September 2007 (UTC)
- I agree.Sega381 00:28, 12 September 2007 (UTC)
[edit] Prevention items
A couple of problems with the items listed in the preventions section.
- Adblock is a tool for blocking ads, which is not the same thing as adware. An ad that you see on a webpage that was put there by the web developer (as opposed to an application on your computer) is not adware, just an add. The connection adblock has with this article is loose at best.
- Telling people to switch operating systems is unhelpful and smacks of immature fanboyism. Would you tell someone with a termite problem in their house to just move across country?
- "Use free alternatives of software" can should just be changed to "Use alternatives of software" since a)not all commercial software has adware, and b)not all freeware is adware-free.
- Koweja 23:51, 4 November 2007 (UTC)
[edit] Form of spyware
Isn't adaware a type of spyware? This article seems to say it's a seperate form of malware. --Philip Laurence (talk) 18:14, 24 March 2008 (UTC)
[edit] Confused
This article is a bit confused its trying to say two things are adware. Adware is like spyware but it displays ads its like something you would accidentally download and it brings up windows and stuff to try to show you as many ads it can so the person who infected you can get money. Then theres programs with ads in them these are NOT adware they are advertising-supported software. almost everything in this article is wrong or confused. It looks like it was written by someone who read a little bit about adware and advertising-supported programs then tried to write about them and confusing them in the process I'm surprised no one has caught this. adware and advertising-supported programs are NOT the same thing although some people refer to them the same the distinction should be made between the two of these. I would fix this article myself but im not that good with words and i have the fealing if i did fix it it would just be reverted back but ill highlight some things that should be changed. the list of "adware" is mixed with adware and nonadware the definition is a mix also and should be split into: advertising-supported software is any software package which plays or display. adware is any software package that downloads advertising material to a computer after the software is installed on it or while the application is being used. Some types of adware are also spyware and can be classified as privacy-invasive software. most of the second paragraph in application dosent make sense but it should be: Some advertising-supported software may provide users with the option to pay for a "registered" or "licensed" copy to do away with the advertisements. —Preceding unsigned comment added by 69.205.113.255 (talk) 21:16, 15 April 2008 (UTC)
