[idiotic, incoherent blathering removed as a courtesy for my regular, intelligent readers]

[idiotic, incoherent blathering removed as a courtesy for my regular, intelligent readers]

[idiotic, incoherent blathering removed as a courtesy for my regular, intelligent readers]

[idiotic, incoherent blathering removed as a courtesy for my regular, intelligent readers]

[idiotic, incoherent blathering removed as a courtesy for my regular, intelligent readers]

Hi Danny,

As you've been talking about ad blocking and morals- using words like 'stealing' and 'intent to defraud', I really feel I have to take you up on the nature of the ad you host at the site I'm directed to when trying to view this blog in Firefox.

SpywareBot is a scam product. It demands money to remove 'spyware' which it will conveniently find even on a clean computer, it will not remove real spyware, it is itself difficult to remove, it is itself removed by legitimate spyware scanners, it exploits the name of a legitimate anti-spyware product, the company behind it is entirely untraceable. In short, it's a complete rip off.

Here are the opnions of a couple of people who have actually tried the product.

"Spywawrebot is in fact a malicious creation designed to leech cold hard cash from the grips of the ignorent. First you download it, then install. Next thing you know your getting spyware reports every time you boot saying that you have all this spyware on your computer. Only Spywarebot won't do anything about it until you agree to but the product.

And yes, i downloaded and intsled that trash the other day thinking it would get rid of any harmful files i recieved from Trustyhound. That's what i was under the impression it was suppose to do according to the site i downloaded it from. The reports i got back didn't even mention my Trustyhoud.

Don't do it!"

"This all started with a browser hijack by some site called WinAntiVirus, or perhaps WinAntiVirus2007? To make a long story short, I tried to get rid of it using AdAware2007. Having no such luck with that, I decided to use SpyBot Search and Destroy. However, when I did a search for it, I found a program called, "SpywareBot" The names sounded similar enough to fool my spouse into downloading it for free, but having to spend $60.00 to clean the mess. Before deciding to blame her, I realized I'd have made the same mistake, and found web site using a Google search for "SpywareBot" and found that and others have been fooled by the similarity in names.

I liken it to purchasing a brand new Panasonic HDTV at a great price, only to find out that what you brought home was a cheesy 1080i Panisoanic. Try a Google search for that term, and you'll find a number of legit sites.

I'm no conspiracy theorist, but I have reason to believe that the company behind SpywareBot and other products are covering their tracks so that no one can claim that the product doesn't do what it says it does."

I put it to you that nobody who buys this product after clicking on the page is going to thank you for hosting that ad, in fact, they are most likely going to feel defrauded themselves.

This is an act of fraud you are complicit in. If you want to take the moral high ground here, please make sure your own actions are beyond reproach.

Frank, I have researched SpyWareBot, and the only complaints legitimate spyware site ever make is that it's name is similar to an older spyware virus. That's it. I have not found any credible reports that mention any real problems. People who make spyware would like to be able to stop anti-spyware software, so exposing information that would help known hackers wouldn't be wise. I don't blame them for making it hard to find out who they are.

Sounds to me you're simply looking for something to whine about, and can't find anything legitimate.

Well, I notice you're sticking to your guns- linking to SpywareBot in your answer (I assume the link contains your referer code so you get a few cents if anybody clicks it, or am I just being cynical?), but I'm afraid you didn't do your research very well. The place to look for information is Spyware Warrior's rogue spyware list.

The information there states that SpywareBot 'exploits name "Spybot Search & Destroy"' The company behind SpywareBot was listed as a rogue in the past: 'AdwareAlert was listed on this page because of concerns with false positives and the lack of information about the company and its privacy practices.'

Spyware Warrior says of products no longer listed as rogue: 'That an application has been de-listed should not be understood as an endorsement or recommendation of any kind. We still recommend that users consult the short list of "trustworthy" anti-spyware applications.'

SpywareBot does not appear in the list of trustworthy applications.

The advertising practices of SpywareBot have also been criticised elsewhere. Bill Pytlovany is the author of the well respected program WinPatrol:

'I’m pretty confident, both Spywarebot ads are from the same company who have a couple dozen AntiSpyware products available under different names and domains. Neither are related to the popular “Spybot, Search and Destroy” program. I also found an advertisement for another fake “spyware remover review” site on a nice page CNet created called “How to use WinPatrol”.

Thank god for reviews from real people and from editors because it’s the only way quality, legitimate products will survive.'

http://billpstudios.blogspot.com/2007/04/antispyware-advertising-gets-nasty.html

The implication is clear: SpywareBot is stealing customers from legitimate products.

I'm afraid your suggestion as to why it is impossible to find a contact address for SpywareBot does not stand up to investigation. I was able to find a contact address for all the legitimate anti-spyware companies I looked up.

I would suggest that the people behind SpywareBot do not want to be contacted because their customers will have had a poor experience of the product, as did the two I quoted previously.

Ads for scams and porn served up by companies like PeelAwayAds (you knew they also make money from porn, didn't you?) are part of the reason why people block ads. I once had a friend of mine IM me all excited about a banner ad telling him he'd won a TV: I had to warn him that it was just a scam to get his e-mail address (or worse) and told him to try Firefox and Adblock.

If webs sites were a bit less venal in the ads they were willing to accept, then maybe fewer people would block ads.

Yeah so again, stereotyping is probably not a good way to make a point. I know I don't appreciate it when people attach my cultural heritage to activities I wasn't even alive to participate in. Let's take slavery for example... Would you like Mr. Palant associating your behavior with those who validated the slave trade as morally appropriate? I mean it was a bunch of Americans, so there must be something deeply engrained into your character. I'm of Irish decent and oddly enough I spent a year in Afghanistan attempting to find and remove bombs from cars. Your theory on genetic propensity would have had me participating in the converse activity. Strange.

Yes, I know that there were people against slavery, but there were also those against Hitler as well. Again you resort to below the belt tactics to glorify your own position in battle that is in somewhat of a gray area in today's internet economy. Stick to valid arguments not weak, juvenile techniques intended to distract the reader from the actual issue at hand.

Danny, I must say I'm disappointed in your cynicism in continuing to host the ad in the light of the information I provided. As someone who spends a lot of time helping people remove spyware, I can tell any readers of your blog that SpywareBot is a worthless product. Purchasers of the program seem to agree:

'There's one thing about their program that's absolutely not clean, and that's the name. And speaking about quality, why do you think do we get a hundred times as much requests for refund for SpywareBot as we do receive for Spybot-S&D?

Wait... what did I just say? Yes, that's right, we receive requests for refunds for that application. Simple because many people do mistake it to be our software - then we have to tell them they got cheated. And just those who mistook it are a huge multiple of those complaining about our real product. So if even the small number of refund requests that reach us instead of them is way larger than those about our software, that imho tells a lot about its quality.

So we've got a product name that's intentionally violating our trademark and more important, fooling people, both by pretending to be something else, and pretending to be free when they actually charge the credit card! Detecting it as a threat is not an "angry reaction", but an attempt to prevent at least a few people to be cheated into paying, or if they did, letting them know so they can get their money back. And again, the numbers seem to confirm that this is very very necessary.'

http://forums.spybot.info/showpost.php?p=61643&postcount=19

Customers of the product you're selling are complaining in their hundreds, but not to the company which sells the product, but to the company which sells the product they thought they bought.

As somebody who raised concerns about Adblock defrauding web masters of revenue, I'd hoped you would be equally concerned about dubious adverts defrauding customers and legitimate companies alike.

But it seems you are perfectly happy to profit from the ad you host whoever might suffer from actually buying the product.

This is hypocrisy.

Nag, nag, nag

Wow, everyone stands corrected with that remarkable display of intellect. At least if you are going to have opinions based on factual fabrication be man enough to support them or concede when you can no longer support your argument.

Wladimir Palant is not a German, he is from Russia and is probably Jewish, so your references to Nazi Germany are somewhat ill-placed.

Wladimir Palant is not a German, he is from Russia and is probably Jewish, so your references to Nazi Germany are somewhat ill-placed.

It doesn't matter if he's Martian, the point is too many foreigners like to sit around waiting for their government, or someone else to do things rather than take care of it themselves. Jews in Germany were as guilty as any other German citizen for tolerating Hitler's rise to power, only voicing opposition when they themselves were inconvenienced by it. Some, from many groups, tried to oppose him, but at each step the majority remaining with a voice were unwilling to take any risk for someone else. As for Russians, puhleeeze, they tolerated Communism for 70 plus years before Ronald Ragan ended it for them.

Interesting... rather than rebut comments you just delete them and all traces. I see that the above disclaimer states that you have no problem with people disagreeing with you, but in actuality it seems otherwise. Couldn't you at least do your readers a favor and show that you had stricken comments. I did know what I was talking about in my last comment and I can think of no reason that it would have been removed other than your own pride. I am curious as to the explanation for your actions.

You were incorrect about Mr. Palant's origin and I think it would be best that you admit such. All countries have moments that they would like to forget and that they remain ashamed of. I would love to say that the U.S. is different, but it's not. We can move past that, but its best not to take jabs at "foreigners" because of the mistakes of their government. We all pass by instances when we should have stopped to rail against an issue.

Interesting... rather than rebut comments you just delete them and all traces. 

Comments must earn the right to remain by being relevant and intelligent.

I see that the above disclaimer states that you have no problem with people disagreeing with you, but in actuality it seems otherwise.

Gee, and how many of your comments have I allowed to remain? Quite a few, and I can't recall one of them being something I agree with.

 Couldn't you at least do your readers a favor and show that you had stricken comments.

No. Should I leave a marker when I pick some trash off the ground and throw it away to note a piece of trash had been there?

 I did know what I was talking about in my last comment and I can think of no reason that it would have been removed other than your own pride. I am curious as to the explanation for your actions.

You were gagging at a gnat.

You were incorrect about Mr. Palant's origin and I think it would be best that you admit such. 

A. He is from Germany.
B. It's still irrelevant because what I said applies to most of Europe.

All countries have moments that they would like to forget and that they remain ashamed of. 

Moments, yes, but we still are used by most nations to ensure their safety, while they complain about us.

I would love to say that the U.S. is different, but it's not. 

Well, we are.

We can move past that, but its best not to take jabs at "foreigners" because of the mistakes of their government. We all pass by instances when we should have stopped to rail against an issue.

It's not mistakes of the governments, but mistakes of the people. Hitler was the government, that the people of Germany allowed.

If men were created in the image of God, wouldn't there be some sort of quality control issue if the Germans are, as you speculate, morally inferior?