Technology Perspective
October 7th, 2004
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October 7th, 2004
Full Disclosure: Buy a Computer, Get Adware
Contrib. Ed. Stephen Manes
You frame the shot of your loved one beautifully on your digital
camera, with the setting sun at the perfect angle in the background.
You press the button, and--wait a minute!--up pops an ad saying you'd
get better results if you used the camera company's own flash memory
instead of the generic brand in the slot.
Or you click Print for your rush job, and you hear the printer whir
into action. But all you get is an ad recommending you use the printer
company's official paper instead of the reams-for-cheap stuff you
picked up at the warehouse store.
Today, those scenarios are fictional--or at least I hope so. But
what's real is the colonization of PCs by adware that doesn't even
need to sneak in from a rogue Web site--because it's installed on your
machine when you buy it.
Hewlett-Packard calls the concept "Updates From HP" (on Compaq systems
it's "Compaq Connections"), and it's an insult to customers. On the
Media Center PC I tried, a few minutes after I finished setting up
Windows, the program popped up with an ad for the HP Personal Media
Drive.
This is the culmination of the dubious trend of using your desktop as
a sales tool. Boot up a new system today, and the desktop is likely to
be larded with icons pitching stuff you don't want. Good manners would
suggest putting it all under a single "special offers" icon, but never
underestimate the obnoxiousness of a marketer with a product to
unload.
Updates From HP takes this to new lows. Its FAQ notes that security
programs may try to block it, since it "phones home" for info. The
privacy policy says the program sends a bit of nonpersonal data (which
isn't shared with third parties) back to HP. On the PC I tried, it
followed the ad with a pop-up noting "Important information about
upgrading to SP2." The pop-up links to a Web page that explains how to
keep Updates From HP running when Windows XP Service Pack 2's firewall
tries to whack the program's Internet access. Then the page attempts
to sell you broadband, two Symantec products, and memory that it
vaguely insinuates SP2 might need.
All of which may well distract you from the link leading to
information that you really need. For the PC I was using, that page
recommended installing seven downloads (for problems with everything
from system restoration to XP Media Center itself) before installing
SP2.
Updates From HP knows your PC configuration, so why couldn't it
deliver that information in the first place--along with the downloads
in one handy package?
You can deactivate the Updates app, but if you do so, you'll "miss
important support notices...specifically for your PC model." So you're
left with a choice: Tolerate ads to get useful information, or give up
both.
Here's what HP should do: Divorce ads from information and ask you to
opt in for either one. Tying time-wasting pop-up ads to crucial system
support is a lousy way to do business.
There's not much you can do about these preinstalled pests--but plenty
you can do to protect yourself from new ones. Browse PC World's
Downloads library for programs like Ad-Aware, PestPatrol, and Spybot
Search & Destroy:
http://pcwnl.pcworld.com/t/242870/21421687/755744/0/
Read Stephen Manes's regularly published "Full Disclosure" columns:
http://pcwnl.pcworld.com/t/242870/21421687/364242/0/
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