Claria quits adware

Claria announced today that the company will be out of the adware business by the end of the second quarter.In April Claria will launch the beta version of PersonalWeb(SM), a "next generation platform designed to provide consumers with a highly personalized Internet experience." I don't have any details on PersonalWeb, but it should prove interesting. Perhaps it's related to Claria's BehaviorLink(SM), a targeted advertising network service that includes analysis of consumers' web usage.

In 2001 - 2002 when Claria was still Gator, it was one of the most hated adware names on the internet. Claria is currently in discussion with several companies interested in buying their adware assets. Last year there was speculation that Microsoft was considering acquiring Claria. Let's hope Microsoft is not interested in Claria's adware assets.

In other adware news, Sean Sundwall resigned from 180solutions March 1 according to SunbeltBLOG. Sundwall was director of corporate communications. Prior to joining 180solutions, Sundwall was with Microsoft.