While reliable data about the booming adware market is scant, consumer complaints have become frequent and vociferous. Privacy watchdogs like the Center for Technology and Democracy in Washington have called for closer regulatory scrutiny of the industry. Legislation seeking to protect consumers from abusive adware and spyware has been introduced in Congress. One state, Utah, has even outlawed the installation of any computer software without users' consent.
But the adware industry's critics say solutions to the problems must ultimately come from vendors themselves. Against this landscape, companies still hoping to mine the lucrative promises of adware have choices to make: to abandon the pop-up promotions that consumers find so annoying or to overhaul their practices so thoroughly that they are seen as online advertising's equivalent of the responsible corporate citizen.
Spyware companies represent some of the most disreputable players in the industry, because their products are considered to be used for more illicit purposes. While many adware companies engage in some of the same practices as spyware companies -- both track users' browsing habits, for example -- adware tends to occupy a less nefarious position in the industry.
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