In a step that seems unprecedented in the annals of online advertising, born-again pop-up provider Claria posted a recommendation on its Web site that users uninstall its GAIN ad-serving software from their browsers.
Claria also announced it will stop delivering pop-up ads to computers on July 1. “Our software will continue to collect data about your Web usage from your computer for research and other purposes as described in our privacy statement until September 30, 2006, unless you uninstall the software before this date,” the Web post reads. “It is recommended that you uninstall all of GAIN Supported Software presently on your computer.”
GAIN was a renamed version of the Gator adware platform, which served pop-up and pop-under ads based on surfers’ Web paths and incurred the suspicions of privacy advocates and anti-spyware activists.
Some accused the company of “drive-by downloads”, luring consumers to accept the Claria/ Gator software without full knowledge when they downloaded other applications such as the file-sharing program Kazaa or Claria’s eWallet password storage program. Claria denied the accusations, but the new uninstall notice points out that those applications could stop working properly after the Oct. 1 deadline if users don’t uninstall the Claria adware.
This renunciation of adware is not exactly a surprise. In March, Claria announced it would change its business model and leave the adware market by the end of this month.
Instead, the company will focus on PersonalWeb, a personalized Internet portal that “learns” a user’s interests via a small download and goes out to find content to fit those interests automatically. Now in a beta test, PersonalWeb will keep Claria in the advertising business; the company expects to sell advertising on the customized pages.
