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Google Bundles Toolbar With Adobe Apps

grammar fascist writes "Sci-Tech Today reports that Google is paying a 'significant amount' to bundle Google Toolbar with certain Adobe downloads. From the article: 'The initial venue for the Google mini-app will be downloads of the popular and free Shockwave multimedia player. The move is seen by some observers as an effort to outflank Microsoft, especially as Internet Explorer 7 nears its formal launch this summer [...] Interestingly, Google's search toolbar will be available only when Shockwave is downloaded for use with Internet Explorer on Windows.'"

18 of 157 comments (clear)

  1. Alternatives by Phroggy · · Score: 4, Insightful

    If the alternative is bundling the MSN search bar, I'm completely in favor of this.

    --
    $x='S24;r)>63/* h@<5+oZ)32"5cz';$me='phroggy'x$];
    $x=~y+ -xz+\0-Tx+;print$_^chop$me for split'',$x;
    1. Re:Alternatives by jb.hl.com · · Score: 5, Insightful

      Oh, so it's alright if Google does it, but not if Microsoft does it? It's a pain in the hole either way.

      Google are inconveniencing everyone through this. Acrobat Reader is already a 20MB download for reasons I can't imagine. Why bloat Shockwave in the same way?

      --
      By summer it was all gone...now shesmovedon. --
    2. Re:Alternatives by Crayon+Kid · · Score: 2, Insightful
      Does FoxIt have a search feature that'll go through entire folders and search those documents at the same time? I use this frequently...
      Ah, but how relevant are you? I'll go out on a limb and venture that most people do not need to do that. They just need to look at PDF's rendered properly, use their internal table of contents, do a text search and print.
      --
      i ate crayons when i was a kid and now i have two braincells and the blue ones taste nicer
  2. this hurts ADBE more than it helps Google by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 4, Insightful

    This reminds me of the Yahoo-Toolbar in Acrobat7, this brings nothing for Adobe - but a slight decline in reputation as a manufacturer of high-end software tools.

  3. Obnoxious by rm999 · · Score: 4, Insightful

    I hate bundled software - I find it annoying, and everynow and then I forget to unclick the box when I am quickly installing something. I know a lot of freeware and toolbar companies do it, but I always thought (hoped?) Google was above that.

    1. Re:Obnoxious by vistic · · Score: 5, Insightful

      I began looking at the comments for this story just to see how many comments will say it's a good thing or how many have excuses why it's acceptable.

      I was disappointed there were so many.

      Google Toolbar is a good program for those who use IE (I think it's totally unnecessary for Mozilla) but Google or not, bundled software is just obnoxious. It's sad to see Google going down this road. If I want to install Google Toolbar, I will go to google's website and download and install it. If I go to the shockwave download site, then I only want shockwave.

      Google's contributing to the problem a lot of people have, where they have too many programs installed on their systems they never wanted. Too many programs installed even, that they don't even know are there.

    2. Re:Obnoxious by Ilgaz · · Score: 2, Insightful

      I am not a Google user and Adobe can't dare to bundle anything with programs my segment uses. Also I am on OS X , thank God there is no "toolbar mechanism" on OS X (yet!)

      Why I am reading story and comments? For my entertainment...

      Some people were really bugged by Adobe displaying tiny banners in their "Reader", a thing which they give freely. It was plugging into MS Office or something. As this is Google, nobody gets bugged by a "toolbar" (seen its privacy policy?!) coming with Adobe applications and even defend this decision.

      If there would be a really useful toolbar I'd like to install BY MY CHOICE on OS X it would be Yahoo toolbar. They were one of the first ones used the concept and it is really useful. Especially bookmarks storage on server. I can imagine what would happen on Slashdot if they made the huge error (!) of bundling that instead.

      Keep this hypocrisy ;) Of course this is a type of comment you need to post with "karma bonus"

    3. Re:Obnoxious by penix1 · · Score: 2, Insightful

      "When will software vendors realise that users want to install just a single program and dont need or want bundled extra crud? Maybe more important, how do we stop this trend with Windows programs?"

      As long as there is profit in bundling software, there will be bundling of software. In fact, the revenue from bundling is considerably more substantial and stable than the revenues from users. You don't think Adobe is offering this bundling to Google for free do you?!?!

      B.

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    4. Re:Obnoxious by WilliamSChips · · Score: 2, Insightful
      *sits back and watches his karma funeral pyre*
      Aaah, the magic words to get +5 insightful. Personally I agree with you, Flash as a whole isn't bad, it's the ad companies using it for 'PUNCH THE MONKEY' ads.
      --
      Please, for the good of Humanity, vote Obama.
  4. Thanks, but no thanks by kirun · · Score: 5, Insightful

    Although it's nice of them to helpfully include carefully selected sotware from premier partners (where the careful selection process is making sure it's the highest bidder), even if they promise to be really, really, good and not create a bloated installer, perhaps they could get the message that if I'd wanted to install X, I would have. If I'm installing a player so you can make massive profits selling people the encoder, I shouldn't have to look at ads as well. The fact that they've had to create a FAQ telling people why they shouldn't be annoyed suggests they know this.

    --
    I'm scared of numbers that can't be written as a fraction. It's an irrational fear.
  5. Re:[Redacted] Space for sale! by J_Darnley · · Score: 2, Insightful

    The correct way to black out a document.

  6. Its a major annoyance by pl1ght · · Score: 3, Insightful

    Its one more program you have to keep an eye out for when installing otherwise "free" software from adobe and etc. I put it in the adware/spyware category because if you dont actively pay attention to your next/next/next clicking during install you will get a shitty google toolbar slapped onto your browser which is really annoying...

  7. hmm?? firefox by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 4, Insightful

    firefox bundles google search and defaults to google (..and makes millions) and no one on ./ says anything

  8. 600 x 768 web pages.. by Shivetya · · Score: 3, Insightful

    with all the damn tool bars trying to install themselves we're going to have to change our pages to be best viewed at 600 pixels in height.

    google, msn, yahoo, viewport?, and others. Whats left for the webpage itself?

    --
    * Winners compare their achievements to their goals, losers compare theirs to that of others.
  9. Google's Target Audience by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 2, Insightful

    Google doesn't need to bundle the Google Toolbar for other browsers as well, because users of alternative browsers already know that Google is better than Yahoo or MSN, so they use Google. The computer illiterate, who use Internet Explorer because they don't even know that other browsers exist, are the target audience.

  10. When will they ever understand that.... by blankoboy · · Score: 2, Insightful

    ....we DO NOT WANT bundled shit with the applications we intend to download. This is like someone giving you a side order of sh1t sandwich with your order at dinner. Complete asshattery that drives me nuts. I don't care how 'useful' it may be...let me decide if I want to install another app.

  11. Re:Google crazyness.. by Xymor · · Score: 3, Insightful

    That's actually good ideia. Download the e-book for free, and the ads pay for the royaties. And could still buy a ad-free hardcopy if you want.

  12. What happened to.. by jo42 · · Score: 1, Insightful
    .."Do No Evil"?


    Bundling Google Toolbar with other products is evil in my book. I don't want Google's toolbar. I don't want Yahoo's toolbar. I don't want their crap on my machine.