Post "dodgy" marketing examples here.

Having previously posted this little gem fom PC Tools (complete with gravely dramatic music), the attention of my browser has just today been pointed to this page from COMODO.

Top of the page it's,

"COMODO
Science Not Hype"

But... in only the time it takes to move your eyes to the bottom left (helpfully pointed to by the impossibly skinny girl "scientist"), it's clearly,

Hype, not science

See where the links take you.

 

https://www.wilderssecurity.com/showthread.php?t=324285

eset was advertising 100% detection while i love eset i didnt agree with that one

 

The guy who pointed me to the COMODO page is a CIS user. He's pretty mad about it.

 

https://www.wilderssecurity.com/showthread.php?t=324909

Bitdefender's "life-time" license (= up to 5 years / hardware change)

 

This scareware renewal notice from Norton:

http://www.forbes.com/sites/andygre...re-tells-customers-to-renew-or-beg-for-mercy/

And the ZoneAlarm one in that article as well.

 

That's wrong, ESET was advertising 100% ITW malware detection proved by Virus Bulleting tests. Virus Bulletin is a prestigious testing organization.

 

Sorry but I have to disagree. It says eset offers 100% protection and 0 false positives AND eset has the most consecutive VB100 awards (which are based on 100% protection and 0 false positives)

If it was intended to be otherwise, it isn't doing that.

 

100 % DETECTION! (in VB 100 tests)

I like ESET but that kind of advertisement is really ridiculous!

 

If you dont like how the tests are named (VB100); you can request that by sending a mail to VirusBulletin.

They are known by the annual international conferences spoken by security experts from all the world, objective AV tests and the well known VB magazine.

 

"In The Wild" threats are threats reported by more than one independent researcher around the world.
ITW threats are a small set representing the most importants threats, but many products fail to detect the whole set.

If I remember correctly, these tests are called "CheckMark Level One" in WestCoast Labs tests, but many products still fail in the detection of ALL threats in the given set.

 

Awesome! 60% of the time, it works every time

 

Wow, makes me not want to renew. I see it is almost 2 years old. Are they still doing that?

 

Today, a Vanity Fair article on Microsoft’s marketing mess:

http://www.vanityfair.com/online/daily/2012/07/microsoft-downfall-emails-steve-ballmer

 

marcos as i said i LOVE my eset and i use it personally and i sell it etc. i just think that could have been worded differently as i had actual customers that saw that add and before they even had eset on their system they said they saw an add for a anti virus that had 100% detection and then they toldme it was eset and i had to explain..

 

Hi zfactor

I think it should in this case be called Poetic Licence Marketing, rather then Dodgy Marketing.

Take Care
TheQuest

 

No: http://www.forbes.com/sites/andygre...-backs-off-its-beg-for-mercy-warning-message/.

 

Noone is arguing with VB100 tests here, the sentence structure they use imply that they prevent 100 and also they have consecutive VB100 awards.
I know it's a merketing gimmick but writing 100% in huge colored letters and mentioning VB100 in small later doesn't help either.

 

Personally I don't think the ESET ad is that bad, but I'm used to the big claims in ads requiring a qualifier.

While there are plenty of people who still believe in the infallibility of the antivirus - who will take from that advertisement that ESET will make them immune to everything - it's not as though they wrote the qualifier in the smallest print. It's reasonably sized, and intelligent person will read between the lines and realise that other tests will presumably not be 100%/0% like the 'consecutive VB100' tests.

Still, there are ways to misread the wording of it.

The Comodo page is pretty blatantly bad.

 

I agree about Comodo page. They never learned proper marketing.

About ESET; even if you read the small lines it still doesn't imply that the 100% is obtained from VB100, it says it offers 100% and 0 fp, and it also has consecutive VB100 awards (then explains on what basis this award is given).

Anyway, I'm probably keeping this too long so it's my last rant

 

Yes I can see how it might be misread that way - that the award was given due to ESET's general 100% detections and 0% FP. I still think an intelligent reader will understand what is really being said.

 

For a given test period that means:

100% means ALL samples detected in the test set.
And 0% means NO false positives.

 

Hi
The marketing of fear is the motor of the security industry.
For a secure browsing, there is no need VB100 certified antivirus, as Windows can be locked for a high level of security.
Most AV tests are intended to help the av industry in selling more and more licenses...as they are corrupted by default...
More than some marketing practices, the worst is the partnerships between pC manufacturers and some software editors (Antivirus for instance).
A recent judgment of a French court provides some hope for computing consummers http://non.aux.racketiciels.info/racketware-info/news/hardware-software-bundling-crumbles-france

On the other hand , it is up to anyone to be aware of this kind of practices, as there is no vaccine against cupidity and stupidity...just remember Power Plate that promoted a Mr Olympia body in a few hours...

Rgds

 

Yes. The more I look at it the more contemptible it appears.

I do seem to remember occasions where someone who has had the temerity not to think that CIS is just the greatest thing since... well, just the greatest thing, ever, has been branded a "hater". Someone whose mind is already closed, blind to any actual merits that CIS may possess.

Now at 'amplicate.com' you can only be a "lover" or a "hater", i.e. a "fanboy" or a "troll".

Thank you Comodo for this outstandingly credible promotion of CIS via a slanging match between its users and those who prefer competing products.

Can I have my lobotomy now?

 

Good to know. Thanks for the link.

 

Apple: You will never catch a virus on a Mac.