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. Some types of adware are also spyware and can be classified as privacy-invasive software.

Application

Adware is software with advertising functions integrated into or bundled with a program. It is usually seen by the programmer as a way to recover programming development costs, and in some cases it may allow the program to be provided to the user free of charge or at a reduced price. The advertising income may allow or motivate the programmer to continue to write, maintain and upgrade the software product. Some adware is also shareware, and so the word may be used as term of distinction to differentiate between types of shareware software. What differentiates adware from other shareware is that it is primarily advertising-supported. Users may also be given the option to pay for a "registered" or "licensed" copy to do away with the advertisements.

Well-known adware programs

An example of mild adware.
The type shown above periodically send popups to the user. It is associated with 180 Solutions.

The Eudora e-mail client is a popular example of an adware "mode" in a program. After a trial period during which all program features are available, the user is offered a choice: a free (but feature-limited), an ad-supported mode with all the features enabled, or a paid mode that enables all features and turns off the ads. If the user choose the ad-supported mode, Eudora becomes adware, although according to Qualcomm the program does not collect any information about user activity.

Prevention and Detection

Programs have been developed in order to detect, quarantine, and remove spyware. As there are many examples of adware software that are also spyware or malware, many of these detection programs have been developed to detect, quarantine, and remove adware as well. Among the more prominent of these applications are Ad-Aware and Spybot Search & Destroy. These programs are designed specifically for spyware detection and will not detect viruses, although some commercial anti-virus programs can also detect adware and spyware, or offer a separate spyware detection package.

See also

• Spyware
• Malware
• Computer insecurity
• Shareware
• Antivirus software
• Hosts file

External links

• Adware and Spyware at the Open Directory Project
• Anti-Spyware Coalition