Jimmy Daniels of RealTechNews writes:

Known spyware hunter Ben Edelman has a new case study of how big businesses, like Vonage, fund spyware and help clog up users’ machines around the world. On this page he has 12 different, recent examples of how Vonage funds spyware.

Vonage isn’t the only advertiser with widespread spyware ad-buys. Other buyers of untargeted or semi-targeted ads get plenty of spyware-delivered advertising too. For example, I see Verizon ads in spyware pop-ups with remarkable frequency. In a future article, I’ll present screenshots of some other big spyware advertisers.

As best I can tell, Vonage does not specifically intend to have its ads shown in spyware. Instead, the advertising chains shown above reveal that these are generally indirect relationships, not direct spyware ad buys. (In comparison, see my September 2005 report of Expedia directly and intentionally buying spyware-delivered advertising from numerous notorious spyware vendors - a practice that, to its credit, Expedia subsequently stopped.) Yet by failing to take appropriate precautions and failing to diligently supervising its ads, Vonage makes payments to spyware vendors - funding spyware that is known to harm users’ PCs.

Vonage may seek to write off these examples as insignificant within its nine-digit advertising budget. But these spyware placements have important negative externalities: When Vonage pays spyware vendors, even indirectly, Vonage helps make spyware more profitable, and helps make the spyware problem worse. Even if Vonage is content to waste some money on buying unwanted spyware ads, it still needs to take action to avoid funding software that damages users’ PCs.

When asked about Vonage’s spyware funding, Vonage CEO Jeffrey Citron last year told the Associated Press “We do everything we can to make sure our partners adhere to our standards.” I disagree. There’s plenty more Vonage could do. [Source: Ben Edelman]

We Say: This is the stuff that needs to stop. Vonage spends over $20 million a month on advertising; how much do you think goes into a spyware or adware maker’s pockets? How much goes to intermediaries like Rextopia, Leadclick Media, and others? This crap will not go away until the money dries up! Let Vonage know how you feel here.

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Tags: spyware, vonage, jeffrey citron, ben edelman, rextopia, leadclick media