The word Adware is short for

Advertising-Supported Software. This term describes any software which

automatically plays, displays, or downloads advertising material to a

computer, after the software has been installed on it.

It is usually included with other

software which one can download from the Internet - especially software

that you can download for "free". The price you pay is having the

adware installed on your computer. When you run the program that you

downloaded for "free" from the Internet, it will usually automatically

cause adds to pop up on your screen thereafter.

Adware software is integrated into, or

combined with, another program. The person or company who is making the

free program available is usually paid for including adware in his

program. This is one of the ways that some programmers make a living or

cover the cost of writing "free" programs.

   

Sometimes Adware takes the form of

spyware, keeping track of what you do on your computer, and which pages

you visit on the web. This information is automatically sent over the

Internet to the company which runs the adware. The data is then used in

order to target you with specific advertisements, or is sometimes

resold to other companies. This is can be done entirely without your

knowledge. Should you, however, complain about this, you would most

likely be referred to some fine print in the license agreement which

you accepted when you installed the "free" program.

Some Adware can interfere with the

functions of other programs running on your computer, in order to force

you to visit a particular web site. If you find yourself being

automatically sent to a certain website, you can be fairly certain that

you have some form of adware running on your computer.

These days it can be hard to separate

out "Adware" from "Spyware" and "Malware;" especially since many

programs might do all of these things at the same time. For example, if

you install "adware" knowingly or unknowingly on a computer, and agree

to a tracking feature, the "adware" becomes "spyware" as it is now also

keeping track of what you do and sending the information somewhere. If

someone else visits or contacts your computer, this will also be

recorded and his information is then passed on as well.

Some Adware is not classified as Spyware

because, somewhere in the user agreement it says that "third-party

software will be included that may collect and may report on computer

use." As the company has included this statement in the "Terms of Use,"

it is now no longer Spyware but simply Adware, as they are not

"secretly" collecting and tracking your information.

But really... how many people actually

fully read the Terms of Use?

Another circumstance to take into

account is the case when there are more than one person using the

computer. In the case of a family computer, your kids might download a

simple "free game," and unaware of all the facts, automatically agree

to have Adware installed. All you see is the kids playing a new game.

You might even be happy as it didn't cost you dime this time. However

the "free game" is most likely not all that was downloaded.

A few names of well-known Adware

programs are as follows:

• 180 Solutions

• 180SearchAssistant

• Zango

• Bonzi Buddy

• BlockChecker

• ClipGenie

• Comet Cursor

• Cydoor

• Direct Revenue

• Ebates MoneyMaker

• ErrorSafe

• Gator

• Hotbar

• Mirar Toolbar

• Smiley Central

• WeatherBug

This list is by no means complete and

serves only to give some examples. There are also programs

that detect and remove adware. These programs are designed specifically

to detect spyware and adware. They and will not detect or remove

viruses. Some of these products are available for free on the Internet.

Anti-Adware or Anti-Spyware programs are not Antivirus programs. This

is a different subject entirely. A virus is a malicious program which

is spread from one computer to the other. It harms your computer,

erases your data, keeps your system from running correctly, or does

other damage.

A virus can also spy on you like spyware

does -

for example, by recording your credit card information and sending the

data to someone else by email. But the terms adware or spyware usually

refer to software which does only that – spies on you, sends

you advertisements, and steals your data; with or without your consent.

Most Anti-virus programs also detect Adware and Spyware. But if you are

very active online it is a good idea to have several different

anti-adware and anti-spyware programs installed. Different programs

detect different types of spyware and adware. By scanning your computer

with more than one program, you can do a more thorough clean-up.