11/13/2022 0 Comments Vitamin d video adware![]() Notably, no large type indicated that the software is anything other than genuine Google software. First, the window’s two headings were "Google Chrome" and "Make your selection to continue", plus it repeated the distinctive Google Chrome icon at top-left. The installation solicitation was strikingly deceptive. After a perfunctory first screen (still without any affirmative indication that the software is not a genuine Google offering), the installer began to tout third party software. ![]() We clicked the "Download Free" button to proceed, then run the resulting installer. The landing page uses Google’s distinctive Chrome icon twice, as well as the large-type label "Google Chrome." On our standard 1024×768 test PC, no on-screen text offered any logo, any company name, or any product name other than Google Chrome. The resulting landing page did not show anything amiss either. The display URL, "", might alert sophisticated users - but "" is generic enough that the warning is minimal, and bold type focuses attention on "google-chrome" (matching the user’s search terms). Thus, nothing in the text of the ad gives any suggestion that the ad would take a user to a third party rather than to genuine Google software. Sublinks below the ad elaborated: "Download the New Version – Get the Latest Chrome(R) – 100% Free Installation". Install Today! Chrome is still fast and loaded with new standard support. In testing on October 31, 2014, we began with a Google search for "download google chrome." A large ad promised "Download Google Chrome – " (title) with details "New Google Chrome(R) 35 Version. Eventually a user might notice something amiss - but no "cancel" button lets a user reverse the entire process. IronSource’s installer presents a series of screens like this, each touting a separate bundled adware program. Installer also lacks any branding of its own, giving little indication that users have reached an independent installer. IronSource landing page repeatedly presents Google’s Chrome trademark and logo, giving little indication that users have reached an independent installer. IronSource snares users who are searching for Google Chrome But that’s exactly what we found when we tested an IronSource bundle by that name. Install a "Chrome Browser" and you wouldn’t expect a bundle of adware. In the following sections, we present two representative IronSource bundles, then offer broader assessments and recommendations. We are surprised to see such deceptive tactics from a large firm that is, by all indications, backed by distinguished investors and top-tier bankers. It’s the very opposite of mainstream legitimate advertising. Far from facilitating "user trust," IronSource installations are often strikingly deceptive: they promise to provide software IronSource and its partners have no legal right to redistribute (indeed, specifically contrary to applicable license agreements) they bundle all manner of adware that users have no reason to expect with genuine software they bombard users with popup ads, injected banner ads, extra toolbars, and other intrusions. ![]() Yet a closer look at IronSource installations reveals ample cause for concern. ![]() In public statements, IronSource promises to "empower software" through "faster" downloads, "smoother" installations, and increased "user trust." It sounds like a reasonable business - free software for users in exchange for advertising. In this piece for HBR Online, I survey these problems in a variety of types of online advertising - then try to offer solutions. I’ve been writing about this problem since 2004, and doing my best to help advertisers avoid it. In online advertising, a variety of equally brazen ruses drain advertisers’ budgets - but usually it’s more difficult for advertisers to notice them. Fortunately, that wouldn’t actually be needed: anticipating being found out, few leafleteers would attempt such a scheme. You’d be furious and would fire her in an instant. The measured “effectiveness” would be a ruse, merely counting customers who would have come in anyway. But suppose you realized the leafleteer was standing just outside your store’s front door, giving handbills to everyone on their way in. ![]() You might assess her effectiveness by counting the number of customers who arrived carrying her handbill and, perhaps, presenting it for a discount. Imagine you run a retail store and hire a leafleteer to distribute handbills to attract new customers. The Online Ad Scams Every Marketer Should Watch Out For. ![]()
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