Advertisers may face public humiliation over adware
US Federal Trade Commission (FTC) Commissioner Jon Leibowitz, speaking at an event hosted by the Anti-Spyware Coalition, suggested that the FTC could publicly shame companies that advertise through adware that installs itself without user consent, making such marketing practices less desirable to advertisers. While many attendees supported the idea, Trevor Hughes, executive director of the Network Advertising Initiative, notes that many well-intentioned businesses may not realize how marketers are advertising their products. Advertisers are also beginning to feel consumer pressure to avoid companies that use adware to distribute marketing content. The advertising industry has numerous middlemen and go-betweens that make it hard to track which companies use adware. Don Mathis, chief operating officer for AzoogleAds, supports the idea of publicizing companies using adware, arguing that the market is beginning to turn against adware.
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