Tips for Makers of adware
Recently I penned some thoughts on California’s new Anti-Spy Bill. While writing the piece I got to thinking that no one has really given the beaten up adware and spyware authors any public guidance.
- What if they could start over?
- How could we model good behavior for them?
- Would they do it any differently?
Here is my advice for those who want to make advertising supported software…
1) Build Fans: Start by building a relationship with your user base. This might be hard to do if you are trying to reach critical mass with aggressive distribution, but it will go a long way if you actually have fans of your software defending your use of advertising to “keep it free”.
2) Bundle Wisely: Choose your bundling partners wisely. You will be marked by the company you keep. You also need to know how your bundling partners are behaving. If they are using active-x security holes to drive downloads you are not going to garner any trust and you may end up in legal battles.
3) Quality: Make better software. You can’t expect users to stick around if your value proposition is weak and your software crummy. Design software that will make users your fans. Ensure your software is not riddled with security holes.
4) Options: Offer the user the option to buy your software. If it is really good software consumers will buy the application. I spent money on three software applications today- The Bat!, an e-mail client, RoboForm, a password management tool, and I dropped 25.00 Euros on my Skype account because while I like Skype-to-Skype calls I like making Skype to phone calls even more.
5) Clear Labels: Label your advertisements. There is nothing worse than a runaway interstitial ad or daughter console where you can’t tell where it is coming from. If you make software that generates ads let the consumer know where the ad is coming from. This might reduce your conflicts with web publishers too. Every ad from a software application should be clearly labeled.
6) EULA: Write your EULA’s in a compact fashion and in a language the average person can understand. You cannot foster trust if they cannot understand your message. While consumers might be clicking on your checkboxes it means nothing if they aren’t giving an enthusiastic buy-in.
7) Restraint: Refrain from the use of trick dialogue boxes, active-x drive by downloads, and deceptive advertising. While you will get a certain number of clueless users you may wind up on the wrong end of a lawsuit and to go back to point 1, you certainly will not build a fan base. While we are on the topic of restraint don’t overwhelm the user with dozens of pop-ups. They honestly don’t see it as a value add.
Have Class: Be sure to mind those CLSIDs! There is little to no forgiveness in the security community for software authors who cannot take the trouble to invoke a fresh CLSID. Failure to do this can be disastrous.
9) Redux: Reduce your resource footprint. Today computer user’s resources are being sapped by illegitimate and legitimate applications. Network administrators want all non-mission critical applications off their network in order to preserve vital resources. Code your applications so that they take up minimal resources. When the pruning time begins, and rest assured it eventually will, you are not first up against the wall when the revolution comes.
10) Placement: Constrain your advertisements inside your application. Yes, I know this might not be as effective as popping up in user’s faces, but it can provide incremental revenue without interfering with the end user experience.
11) Clean: Provide a quick and easy way to install the application through normal channels. Ensure the removal is quick, easy and clean. This is simply common courtesy. If a user no longer wants the application let them uninstall it. After all it is their PC and they have a right to govern what operates on their PC. While we are on this topic refrain from the use of trickler programs too. Once you are shown the door, making a back door to invite in your buddies is not only rude but illegal.
12) Understandable: Explain your privacy policy in plain language. Get your lawyer to draft the agreement, than have another, hopefully more sensitive lawyer, put the agreement in language that is fun and entertaining for users to read. They will love you for it.
