Popups on GB?

Kameleon · Post by **Kameleon** » Fri Mar 07, 2003 1:48 pm

Well, I just got a proper piece of plastic today, should I wait till the subscription thingy comes into effect to send you moolah?

garazdawi · Post by **garazdawi** » Sat Mar 08, 2003 5:35 am

One other thing, has anyone noticed one of the ads running a script that wants to install a program on your computer? I don't mind the popups, but I just wonder what sorts of things this program is installing.

I just got the same pop up, and I fell exatcly the same way......popups is one thing but programs requesting to be installed is another.....

Vicsun · Post by **Vicsun** » Sat Mar 08, 2003 6:06 am

Originally posted by garazdawi
I just got the same pop up, and I fell exatcly the same way......popups is one thing but programs requesting to be installed is another.....

Try getting a screenshot next time you see it, and send it to Buck (and/or post it here)...
I havn't seen that pop-up - maybe it's got something to do with where you live (I've been getting quite a few pop-ups in Danish)

garazdawi · Post by **garazdawi** » Sat Mar 08, 2003 6:33 am

Originally posted by Vicsun
Try getting a screenshot next time you see it, and send it to Buck (and/or post it here)...
I havn't seen that pop-up - maybe it's got something to do with where you live (I've been getting quite a few pop-ups in Danish)

the popup is from Gatorindustries and it tries to install a "time precistion manager" or something like that...... next time I see it I'll take a screen shot and place it here.......

Vicsun · Post by **Vicsun** » Sat Mar 08, 2003 8:16 am

Gator usually means spyware... The first time I installed Gator Companion (it came in a bundle with some freeware software), it took me hours to remove.

garazdawi · Post by **garazdawi** » Sat Mar 08, 2003 8:36 am

Originally posted by Vicsun
Gator usually means spyware... The first time I installed Gator Companion (it came in a bundle with some freeware software), it took me hours to remove.

yae, I had one of their products installed like 6 months ago, and it still keeps bugging me to get a monkey that talk to you.......

Vicsun · Post by **Vicsun** » Sat Mar 08, 2003 8:47 am

If you want to remove it, you can do it like I did 6 months ago:
1. Delete the folder where you installed it
2. Delete the 6 other folders in which it installed it copied itself and it's components
3. Search your registry for Gator and remove all keys containing it.
4. Wonder what' you could have missed.

Or alternatively you can install AdAware and it will do all of the above for you for about 2 minutes. If I only knew it exsisted when a couple of months ago

garazdawi · Post by **garazdawi** » Sat Mar 08, 2003 8:52 am

Originally posted by Vicsun
If you want to remove it, you can do it like I did 6 months ago:
1. Delete the folder where you installed it
2. Delete the 6 other folders in which it installed it copied itself and it's components
3. Search your registry for Gator and remove all keys containing it.
4. Wonder what' you could have missed.

Or alternatively you can install AdAware and it will do all of the above for you for about 2 minutes. If I only knew it exsisted when a couple of months ago

Well teh only problem I have with it atm is that all my pop ups want me to gettheir stuff...... I think they left a cookie on my hard drive with a name that is not related to the actual company...... and the remove cookies doen's seem to help

oh BTW @Buck, I don't seem to be able to stay logged into the forums for a long time......soemtimes while travelling threads I log out with out me even knowing I logged out..... strange

, it's nothing major, but it could get irritating if it keeps on going.....

fable · Post by **fable** » Sat Mar 08, 2003 9:22 am

Originally posted by garazdawi
Well teh only problem I have with it atm is that all my pop ups want me to gettheir stuff......

To quote from the CEXX website, one of the most thorough and informational anti-spyware sites out there:

"Update: As of April 2002, Gator has been implicated in a questionable practice some are calling "drive-by-downloads". In this scheme, a normal banner or popup ad will attempt to install software (executable code) on the user's PC. Depending on the browser's security settings, the software will either download silently and without any user action, or present an install dialogue. Novice users may choose "Yes" thinking the browser is asking to download a legitimate page-display plugin.

"Gator is a software product that can automatically fill in passwords and other form-elements on Web pages. But its main purpose is to load an advertising spyware module called OfferCompanion, which displays pop-up ads when visiting some Web sites. Gator boasts that since it's software is always running, it can spam users with "Special Offers" and other ads anywhere they go--even competitors' sites--with remarkable targeting capabilities, since it can spy on what sites the user is visiting. Don't take my word for it, see what kind of abilities Gator boasts to potential advertisers."

They link to Business 2.0, a very reputable, pro-business magazine/sitezine, with an article that includes the following:

"Gator and other companies that have developed so-called merchant-independent, persistent "agents" have been called "eyeball bandits" or "eyeball thieves." In a way, that's true. The small browser plug-ins, which users can download free, follow users' movements throughout the Web. Through the browser, agents learn where a user is, what he or she might be about to do or buy, and for what price. Then the agents make a better offer. Users are motivated to check out the offer, since they activate the agents voluntarily by downloading them. Most consumers hear about the gimmick through an advertiser's online campaign, or by word-of-mouth."

CEXX continues by quoting Tribune Media Services:

"Gator tracks the sites that users visit and forwards that data back to the company's servers. Gator sells the use of this information to advertisers who can purchase the opportunity to make ads pop up at certain moments, such as when specific words appear on a screen. It also lets companies launch a pop-up ad when users visit a competitor's Web site."

Then CEXX states:

"Gator is also dynamically inserting ads on top of ads already on the page. They look and feel like the site's real banners, but place ads for things the actual Web site never intended--including ads for competitors' products and possibly even adult materials. Among other things, this 'steals' advertising revenue from the legitimate owner of that Web site, as their banner is inaccessible and covered up by the Gator ad...

"Gator recently sued the Internet Advertising Bureau for decrying their methods as unethical and deceptive, and potentially illegal. Gator is seeking monetary damages for the IAB's "malicious disparagement", as well as a declaratory judgment deeming their methods legal and forbidding the IAB from bringing their own suit on behalf of members whose sites' ads are being poached."

I would urge you to consider that even if you don't mind ads, it seems somehow indecent to take away potential ad revenue from a site (like GB, for example) by using a Gator-type program which overlays its own ads. You might also want to consider the implications of having your exact movements on the Web relayed to a third party for analysis and sales as "marketing data" to other companies.

garazdawi · Post by **garazdawi** » Sat Mar 08, 2003 9:30 am

Originally posted by fable
I would urge you to consider that even if you don't mind ads, it seems somehow indecent to take away potential ad revenue from a site (like GB, for example) by using a Gator-type program which overlays its own ads. You might also want to consider the implications of having your exact movements on the Web relayed to a third party for analysis and sales as "marketing data" to other companies.

As I said I've been trying to get rid of this SW, but failed to get rid of every bit of it...... if it takes down on other sites revenue I'll try harder to get rid of the program...... my PC is due for a format anyway......

fable · Post by **fable** » Sat Mar 08, 2003 9:38 am

Originally posted by garazdawi
As I said I've been trying to get rid of this SW, but failed to get rid of every bit of it...... if it takes down on other sites revenue I'll try harder to get rid of the program...... my PC is due for a format anyway......

I don't know which version of Windows' OS you're running, but consider looking under Accessories/System Tools for "System Information" or something similar, and click on that. Then under the Tools menu, click on "System Configuration Utility." Under the Startup tab, it will display all the programs that are set to run at startup on your computer, and not just the flimsy few that Microsoft chooses to list in the hysterically named "Startup folder." Anything that's checked, runs at startup. You should be able to easily trace down Gator's executable in there, and by unchecking it and rebooting, stop the thing from loading.

fable · Post by **fable** » Sat Mar 08, 2003 9:41 am

Oh, and an excellent, easier substitute for all this is to purchase (or at least test drive; I believe they have a shareware version available) Iolo.com's System Mechanic. They have a utility that instantly displays all the programs running in the background on your Windows OS, and let you easily turn each of 'em on or off. There are several other excellent tools in the package, as well.

HighLordDave · Post by **HighLordDave** » Sat Mar 08, 2003 9:49 am

I posted this in a thread over on the Tech Support forum, but I don't think Ad-Aware will completely get rid of either Gator or Bonzai Buddy. I've been told that the code for both programs is so insidious that it hides itself and replicates itself to avoid elimination by spyware detecting utilities. To their credit, both Gator and Bonzai Buddy (aka The Purple Monkey Virus) tell you exactly what they're going to do to your computer in the licensing agreement that no one reads.

The installation I received wasn't for Gator, but for InterCort Systems or something like that; I'll get a screenshot the next time I see it.

fable · Post by **fable** » Sat Mar 08, 2003 9:59 am

Originally posted by HighLordDave
To their credit, both Gator and Bonzai Buddy (aka The Purple Monkey Virus) tell you exactly what they're going to do to your computer in the licensing agreement that no one reads.

I don't know about it being "to their credit." My understanding is that it's requred by law. All the various spyware engines, for example, plainly state what they're doing on their homepages. As you say, though, nobody ever reads the things.

garazdawi · Post by **garazdawi** » Sat Mar 08, 2003 10:03 am

Originally posted by HighLordDave
Bonzai Buddy (aka The Purple Monkey Virus) tell you exactly what they're going to do to your computer in the licensing agreement that no one reads.

that's the one I installed(stupid me)

, well I don't think that the program runs the the background of my WinXP Pro....... I rather think that Gator has left a cookie on my hard drive that now tells all the Gator sites to tell me to re-install it again

, I'll do a swipe through the util u mentioned Fable....... oh well I better het back to Documenting my game......

Gorgan · Post by **Gorgan** » Sat Mar 08, 2003 10:20 am

Ther is a program called adaware that you can download and it searches your computer for all known spyware and adware on your computer. The only catch is that if you have kazaa or any program like that which has an integratd spyware it will destroy it. Kazaa wont work if you delete its spyware component.

Gorgan · Post by **Gorgan** » Sat Mar 08, 2003 10:21 am

oops didnt see it was already mentioned!

Post by **BuckGB** » Sat Mar 08, 2003 10:23 am

I haven't seen a popup trying to install the Gator software, but if you get a popup like this, please let me know. If I can track down which popup company it's coming from, I can take them out of the rotator script to see if it stops.

garazdawi · Post by **garazdawi** » Sat Mar 08, 2003 10:28 am

Originally posted by Buck Satan
I haven't seen a popup trying to install the Gator software, but if you get a popup like this, please let me know. If I can track down which popup company it's coming from, I can take them out of the rotator script to see if it stops.

ok, if I get it again I'll post it here..... as yet I've only got the popup once.... maybe it'll never come back....you never know...

Bloodmist · Post by **Bloodmist** » Sat Mar 08, 2003 10:30 am

I haven't got a single pop-up yet...

<-- Or maybe that should be a "weeee" smilie