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Larry Dignan, Jason Perlow, Tom Steinert-Threlkeld
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Advertisers using badware: who are they?

By | March 20, 2006, 10:20am PST

Summary: The CDT (Center for Democracy & Technology) followed the money trail and they, along with  Ben Edelman, are telling names. From the CDT: Large well-respected companies are helping to fund the virulent spread of unwanted and potentially harmful "adware" by paying for advertisements generated by those programs, a new report by CDT finds. In "Following the Money: [...]

The CDT (Center for Democracy & Technology) followed the money trail and they, along with  Ben Edelman, are telling names. From the CDT:

Large well-respected companies are helping to fund the virulent spread of unwanted and potentially harmful "adware" by paying for advertisements generated by those programs, a new report by CDT finds. In "Following the Money: How Advertising Dollars Encourage Nuisance and Harmful Adware and What Can be Done to Reverse the Trend," CDT 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 those arrangements and identifies a number of mainstream companies that advertise through one particularly unscrupulous adware distributor.

Full CDT report here (PDF). The report addresses the big question: "are brand-name companies wittingly delivering their ads via nuisance or harmful adware, or are they truly unaware that this is taking place?" The CDT contacted 18 advertisers whose ads were served by 180solutions, an adware company with a well documented  history of unfair and deceptive practices. (The CDT filed an extensive complaint against 180solutions with the FTC in January). The CDT asked the companies whether or not they had "advertising policies addressing nuisance or harmful adware." Out of the 18 companies, 11 did not respond. Those 11 are: True.com, PerfectMatch, Club Med Americas, LetsTalk.com, uBid, ProFlowers, GreetingCards.com, NetZero, People PC, Altrec and Waterfront Media. The CDT report details their communication with other companies, including Netflix and eHarmony, that did respond.

Ben Edelman’s write up is here. He posted screenshots of ads received from 180solutions during recent testing. Note the ads from 180solutions partially obstructing the web pages — on a Blockbuster page, you see an ad for Netflix; and on the Hallmark site, you see an ad for GreetingCards.com.

PC World reports that StopBadware.org is slated to release its report on advertisers using badware Wednesday.

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Suzi Turner is webmaster and owner of SpywareWarrior.com, a comprehensive site that includes a spyware help forum, spyware blog and reviews of anti-spyware software by noted spyware expert Eric L. Howes. Suzi became angry about spyware in 2002 after being infected by a drive-by-download of a browser hijacker and unwanted adware/spyware and decided to help others in the same predicament. In April 2005, Microsoft awarded Suzi its MVP (Most Valued Professional) Award in recognition of her work to help internet users protect their privacy by removing and preventing spyware. Suzi is also a nurse for a national disability management company.

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Looks Like Ziff Davis Caught on Early?
dd@... 21st Mar 2006
A number of months ago on the Cnet.com site, I noted that on the same page as Molly Wood's editoral on Spyware, were ad hyperlinks TO all sorts of malware. They were the kind: "Get your free ipod", "Free screensavers, "Win a Dell computer"...etc.

These links led to exactly the kinds of sites which are chock full of malware, identity capturing routines (and worse).

I thought it profoundly irresponsible for Ziff Davis Inc. to on one hand, present itself as a trustworthy, independent resource for tech info, and on the other hand support (or provide a venue for) malevolent advertisers.

I had planned to write a flaming letter to Michael Miller to point this out, but I don't think I ever did. Looking at Cnet recently, it looks like they figured this out themselves because these kinds of ads are gone. If this is so, good work ZD.

The need for this kind of "self policing" provides a close corollary to this story on revealing advertisers who use unscrupulous ad venues and leads to what I see as an important corollary and perhaps an opportunity.

The opportunity is to develop a simple, uniform code of conduct that web publisher would subscribe to (and display on their sites) simply stating that they do not support linkage to sources of malware. A central (independent) organization might be developed to maintain a database of these malware entities, provide a reporting format for web users, etc. A unique, branded insignia would be displayed on each participant website indicating the publishers acceptance of this standard and practice. The entire activity and be akin to a "good housekeeping" seal and similar practice..

Would not this kind of activity/entity be an important compliment to "outing" advertisers who use malevolent delivery of their information?

So Mr. Miller....why not go this next step?
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Brand-name companies are witting accomplices.
Mr. Roboto 20th Mar 2006
Judging by the thumbnails, it looks like the the brand-namers knew what they were doing with 180solutions. Look at how some of their ads are obscuring a competitor's page (eHarmony over LavaLife, GreetingCards.com over Hallmark, Netflix over Blockbuster, etc.). That alone gives me reason to think that this was deliberate.

What I find disturbing is that NetZero and People PC are resorting to this tatic, and they're ISPs!!! If this is how they prefer to advertise, I hate to think of thier "policy" of keeping this stuff from reaching their customers. shocked
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Unless major news agencies report on this...
DCMann 21st Mar 2006
...nothing will change. Anyone familiar with the technology behind spyware/adware already knows this is going on. Unless a major new organization forces legit companies to examine how their advertising money is being spent (knowingly or not), this will continue.

The report is a step in the right direction, but it being read by a bunch of people that already know this is going on won't change a thing.
0 Votes
+ -
Looks Like Ziff Davis Caught on Early?
dd@... 21st Mar 2006
A number of months ago on the Cnet.com site, I noted that on the same page as Molly Wood's editoral on Spyware, were ad hyperlinks TO all sorts of malware. They were the kind: "Get your free ipod", "Free screensavers, "Win a Dell computer"...etc.

These links led to exactly the kinds of sites which are chock full of malware, identity capturing routines (and worse).

I thought it profoundly irresponsible for Ziff Davis Inc. to on one hand, present itself as a trustworthy, independent resource for tech info, and on the other hand support (or provide a venue for) malevolent advertisers.

I had planned to write a flaming letter to Michael Miller to point this out, but I don't think I ever did. Looking at Cnet recently, it looks like they figured this out themselves because these kinds of ads are gone. If this is so, good work ZD.

The need for this kind of "self policing" provides a close corollary to this story on revealing advertisers who use unscrupulous ad venues and leads to what I see as an important corollary and perhaps an opportunity.

The opportunity is to develop a simple, uniform code of conduct that web publisher would subscribe to (and display on their sites) simply stating that they do not support linkage to sources of malware. A central (independent) organization might be developed to maintain a database of these malware entities, provide a reporting format for web users, etc. A unique, branded insignia would be displayed on each participant website indicating the publishers acceptance of this standard and practice. The entire activity and be akin to a "good housekeeping" seal and similar practice..

Would not this kind of activity/entity be an important compliment to "outing" advertisers who use malevolent delivery of their information?

So Mr. Miller....why not go this next step?

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