Adware Overview

Adware is advertising delivered directly to your computer. Generally, a program puts ads on the screen at some regular interval. In some cases, this program can be installed without the user's knowledge, but not always. Many programs clearly state on install that "this program is supported by advertising, and if you turn off the advertising, you also shut down the program."

Adware tends to be a "grey area" in the malware family. Yes, it can run without the user's knowledge, and yes, it can bog down the system (especially when the adware program goes online to retrieve new ads to display). At the same time, adware is generally more open about what it does, giving the user the choice to install the program the adware is attached to.

Adware is most often tied into Internet Explorer somehow. The ads that appear are browser windows.

When it's installed above-board, adware is generally accepted by the internet community as a valid marketing system, even though it can include elements of spyware (ie, it tracks information, and uses that information to deliver targeted ads to the user). If one user of a system installs adware on a system, and another user is then tracked, then the program crosses the line from adware to spyware--because the second user is being tracked without their consent.

Some other forms of adware have used sneaky programming tricks to hide or cover website advertising. For example, an adware program can read an incoming website, and learn the location of a banner ad on that page. Then, the program can use that information to put an ad of it's own in the exact same spot, hiding the legitimate ad. This deceptive use of adware is often called "stealware" because it steals the advertising space from the original website.

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Legitimate Adware

There are plenty of reasons why malware is "bad." Are there any times when malware is valid and legal?

Many shareware programs today come bundled with adware. The premise is this: If you try out the program, and enjoy it, you'll buy it. Until you pay for it, the programmer is paid through the advertising that the shareware program displays. If the user somehow kills or removes the advertising, then he is also obligated to remove the program that was supported by the ads.

In some cases, the ads are displayed in the actual program, like in a small window or corner of the program's screen. In most cases, though, the ads are displayed by a totally separate program included in the same installer program.

If the adware is legitimate, then it has to be explicitly displayed in the install, and the user has to have the option of not installing it. This is where adware earned it's poor reputation. Many adware programs simply install alongside the ad-supported program, without ever informing the user. The user is then surprised by the constant barrage of pop-up ads on his computer when he isn't even visiting websites and the collection of strange programs on the hard drive that he doesn't remember installing.

The key factor in whether or not malware is "legitimate:" If the user has no problem giving demographics information for a program he enjoys using, then the spyware that comes with that program is legal and accepted. However, if another user then sits at the same computer--one who doesn't know the spyware is there--then it's no longer a legitimate program. The person being spied upon by the spyware, or forced to view the pop-ups delivered by the adware, has to understand and accept what the program is going to do.

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