Avast Assertive...Assumptive Marketing

Good Afternoon! I purchased a License for Avast Pro A/V...yesterday...upon installation...much to my chagrin I come across Marketing Baked into the New Metro Tile Gui...a Feature called SecureLine...a Vpn Service that at first glance appears too be offered with the App...Underline Sleazy...upon clicking on VPN...all is revealed...it's $49.95 for a yrly subscription...Now being Canadian, I'll be diplomatic and polite in my response...I as a paying customer who is Only Interested in the Effectiveness of the Product...Should Not...be Subjected too Aforementioned MARKETING OFFERS...It should be removed from the Gui...no If's and's or But's! Now there's another issue...when installing it seems Avast and Google are Business Buddies...it asks you to install the Google Plugin...to Activate Web Rep...which at the best to me is a Borderline Useless Feature...and when setting up Safe Zone...which is about the only Useful Feature...I can use...if you fail to import your passwords from either Firefox or I.E.10 or 9...Safe Zone will not capture your passwords...unbelievable! I already have Google Chrome installed and it already has my passwords captured...why does it need to recapture them with a Competitors Browser? Anyhow it appears Avast has completely Sold-Out! and don't come back with everyone has to make a Buck Reply! They should join Avira...after all WHO HAS TO ASK! REMEMBER YOUR CUSTOMER COMES FIRST! Sincerely...A ONCE LOYAL CUSTOMER...Securon

 

I'm sorry,but....wouldn't have been better to trial it first?That's what i'm gonna do,because i'm planning to buy Avast pro myself.

 

Good Afternoon! Thanks for your concern Joe...but I've subscribed to Avast Products in the past...so no need for trials...My point is their has to be a Need For Thinking of the Customer...and the resultant Fall-Out resulting from Dubious Corporate Marketing Decisions! This is unfortunately Practiced in many Businesses...but I feel it's up to Loyal Customer's and Consumers too Call a Wrong A Wrong...when they feel strongly about Injustices! Sincerely...Securon

 

You can simply change the components installed and remove them.
Secureline.
VPN.
WEBREP.

These are purely optional and can be removed in minutes.

Thanks.

 

Good Evening! AMIGA500...this is Understood...But Removing The Marketing Idea is a totally different Attitude! Taking in this instance more than a few minutes! Sincerely...Securon

 

I don't know if the paid version works the same, but in the free product, you can choose "minimal install" and it leaves all the extra junk out, just giving you the basic av and modules. I don't much care for the Chrome offer either, but then again, I don't care for offers and toolbars in any product, but it is rather commonplace nowadays, so what are we gonna do?

 

Good Evening! Kerodo! It's time too storm the Bastille! Let them eat cake! Lol! Sincerely...Securon

 

i still like avast but i agree this started way back when they added iyogi, then the credit card services thing and then ..... and ever since now their program is full of things i either have to not install or i have to turn off in settings. while i can say they are one of my fav av's i am not sure if i will buy it again when my sub is up (for 15pc's till 2016). but you cant single avast out others do this now to like avg for instance has their "extras" installed and you cant even remove many of those. at least with avast you can turn them off or choose a custom install. so there is a bit of good there. but i agree 1000% when i pay for any program no matter the type and i start to see adds for anything at all i dont care what they are for ill look elsewhere now. i did not pay for a program to have to look at adds or "extras" i have to pay extra for i dont pay my hard earned money to look at adds.. im totally fine with those in free versions since imo thats the price of admission there you are using a free program i dont care if they load up the free versions with adds personally and i use a lot of free programs.... but when a paid version imo there should be zero, nada, none, not even one add in the program.

 

Good Evening! Z...YOU'VE JUST HIT THE PROVERBIAL NAIL ON THE HEAD. Sincerely...Securon

 

In the end, we all fortunately have the ability to choose something else, which is what I always do when I encounter stuff like this in a product. But... in this case, how many millions of users does Avast have? They probably won't pay any attention unless something threatens their bottom line significantly. So you'll have to mount a major campaign and convert millions of users to your way of thinking too, if you want to make any impact. Good luck... I'm with you in spirit, but for me, it's easiest to just move on to something else.

 

Good Evening! This is small potato Politic...Kerodo...but if you break down the actual Free Subscribers the numbers change dramatically. But I have moved on...to another weapon in my formidable arsenal...your correct...Life's too short. Pick your self up and get back in the race...That's Life...too quote Frank! Sincerely...Securon

 

Approximately 180million "registered" users although of course many may register and then if avast is not to their liking then they uninstall even though they are still registred,so an accurate figure of who is using avast maybe difficult to ascertain.

 

Securon, I totally agree and that is why I only see Avast and Avira, in my rear view mirror.

 

Thanks for the feedback guys. It's always good to hear what you think about our product, and how you think we can improve it so that it suits you better.

I realize that some of the things you have mentioned may have gone a bit too far, and we're working on fixing these. Actually, in Avast v8, the number of in-product ads has been reduced quite a bit and this trend will likely to continue.

Thanks again for raising this [valid] point.

Cheers
Vlk

 

Good Evening! Right...On...Trjam....Right On! Sincerely...Securon

 

If I can give a suggestion, that software updater had a potential if it monitors more software.

 

When the new version came out, they were giving free 14 day trial on the VPN...worked quite well but I am not really in need of a VPN at this point, but enjoyed testing it out for free.

 

I stand with you Securon!

I can completely understand adding this marketing garbage to the free versions, but it is unacceptable for the pay versions. If an antivirus company can't make enough money to survive off the subscription price, then raise it or close down shop.

And don't try to run an older version without the marketing garbage because avast will force you to upgrade.

Unfortunately, this behavior is becoming all too common and avast is certainly not alone. The constant barrage of advertising and corporate greed is a real shame in an industry that prides itself on establishing trust.

 

Wait a minute...wait a minute...Avira in the rear view mirror? Your first love?

 

I generally agree that the marketing technique of inserting inactive elements into the UI as advertizements is crossing the line in a paid product.

As to SecureLine though it's worth noting that a VPN is typically a separate subscription item and I actually like that it's integrated into the UI. I guess the ideal would be the option to integrate additional elements into the UI after subscribing to them instead of before.

 

I was perfectly happy with the free version for years, and then they implemented SafeZone to the Pro version. I know, Now it's in the free version as well. I bought the Pro 2 year deal and set everything up, and tried SafeZone. I won't go into my long story, but SafeZone doesn't work on my computer. A few guys on the forum tried to help me by suggesting a few complicated long tries at fixing it, but I finally said the heck with it. As for the Marketing offers, I don't click on anything so I don't see them. After you're set up you won't have to access the User Interface unless you get a virus, so it's out of my mind.
I agree that Avast has become too bloated, just as I feared it would years ago. Now I'm stuck with the Pro version with a year and a half to go before I can go back to the free version or go else where, UNLESS I am willing to eat the cost I paid for Pro and jump ship now. The problem is that the AV minus the SafeZone works well and doesn't screw up, so do I want to search for a simple free AV that does the job now.

 

What?

A) No one can force developer not to advertise their other products within their app or via shortcuts on desktop.

B) Google stuff is NOT required for anything. You can easily uncheck it during installation.

C) WebRep is NOT essential and you can uncheck it during installation (like i do).

D) SafeZone is heavily restricted due to its nature and function. To be as secure as possible.

 

It is and this is the reason Avast never got past a trial for me. I really wish these vendors would stop putting in advertising in paid products and stop (or at least make it optional.) to put in all of this social media garbage. No, I don't want to like you on Facebook.

 

rejzor those point i know but things like google junk should not be inlcuded in the paid version in the first place that is not a avast developer product. i really dont have a issue with webrep myself except that i dont use it and have tro uncheck it during the install. BUT this is the one area where avast still is ont of the best out there with its custom installer. they have one of the best installers out there as far as letting one pic what they actually want. again i was not saying avast was a bad product. i just think the amount of extra junk lately has gone crazy and as a paid user one should not be subjected to those things.

also ^^^^^^ TO XXjACKXX YES!! i 100% agree leave the facebook trash out the window!! my family does not use facebook nor do we use twitter, nor do MANY people i know now. i can name off a long list of people who have now forgotten and left facebook imo i hate it and it drives me crazy when i have to constantly be subjected to its garbage same for twitter and pinterest etc. why cant these companies see this. an example is a contest i saw for a product you had to like them on facebook, well what about us who will never use it EVER i asked this vendor and they said "you have to pay to play" well then ill move on and not use your products after a remark like that to a customer. i know its not the exact same thing but imo it falls under the same category its all about getting them FREE advertising when you like them from a product i am PAYING for. leave it OUT ... PLEASE!!!

imo if they insist on showing the developers other products they should make them pop up one time only right after the install maybe and say something like "you may be interested in these other things" then include either a box to check for "do not show this again" or only have it come up ONCE after the install. i see this from companies like ashampoo and others then you see it once and never deal woith it again. even in the paid av that would be fine with me *IF* it has to be there i would still of course rather it not be there. or pop up ONCE after the uninstaller. im sure for many this could be a good compromise instead of adding it all into the program itself

 

IMO, Avast suffers from rampant feature creep along with the marketing stuff. What once was a good AV is now a mess, unfortunately....