In a classic “Thank You For Smoking” spin, Zango CTO Keith Smith has responded to my post on Snopes pushing adware:This is sophistry at its best and ignores the key fact: This pop-under ad was pushed consistently (at least in my geographic region) and could have easily been turned off through the Fastclick UI. Furthermore, this was one of several pop-unders — it was not a banner ad or a Google adword (which the site has plenty of).

Another news is that Zango wanted to pay us $500/day to run their software ads (we make a lot running their affiliate program $1/install), but we refused because we know it will degrade our website's experience. We can be making $8000/day just from Zango but we refuse to do so! We are not joking, FGX receives 80,000 unique visitors a day and each install is $1. At 10% conversion, we can make $8000/day. We have even disabled all Zango ads from displaying from our ads providers. In one month, we can be making $xxx,xxx, but money is not everything. We hate to see people's computers infested with spywares and adwares.

Well, upon some further research, it turns out that they are actually advertising Zango RIGHT NOW.

So I do hope they deliver on that promise to stop advertising Zango in March…

Well ... here we go again ... MediaPost is reporting that Zango is again going after Kaspersky. Zango lost round 1 in court and they are not happy with the decision. In their latest filing (link to .pdf here) they state the Court was wrong and that Kaspersky is actually Badware (as defined in StopBadware.org) ... now that's a real stretch!

Then Zango goes on to describe Kaspersky as "Scareware" ... imagine that! this should get real interesting when Kaspersky responds ... "Microsoft Malware Protection Center" reports Zango/Hotbar ranks 3 of of the Top 10 ...

Anime site onepiecehq.com redirects to Zango.

However, if you cancel and then go back to the site, the Zango install magically disappears. This means that claim that you get site access for free by installing Zango is a crock (video).

Another site, userbars.org, also redirects to Zango. However, unlike onepiecehq, you apparently must install Zango to use the site.

Incidentally, there are these two Zango sites floating around, but they appear dead:

findlyrics.powered-by.zango.com
livenba.powered-by.zango.com

Zango often touts its so-called "content economy" -- purportedly providing users access to media in exchange for accepting Zango's popup ads. After four years of debunking Zango's claims, I've come to suspect the worst -- and my investigations of Zango's media offerings confirm that Zango's media library is nothing to celebrate. This article reports the results of my recent examinations. I show:

• Widespread copyrighted video content presented without any indication of license from the corresponding rights-holders. Details.
• Widespread sexually-explicit material, including prominent explicit material nowhere labeled as such. Details.
• An audio library consisting solely of prank phone calls to celebrities (without the "music" Zango promises). Details.
• Widespread material users can get elsewhere for free, without any popups or other detriments. Details.
• Widespread material that content creators never asked to have included in any Zango library. Details.

The contents of his posts are the expressed written comments and opinions of TeMerc and TeMerc only. They have not been previously shared, discussed, colluded or conspired with any individual or group to compose any theme, specific subject, or intent other than specified in said topic.

The comments and opinions do not reflect those of any 'affiliate' relationships currently in contract with TeMerc and are wholly construed independent of any affiliate input of any type.

TeMerc does not and will not be held responsible for others opinions who happen to coincide with his.

A few days ago, I wrote about a site asking you to install Zango before you could view the site content (which happens to be pirated movies). Well, another site has come to light doing a similar thing - I'm starting to wonder how many of these are actually out there. It's also served to highlight what I feel is a particularly confusing popup box, but we'll get to that later.

Bestcinemaonline(dot)com. As you can see, the site is similar to the last one (except that site is registered anonymously to an individual in China, whereas this one is registered to someone in Indonesia). Also, the format is different - the last site was more of a "movie repository", whereas this one takes the shape and style of a blog with each individual entry pointing to a film. And what films they are!

We've pointed out for years the various questionable activities performed by adware firm Zango (or one of its earlier incarnations). The company has gone through so many changes it's tough to follow, but every time it insists that it has somehow "cleaned up" its act, it doesn't take long for researchers to find evidence to the contrary. For a while, the company was in hot water with the FTC for tricking people into downloading its adware. It eventually settled with the FTC, paying a hefty fine. These days, once again, the company insists that it's reinvented itself to focus on the "casual gaming market."

However, that doesn't appear to be the case. I recently saw a presentation from the company where it didn't mention casual gaming at all, but instead called itself a "publisher" of content -- though it was quite vague and evasive about just what kind of content. Perhaps that's because it doesn't want parties like the MPAA to know. As Ben Edelman had noticed a few months ago -- and now more and more security researchers are finding, Zango's software is being offered up by folks who are promising fully pirated movies.

It makes you wonder if Zango recognizes that dealing with the MPAA may be a lot less pleasant than fighting the FTC. Of course, maybe the MPAA recognizes that when pirated movies come with intrusive adware like Zango, it only gives pirated movies a bad name.

When I think of all the great (and not so great) moments in history, I sometimes wish there was a place where I could see all these different events.

The good news is, there is. The bad news is, it's not very good.

Presenting the wonderfully named

encyclomedia.com

My eye was initially drawn to the "Featured Free Online Video", nothing less than the "I Have a Dream" speech by Martin Luther King:

Runescape. I've never played it, but thanks to the handy Wikipedia article I can tell you that:

"RuneScape is a Java-based Massively Multiplayer Online Role-Playing Game operated by Jagex Ltd. Recognised by Guiness World Records as the world's most popular free MMORPG, RuneScape has approximately fifteen million active free accounts and is a graphical browser-based game with a large degree of 3D rendering."

The Runescape creators don't like Bots very much. In fact, a thriving underworld of botting, cheating and leet haxing exists with a wealth of program sharing and information sharing taking place. Along with Habbo Hotel, it's where a lot of wannabe Phishers cut their teeth. With that in mind, I thought we should take a look at the following website

Remember those sites that want you to install Zango in return for ripped movies?

Sure you do.

Well, I've just seen the inevitable happen - it was only a matter of time before Zango affiliates latched onto Twitter as a means of promoting their installers.

Of course, you'll only see any content on the site if you agree to the Zango install.

Oh, the joy...trumpets on high, banners waving in the wind!
Zango has been declared dead.
Good riddance, bugger off, may the fleas of a thousand camels infest your...well, you get the point.
As I've been heckling Zango for years, it gives my real pleasure to fire a parting shot. Or two, perhaps three.
Zango, this is for you.
The rest, dear reader, are for your viewing pleasure.
You'll recall that Hotbar is a Zango "product"?

Enjoy...

Props to John Leyden of El Reg for the best title of the day, via a tidy IFRAME.
http://tinyurl.com/c22sxn

An end to SPAM, thanks to Zango and Hotbar...really, I mean it.
http://tinyurl.com/cxhm79

A nod to Maestro Grossman's excellent book via manipulated Hotbar Flash.
http://tinyurl.com/cg7uke

To quote the mighty Marcus Fenix, "Sucks to be them."

Cheers.

Don't be fooled ...... Zango are not completely gone - zangocash.com is still very much online.