Slimy Spyware Companies
by Marshall on May 4, 2005
One of the most difficult to uninstall spyware programs that I have enver encountered are the ones “offered” by 180solutions. According to Ben Edelman, 180solutions posts profits by overwriting affiliate ID’s on banner advertisement. What does that really mean? Suppose you visit a website that you enjoy who depends on banner advertisement to generate some money. As a viewer of that website, I can choose to view that ad, or I can choose to filter the ad. If I view that ad and decide to click through, possibly to purchase a product, a fraction of the purchase goes to the website which generated the purchase.
What 180solutions does is very underhanded. Overwritting the affiliate ID on ads means that now if I click through and purchase a product, no longer does the website that I visit get a profit, but 180solutions is STEALING money from that website. Get it? 180 degrees. Turning the profit completely around? As far as web annoyances are concerned, banner advertisement is very near the top, followed by spyware in general, and 180solutions on top.
For some very informative articles about the new viruses of the internet, go to www.benedelman.org
Leave your comment