Conflict of Interest 102- Microsoft Negotiating with Claria

Thanks to a Revenews Reader for calling this to my attention.

According to the New York Times.

For the last two weeks, Microsoft has been in talks to buy a private Silicon Valley company, a move that underscores just how eager Microsoft is to catch up with Google, the search and advertising giant.

The company that Microsoft has pursued is controversial: Claria, an adware marketer formerly called Gator, and best known for its pop-up ads and software that tracks people visiting Web sites. The Gator adware has frequently been denounced by privacy advocates for its intrusiveness.

Shocked? Not I.

I am not surprised by this as I have been predicting Claria might be exiting the pop-up business and plans to focus on behavioral ad targeting. Given that Microsoft stopped using pop-ups some time ago, you can bet the pop-ups would be the first to go.

See Prediction

This all sounds great- if you are a media buyer. (I have to wonder if this a clear signal that Claria will eventually exit the pop-up business? I don’t know.)

Perhaps I was correct.

This also comes to no surprise to some anti-spyware vendors who have speculated that while the Microsoft anti-spyware tool is efficacious, their numerous conflicts of interest make it difficult for them to assault problematic software from a neutral standpoint.

PostScript: Additional Reads from the Blogosphere

Chris Boyd of VitalSecurity.org covers the story.

Suzi Turner of SpywareWarrior.com covers the story here

Nik Cubrilovic of Perfected.org covers the story here

Ed Bott also has some interesting insight into this dubious transaction.

If you find further blogs on this development feel free to contact me at wporter@gmail.com

About Wayne Porter

Wayne Porter is one of the original founders of ReveNews.com, and served as the CEO and founder of XBlock Systems a specialized research firm on greynets and malware research before being acquired by unified communications security leader, Factime Security Labs. His work includes serving as a panlist at the Federal Trade Commission to shape legislation on software and the creation of two patent-pending technologies for corporate networks. Wayne is a frequent speaker at e-commerce & business events including CJU, ASW and RSA and frequently cited in the press. He has been designated a Microsoft Security MVP three times and is recognized on Google’s Responsible Security Disclosure page- in addition to receiving the first Summit Legend Award. Wayne currently works as a Security Consultant on Social Media and operates a consultancy on digital worlds. His hobbies include reading science fiction, playing chess, fishing, writing, collecting shiny digital gadgets, playing racquetball and studying memetic engineering. He maintains a personal weblog at WaynePorter.com detailing his explorations in security, web 2.0, and virtual worlds.
You can follow Wayne on Twitter: @wporter.

Website: http://www.wayneporter.com