Avira will do what is right for its customers. They have some pretty cool stuff on their plates for the future but like any creative inventor, you have to be able to pay for it. Personally, I would be cool with the Ask toolbar even in the paid products if it would allow them to actually bring to market some of their new ideas. Trust me, layered would be a thing of the past.
I don't think this would be a big deal if it were like other companies and optional. The Avira forums have been swamped over this so it will be interesting to see how it all shakes out.
They now have a whole web page devoted to explaining the new toolbar and how great it is: http://www.avira.com/en/avira-searchfree-toolbar I'm not clear on how they reconcile their own privacy policy with that of ask.com.
"No, I'm not going to stop using Avira Premium/Security Suite" Avira yet is detecting much more malware then some others. will continue....