Yu, a Stanford University student, recently found that one of his family's computers was infected with a program called "BrowserAid/Featured Results," which was delivering additional and unwanted pop-up ads atop Google results. He managed to rid the computer of that application, but a similar, unidentifiable program could not be eliminated.
"I removed it from the registry, but this one heals itself," Yu said. Spyware makers, he said, are getting more sophisticated.
And that's a problem for Google, as new strains of spyware attempt to profit from the highly popular search engine and its lucrative pay-per-click advertising program by altering search results pages or delivering pop-up windows with their own lists of text ads.
Spyware is a catchall term for software that installs itself on a PC without consumers' knowledge and that tracks computer usage, sometimes with criminal intent. A related breed of software, adware, is designed for less invasive, but more annoying, delivery of advertisements.
An entire industry of spyware and adware has sprouted up to take advantage of search engine ads, which are the most lucrative and fast-growing sector of online advertising. Sales from search advertising are expected to reach about $3.2bn this year, up from $2.5bn last year and just less than $1bn in 2002, according to research firm eMarketer. Google alone is expected to rake in more than $1bn from advertising this year.
The problem shows no signs of abating. A recent survey reported that nearly one out of every three computers scanned for Trojan horse programs or monitoring software like spyware was infected, according to security software maker Webroot Software. For some in the US Congress, the threat is serious enough to warrant legislation designed to protect consumers.
In order to post a comment you need to be registered and logged in
Log in or create your ZDNet UK account below
By signing up for this service, you indicate that you agree to our Terms and Conditions and have read and understood our Privacy Policy. Questions about membership? Find the answers in the Membership FAQ
Hi any news on the comment bot? knocking me back from my own blog is a bit cheeky lol *Mulder to Scully* "I think it has an agenda.." I know, I...
36 minutes ago by dava4444 on ZDNet UK: faster, smarter, still IT all the way
if you look at the Brentwood exchange on samknows it servers 21,000 residential propertiesm, Lowestoft serves 31,000! Come on BT sort yourselves...
58 minutes ago by benny boy on BT fibre broadband coming to 69 more towns
[programming] H.264 - a sting in the tail http://reddit.com/bfu4q [zdnet.co.uk]
2 hours ago on Twitter by pbreddit
H.264 - a sting in the tail [programming] 13 points, submitted by zigzag [zdnet.co.uk] http://reddit.com/bfu4q
3 hours ago on Twitter by reddit
Malware infects second Vodafone HTC phone: [zdnet.co.uk] A second Android-based HTC Magic from Vodafone has been... http://dlvr.it/KhKx
5 hours ago on Twitter by cybfor
Chatter preview http://www.zdnet.co.uk/news/application-development/2010/03/17/salesforce-opens-up-chatter-developer-preview-40088348/
6 hours ago on Twitter by miyabi81 US gov t considers undercover social networking: [zdnet.co.uk] The Obama administration has considered sending... http://dlvr.it/Kh3L
6 hours ago on Twitter by cybfor Please give me chance in the vodafone essar Ltd as back office executive
8 hours ago by sudipta_vodafone on Vodafone culls 375 'mainly back-office' jobs I want to get a back office job in vodafone direct payroll
8 hours ago by sudipta_vodafone on Vodafone culls 375 'mainly back-office' jobs
I also find it harder to use. It used to scale properly in Firefox. Text would size up and down without dragging all the right edge debris with it....
11 hours ago by Xwindowsjunkie on ZDNet UK: faster, smarter, still IT all the way that comment bot is a nutter, it just referred me to the moderator on my own blog. shocked look. please help thank you Dava I'm afriad to...
15 hours ago by dava4444 on Welcome to the new ZDNet UK community! Hi Rupert! Don't think I could fill the above shoes... but if your ever looking for a consumer rights Tech blogger..tip me the wink lol peace Dava
16 hours ago by dava4444 on Fancy working for ZDNet UK? Hi Rupert My photo is gone from my profile and I just got told i was a spammer by the comment bot. the navigation is gone for my profile. :O on...
16 hours ago by dava4444 on Welcome to the new ZDNet UK community!
With windows it is always more bloat, and a lot of that seems to be duplicated in various places. I've noticed that you will have freed space on...
22 hours ago by ator1940 on Can you believe it - 2765 kB will be freed?
Buzz My Stat : New search for http://www.zdnet.co.uk Take a look: http://www.buzzmystat.com/site/zdnet.co.uk
1 day ago on Twitter by BuzzMyStat
Hi Jamie, I'm sorry your comment got caught in the spam filter. We use an industry standard blacklist for this. I suspect that the comment may...
1 day ago by Karen Friar on Spam? Filter Changed?
Pop - Neither have I. Ever, under any circumstances. I'm much more accustomed to Windows slowly, but inexorably, consuming more and more disk...
1 day ago by J.A. Watson on Can you believe it - 2765 kB will be freed?
Apple are currently pushing to get tv content on the iPad by April 3rd. This could possibly be seen as a spoiler for that announcement I suppose....
2 days ago by John Molloy
Hey - presume you mean something that builds on Apple's existing TV device? Apple have already had a couple of runs at building Apple TV and it's...
2 days ago by Andrew Donoghue on Google's TV timing may reveal more to come
Google, Sony, Intel may build TV project www.zdnet.co.uk/news/emerging-tech/2010/03/18/google-sony-intel-may-build-tv-project-40088359/
2 days ago on Twitter by BVE2011For multi-store outlets, including retail, banking, grocery, gas, hospitality, convenience stores and others, reducing (or avoiding) the cost of in-store system support and maintenance while maintaining compliance with PCI and other requirements has become a strategic challenge.
Speaker: Dr. Chenxi Wang, Principal Analyst, Security and Risk Management, Forrester Research, Inc. As Enterprises are increasingly connected to the Internet and as hard organizational boundaries are fast disappearing, security professionals are facing fresh challenges in Enterprise computing.
This tutorial is for new MindManager users and teaches you how to get started, by creating maps, reading maps and organizing your information.
