adware

In legitimate software, the advertising functions are integrated into or bundled with the program. Adware is usually seen by the developer as a way to recover development costs and generate revenue. In some cases, the developer may provide the software to the user free of charge or at a reduced price. The income derived from presenting advertisements to the user may allow or motivate the developer to continue to develop, maintain and upgrade the software product.{{cite news|url=https://www.zdnet.com/article/feature-ad-supported-software/|title=Feature: Ad-supported software|first=David|last=Braue|date=4 September 2008|work=ZDNet|access-date=4 December 2012}} The use of advertising-supported software in business is becoming increasingly popular, with a third of IT and business executives in a 2007 survey by McKinsey & Company planning to be using ad-funded software within the following two years.{{cite news|url=http://www.informationweek.com/businesses-warm-to-no-cost-ad-supported-software-/d/d-id/1054803|title=Businesses Warm To No-Cost, Ad-Supported Software|last=Hayes Weier|first=Mary|date=5 May 2007|work=Information Week|access-date=4 December 2012|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160808025452/http://www.informationweek.com/businesses-warm-to-no-cost-ad-supported-software-/d/d-id/1054803|archive-date=8 August 2016}} Advertisement-funded software is also one of the business models for open-source software.

Some software is offered in both an advertising-supported mode and a paid, advertisement-free mode. The latter is usually available after buying a license or registration code that unlocks the mode or a separate version of the software.{{efn|For example, in 2007 Microsoft changed its productivity suite Microsoft Works to be advertising-supported.{{cite news|url=http://www.zdnet.com/blog/microsoft/microsoft-works-to-become-a-free-ad-funded-product/604|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100720142403/http://www.zdnet.com/blog/microsoft/microsoft-works-to-become-a-free-ad-funded-product/604|url-status=dead|archive-date=20 July 2010|title=Microsoft Works to become a free, ad-funded product|first=Mary Jo|last=Foley|newspaper=Zdnet|date=30 July 2007|access-date=4 December 2012}} Works was subsequently replaced with the Microsoft Office 2010 software suite operating in a "starter" mode that included advertisements.{{cite news|url=http://www.zdnet.com/blog/microsoft/microsoft-adds-an-office-starter-edition-to-its-distribution-plans/4197|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100515054234/http://www.zdnet.com/blog/microsoft/microsoft-adds-an-office-starter-edition-to-its-distribution-plans/4197|url-status=dead|archive-date=15 May 2010|title=Microsoft adds an 'Office Starter' edition to its distribution plans|first=Mary Jo|last=Foley|date=9 October 2009|work=ZDNet|access-date=4 December 2012}} {{As of|2012}}, this product is also being phased out and replaced with Office Online (formerly Office Web Apps).{{cite news|url=http://www.zdnet.com/blog/microsoft/microsoft-begins-phasing-out-starter-edition-of-its-office-suite/13001|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120623203434/http://www.zdnet.com/blog/microsoft/microsoft-begins-phasing-out-starter-edition-of-its-office-suite/13001|url-status=dead|archive-date=23 June 2012|title=Microsoft begins phasing out Starter edition of its Office suite|first=Mary Jo|last=Foley|date=21 June 2012|work=ZDNet|access-date=4 December 2012}}}}

Some software authors offer advertising-supported versions of their software as an alternative option to business organizations seeking to avoid paying large sums for software licenses, funding the development of the software with higher fees for advertisers.{{cite news|url=http://www.sfgate.com/business/article/Ad-supported-software-reaches-specialized-audience-3501806.php|title=Ad-supported software reaches specialized audience|first=Ari|last=Levy|date=23 April 2012|newspaper=SF Gate|access-date=4 December 2012}}

Examples of advertising-supported software include Adblock Plus ("Acceptable Ads"),{{cite web|url=https://adblockplus.org/acceptable-ads|title=Allowing acceptable ads in Adblock Plus|website=adblockplus.org|access-date=18 March 2018}} the Windows version of the Internet telephony application Skype,{{cite web|url=http://www.itnews.com.au/News/250426,skype-now-free-ad-supported-software.aspx|title=Skype now free ad-supported software|first=Liam|last=Tung|date=11 March 2011|publisher=iT News for Australian Business|access-date=4 December 2012}} and the Amazon Kindle 3 family of e-book readers, which has versions called "Kindle with Special Offers" that display advertisements on the home page and in sleep mode in exchange for substantially lower pricing.{{cite web|title=Kindle, Wi-Fi, Graphite, 6" Display with New E Ink Pearl Technology — includes Special Offers & Sponsored Screensavers|url=https://www.amazon.com/Kindle-Special-Offers-Wireless-Reader/dp/B004HFS6Z0|work=Amazon.com|access-date=4 August 2011}}

In 2012, Microsoft and its advertising division, Microsoft Advertising,{{efn|Formed in 2008 following Microsoft's acquisition of digital marketing company aQuantive.{{cite web|url=http://www.microsoft.com/presspass/newsroom/msn/factsheet/MSAdTimeline.mspx|title=Microsoft Advertising Historical Timeline|date=September 2008|publisher=Microsoft Advertising|access-date=20 November 2012}}}} announced that Windows 8, the major release of the Microsoft Windows operating system, would provide built-in methods for software authors to use advertising support as a business model.{{cite web|url=http://advertising.microsoft.com/ads-in-apps |title=Windows 8 Ads in Apps |publisher=Microsoft Advertising |access-date=20 November 2012 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20121121192941/http://advertising.microsoft.com/ads-in-apps |archive-date=21 November 2012 }}{{cite web|url=http://community.advertising.microsoft.com/msa/en/global/b/blog/archive/2012/10/01/windows-8-ads-in-apps-concepts-agency-partners-advertising-week-2012.aspx|title=Microsoft Advertising Unveils New Windows 8 Ads in Apps Concepts with Agency Partners at Advertising Week 2012|last=Kim|first=Stephen|date=1 October 2012|publisher=Microsoft|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130927224909/http://community.advertising.microsoft.com/msa/en/global/b/blog/archive/2012/10/01/windows-8-ads-in-apps-concepts-agency-partners-advertising-week-2012.aspx|archive-date=27 September 2013|access-date=20 November 2012}} The idea had been considered since as early as 2005.{{cite news|url=http://news.zdnet.com/2100-3513_22-5951569.html|title=Microsoft eyes making desktop apps free|last=Fried|first=Ina|date=14 November 2005|newspaper=CNET|access-date=20 November 2012|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20051124140201/http://news.zdnet.com/2100-3513_22-5951569.html|archive-date=24 November 2005}} Most editions of Windows 10 include adware by default.{{cite web |last1=Hoffman |first1=Chris |title=How to Disable All of Windows 10's Built-in Advertising |url=https://www.howtogeek.com/269331/how-to-disable-all-of-windows-10s-built-in-advertising/ |website=howtogeek.com |date=9 March 2017 |access-date=25 August 2020}}

Support by advertising is a popular business model of software as a service (SaaS) on the Web. Notable examples include the email service Gmail{{cite book|last=Teeter|first=Ryan|title=Google Apps For Dummies|isbn=978-1-118-05240-2|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=5TUv9jCaJdwC&pg=SA3-PA27|author2=Karl Barksdale|pages=3–27|date=9 February 2011|publisher=John Wiley & Sons }} and other Google Workspace products (previously called Google Apps and G Suite), and the social network Facebook.{{cite web|url=http://mashable.com/archive/facebooks-ad-revenue-hit-1-86b-for-2010/|title=Facebook's Ad Revenue Hit $1.86B for 2010|author= by Jolie O'Dell 203|date=17 January 2011|website=Mashable|publisher=Mashable.com|access-date=21 December 2011}}{{cite news|last=Womack |first=Brian |url=https://www.bloomberg.com/news/2011-09-20/facebook-revenue-will-reach-4-27-billion-emarketer-says-1-.html |title=Facebook Revenue Will Reach $4.27 Billion, EMarketer Says |publisher=Bloomberg |date=20 September 2011 |access-date=21 December 2011}} Microsoft has also adopted the advertising-supported model for many of its social software SaaS offerings.{{cite news|url=http://www.zdnet.com/blog/microsoft/meet-microsoft-the-advertising-company/419|archive-url=https://archive.today/20130210062021/http://www.zdnet.com/blog/microsoft/meet-microsoft-the-advertising-company/419|url-status=dead|archive-date=10 February 2013|title=Meet Microsoft, the advertising company|last=Foley|first=Mary Jo|date=3 May 2007|work=ZDNet|access-date=20 November 2012}} The Microsoft Office Live service was also available in an advertising-supported mode.

In the view of Federal Trade Commission staff,{{cite web|url=http://www.ftc.gov/os/2005/03/050307spywarerpt.pdf|title=FTC Staff Report. Monitoring Software on Your PC: Spyware, Adware, and Other Software|last=Majoras|first=Deborah Platt|date=March 2005|publisher=Federal Trade Commission|access-date=4 April 2005}} there appears to be general agreement that software should be considered "spyware" only if it is downloaded or installed on a computer without the user's knowledge and consent. Unresolved issues remain concerning how, what and when consumers need to be told about software installed on their computers. For instance, distributors often disclose in an end-user license agreement that there is additional software bundled with primary software, but some participants did not view such disclosure as sufficient to infer consent.

Much of the discussion on the topic involves the idea of informed consent, the assumption being that this standard eliminates any ethical issues with any given software's behavior. If a majority of important software, websites and devices were to adopt similar behavior and only the standard of informed consent is used, then logically a user's only recourse against that behavior would become not using a computer. The contract would become an ultimatum—agree or be ostracized from the modern world. This is a form of psychological coercion and presents an ethical problem with using implied or inferred consent as a standard. There are notable similarities between this situation and binding arbitration clauses which have become inevitable in contracts in the United States.

Furthermore, certain forms and strategies of advertising have been shown to lead to psychological harm, especially in children. One example is childhood eating disorders—several studies have reported a positive association between exposure to beauty and fashion magazines and an increased level of weight concerns or eating disorder symptoms in girls.{{Cite journal|title=The impact of the media on eating disorders in children and adolescents|first1=Anne M|last1=Morris|first2=Debra K|last2=Katzman|date=5 September 2003|journal=Paediatrics & Child Health|volume=8|issue=5|pages=287–289|doi=10.1093/pch/8.5.287|pmid=20020030|pmc=2792687}}

The term adware is frequently used to describe a form of malware (malicious software){{cite web|url=http://www.staysafeonline.org/stay-safe-online/keep-a-clean-machine/malware-and-botnets|title=Malware & Botnets|author=National Cyber Security Alliance|author-link=National Cyber Security Alliance|publisher=StaySafeOnline.org|quote=The terms 'spyware' and 'adware' apply to several different [malware] technologies...|access-date=4 December 2012|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20121213043120/http://staysafeonline.org/stay-safe-online/keep-a-clean-machine/malware-and-botnets|archive-date=13 December 2012}}{{cite web|url=http://www.princeton.edu/itsecurity/basics/malicious-software/ |title=Viruses and other forms of malicious software |date=5 July 2012 |publisher=Princeton University Office of Information Technology |quote=malware also includes worms, spyware and adware. |access-date=4 December 2012 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20121224024932/http://www.princeton.edu/itsecurity/basics/malicious-software/ |archive-date=24 December 2012 }} which presents unwanted advertisements to the user of a computer.{{cite news|url=http://www.spywareloop.com/news/adware|title=Adware in SpyWareLoop.com|author=Vincentas|date=11 July 2013|newspaper=Spyware Loop|access-date=27 July 2013|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140323203234/http://www.spywareloop.com/news/adware|archive-date=23 March 2014}}{{cite web|url=http://www.lavasoft.com/mylavasoft/securitycenter/spyware-glossary#Adware|title=Malware from A to Z|publisher=Lavasoft|quote=[Adware] delivers advertising content potentially in a manner or context that may be unexpected and unwanted by users.|access-date=4 December 2012}} The advertisements produced by adware are sometimes in the form of a pop-up, sometimes in an "unclosable window" and sometimes injected into web pages.{{cite web|url=http://www.staysafeonline.org/data-privacy-day/glossary/ |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130320110430/http://staysafeonline.org/data-privacy-day/glossary/ |url-status=dead |archive-date=20 March 2013 |title=Data Privacy Day Glossary |author=National Cyber Security Alliance |author-link=National Cyber Security Alliance |publisher=StaySafeOnline.org |quote=Adware: type of malware that allows popup ads on a computer system, ultimately taking over a user's Internet browsing. |access-date=4 December 2012 }}{{cite web |title=Latest in Malware: eFast Browser Attacks with False Google Chrome, Traps Users with Adware |url=https://baymcp.com/latest-in-malware-efast-browser-attacks-with-false-google-chrome-traps-users-with-adware/ |website=Bay Computing |access-date=11 September 2021 |date=30 March 2017}}

When the term is used in this way, the severity of its implication varies. While some sources rate adware only as an "irritant",{{cite web|url=https://support.rm.com/TechnicalArticle.asp?cref=TEC276510|title=Spyware, Adware and Malware — Advice for networks and network users|publisher=RM Education|access-date=4 December 2012|quote=[Adware] tend[s] to be more of an irritant than do actual damage to your system, but [is] an unwanted presence nonetheless.}} others classify it as an "online threat"{{cite web|url=http://www.mcafee.com/us/about/news/2008/20080916_120000_y.aspx |title=McAfee, Inc. Names Most Dangerous Celebrities in Cyberspace |publisher=McAfee |quote=online threats, such as spyware, spam, phishing, adware, viruses and other malware... |access-date=4 December 2012 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130604000640/http://www.mcafee.com/us/about/news/2008/20080916_120000_y.aspx |archive-date=4 June 2013 }} [https://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=conewsstory&refer=conews&tkr=MFE:US&sid=af3z.yT5vNW8 Copy] available at Bloomberg. or even rate it as seriously as computer viruses and trojans.{{cite web|url=http://www.ftc.gov/os/comments/spyware/040318assocofsharewareproff.pdf|title=Spyware, Adware, Malware, Thief: Creating Business Income from Denial of Service and Fraud|last=Stern|first=Jerry|work=ASPects, Newsletter of the Association of Shareware Professionals|publisher=Association of Software Professionals|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120917022453/http://www.ftc.gov/os/comments/spyware/040318assocofsharewareproff.pdf|archive-date=17 September 2012|quote=Adware has become a bad word, linked to spyware and privacy violations by everyone except the publishers of the products... [it was] a good thing ten or fifteen years ago, and [is] bad now... [t]he lines for adware are even being blended into virus and trojan territory.}} The precise definition of the term in this context also varies.{{efn|A workshop held by the Federal Trade Commission in 2005 asked representatives of the computer, electronic advertising and anti-spyware product industries, as well as representatives of trade associations, government agencies, consumer and privacy advocacy groups to define adware and its relation to spyware; there was no clear consensus.{{cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=ookz_2ONmwgC|title=Spyware Workshop: Monitoring Software on Your Personal Computer: Spyware, Adware and Other Software|publisher=Federal Trade Commission|date=March 2005|page=2|isbn=9781428952577}}}} Adware that observes the computer user's activities without their consent and reports it to the software's author is called spyware.{{cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=Fo2a7YtU1GUC|title=Internet and the Law: Technology, Society, and Compromises|last=Schwabach|first=Aaron|publisher=ABC-CLIO|year=2005|isbn=978-1-85109-731-9|page=10}} Adware may collect the personal information of the user, causing privacy concerns.Urban, Tobias, Dennis Tatang, Thorsten Holz, Norbert Pohlmann. 2019. “Analyzing leakage of personal information by malware”. Journal of Computer Security 27(4): 459-481. Most adware operates legally and some adware manufacturers have even sued antivirus companies for blocking adware.

Programs have been developed to detect, quarantine and remove advertisement-displaying malware, including Ad-Aware, Malwarebytes' Anti-Malware, Spyware Doctor and Spybot – Search & Destroy. In addition, almost all commercial antivirus software currently detect adware and spyware, or offer a separate detection module.{{cite web|url=http://www.microsoft.com/windowsxp/using/security/expert/honeycutt_spyware.mspx|title=How to protect your computer from Spyware and Adware|last=Honeycutt|first=Jerry|date=20 April 2004|work=Microsoft.com|publisher=Microsoft|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20060207042601/http://www.microsoft.com/windowsxp/using/security/expert/honeycutt_spyware.mspx|archive-date=7 February 2006}}

A new wrinkle is adware that disables anti-malware and virus protection; technical remedies are available.{{cite web|url=https://finance.yahoo.com/amphtml/news/latest-adware-disables-antivirus-software-152920421.html|title=Latest adware disables antivirus software|last1=Casey|first1=Henry T.|author-link1=Henry T. Casey|date=25 November 2015|work=Tom's Guide|publisher=Yahoo.com|access-date=25 November 2015}}

Adware has also been discovered in certain low-cost Android devices, particularly those made by small Chinese firms running on Allwinner systems-on-chip. There are even cases where adware code is embedded deep into files stored on the system and boot partitions, to which removal involves extensive (and complex) modifications to the firmware.{{cite web|url=https://www.cmcm.com/blog/en/security/2015-11-09/838.html|title=Decompile: Technical analysis of the Trojan|date=9 November 2015|publisher=Cheetah Mobile|access-date=7 December 2015|archive-date=27 December 2016|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20161227223633/https://www.cmcm.com/blog/en/security/2015-11-09/838.html|url-status=dead}}

In recent years, machine-learning based systems have been implemented to detect malicious adware on Android devices by examining features in the flow of network traffic.{{Cite journal |last=Alani |first=Mohammed |date=2022 |title=AdStop: Efficient flow-based mobile adware detection using machine learning |journal=Computers & Security |volume=117 |pages=102718|doi=10.1016/j.cose.2022.102718 |doi-access=free }}

• Malvertising
• Online advertising
• Typhoid adware

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Category:Online advertising

Category:Types of malware