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Gator Will Replace Ads On Sites
Bill Dimm writes "This CNet article says that a new version of Gator, a browser plug-in for managing passwords that also can display pop-up ads for competing products when you visit web sites, is being developed that will launch its own ads over top of the banner ads on the sites you visit. The software achieves wide distribution by bundling (much like TopText) with file-sharing utilities, with over 18 million installations of the current version claimed on their web site."
As long as the user knows what he's installing on his system, there's nothing illegal about it. If I downloaded a program that disabled banner adds when I visited a web site, would that be illegal?
As long a the user knows what's happening when he's intalling the software, the competitors have nothing to say.
Think like a man of action, act like a man of thought.
We all hate ads, but remember, the ads you see help pay for the pages you see.
Gator, on the other hand is a complete and total leach. They are selling advertising on other peoples content without compensation.
With Mozilla nearing 1.0 and Konqueror looking more awesome by the second, everyone should expect this type of 'ad warfare' to come to Linux/UNIX soon.
The truth is that I am *amazed* it has taken this long to happen. About 2.5 years ago I was working for a company that implemented this. It would have been a great ad revenue stream. Unfortunately the company was fucked and nothing ever happened.
The only way for companies to combat this is to deploy an 'electronic warfare' counter-attack against gator.
The sites would deploy a plugin which would detect gator modifications an remove them.
Of course this means that gator would detect it's detectors and remove them too.
The result would be an 'ad cold war' which would only leave users as victims.
This is similar to the toner wars from Diamond Age. If you don't abide by the rules expect to get into a fight...
Kevin
the joke is, it dosen't uninstall even when you press uninstall, it still leaves its dlls active in the system, commet cursor does the same damn thing. The only way to get the damn thing out of your system is to use ad-aware or hunt the dlls down yourself (can be difficult sometimes)
Free Techno/Jazz/DNB/MI Music by guys obsessed with monkeys!
I'll be going off on a tangent here, but it's relavent in regards to advertising in general. Here's what I want to see as a consumer and I think the increased benefits for both the consumer and advertiser make it worth the while.
I'd like a way to fill out a universal advertisement interest topic list. It would consist of thing such as the following:
Ok, so that's my list . I'm sure we all would have our own, and they'd change from time to time. In addition to this sort of thing, I wouldn't mind having the sites I visit / shows I watch known. Of course, you'd better have a clue as to what that means. I may visit a site and see it's crap and close it, and if anything, that should count as a *negative* viewing, not a "hit". Same with TV. I'd love it if real 99% accurate ratings were known.
My point with this isn't that I want ads. However, at this point, they appear to be a necessary evil for both TV and websites. If I have to see them, I'd prefer seeing things that interest me. I wouldn't even mind having my interest/info shared with my mailing address (although, without my name), as that costs the advertiser money and I usually sort through it on my way driving so it's lost time anyway.
Go for it in small claims court. They'll have to send somebody, and just hearing them explain it to the judge would be worth it.