Is Ask.com taking over the world?

I find that the option to install this POS ask.com now available by default in almost every program I tend to install! What gives?

And what's sad, I understand that FREEWARE companies need to make some money but what about paid software? I have Nero 11 and it also has the Ask.com toolbar with its homepage as options by default!

Please answer the following questions:

1) Do software developers/companies get paid to include the ask.com toolbar in their apps?

2) So even if I do install the Ask.com toolbar and set their homepage, what benefit does ask.com get?? is it like gonna land them a fortune or something if I am using their toolbar?

3) Some apps now also have Google Chrome as a default option during installation, again, why does Google want to force people to use their crappy browser? and how come reputed companies such as Mozilla don't need to force people to use their browser yet millions of people do

 

That's not really Mozilla's style. They have the money to do advertising campaigns (and we may see them for b2g) but they prefer more of a grass routes community approach.

I actually recently installed the Ask.com toolbar, what a pain. Completely by accident of course.

I don't see why freeware companies do this. They're making money by installing what could practically be considered malware - it's an awful business model.

 

Well, Mozilla does get millions of $ from Google*. And, Firefox has as its first/main (only ? no idea) search engine, Google's search engine. Oh evil, evil. lol

It's easy not to have to resort to such techniques, when we get fundings from somebody else.

That said, I don't understand why paid software includes such crap, be it Ask toolbar or other. I also don't understand why freeware software includes Ask toolbar. Heck, bundle Yahoo toolbar or whatever... but why Ask toolbar? Aren't they aware of the "past" practices?

* If it weren't Google, it probably would be some other company, but that's beside the point.

 

My point exactly! Even Avira AntiVir (one of the good Free antivirus programs) has it bundled for god's sake!

Now for Ahead to bundle it in their NERO app which costs $50 to 100 USD (depending on the edition you choose) is plain sad IMO

 

True, why always Ask.com is beyond me

And what does ASK benefit from me installing their lame Toolbar?

It is not funny anymore when every app out there has this toolbar. Gone are the old days where you simply click NEXT, NEXT to install an app, now we have to be very careful

 

It's all about data mining and advertizing. When you don't opt-out and install the Ask toolbar you will also see that Ask.com has become your default search engine.

 

Sweet Lord..just no. Have you used Yahoo Messenger lately? That toolbar looks worse than the Ask one (although you can get away with not installing Ask, with Yahoo, if you un-check the toolbar install, it still installs in IE). It's just the way things are now, freebies almost always have a "gotcha" these days.

 

@ berryracer - Good info here: http://www.calendarofupdates.com/updates/index.php?showtopic=16253 & http://www.calendarofupdates.com/updates/index.php?showtopic=16109

TH

 

Which is why 90% of my software is paid apps........I prefer quality than free

The only free app I use probably is CCleaner. Rest are all paid ranging from my security suite (Kaspersky Internet Security) to my defragmenter (PerfectDisk 12.5) to my CD Burner (Nero 11)

I hate free crap

 

I don't use messengers...

 

But, as you mentioned in your first post, Nero does bundle Ask toolbar... and it's a paid software.

 

Yes,and obviously quite a bit as explained here by Bill P some time ago when approached by them.
http://billpstudios.blogspot.com/2008/01/would-you-like-toolbar-with-your.html

It's all about money, so yea you'll help fatten their wallets.
But you should be asking what benefit is this to you, and the answer to that in my book is nothing, notta, zero.

To get more users, again it's all about business.

Because some companies still have ethics.

 

Ask.com toolbar must be destroyed before it is too late!!!

 

Stay alert while installing, and defeat their purpose by unselecting the Ask option.

 

I usually use free software over paid software - much of the free software I use is just as good as paid software. Having toolbars or other software included is not enough reason for me to avoid software.

While Ask is certainly the predominant included bundle at the moment, I have an issue with all bundled software, not just Ask. For example Google Chrome is a faily common extra bundled with software - it is of zero use to me - I don't use it now, and almost certainly never will. Even if I did use Chrome I would much rather install it by going to the Chrome download page and downloading it, rather than having some other installer install it for me. I reguarly come accross computers with have had Google Chrome installed as part of another install, and the computer users have never even used, and quite often they have no idea what Chrome is.

I keep a close eye on any software I install so that I can opt out of installing any extras, but occasionally I miss something.

 

That classic old action of "insisting" a software or app as a condition of a download ~~ They just don't know when to quit

 

Well that's the only exception...and it's a shame really

The thing is, I am obliged to use Nero for 2 reasons:

1) It has the best burning engine
2) I sometimes need to create DVDs from my downloaded video files, and you usually need another program to convert those files (incase they were DivX, 3ivX, or any other format) into a format that the DVD can read and play (DVD Authoring) which is available in Nero without the need for any other software. It's called Nero Vision, you simply drag/drop the files into the burning box and let Nero do all the conversions it needs and you have a DVD/VCD that can be played on any DVD/VCD player. Now Nero Vision has been substituted by a component in Nero called: Nero Recode

I tried ImgBurn and the difficulty in performing such tasks is disappointing. It is good for burning images but if you wanna create a DVD video Disc you need to read online guides and crap + the addition to having to format your videos in the proper format which is a lot of hassle

 

Thank you for the detailed explanation to all my points! Now it's all clear

 

Yes! It is a VIRUS that goes by undetected by AV programs and is spreading the internet! Ask.com ! yeah right! from the name of it, I wouldn't touch such a search engine!

 

Exactly! And when you see every other app trying to install Chrome for you, you wonder what the heck! are they that desperate to spread their browser?

To give it the benefit of the doubt...I did Try Chrome last month and...

1) I hated the interface so much and I couldn't get used to it at all..
2) The extensions Chrome has are inferior to the ones the mighty Firefox has
3) Everytime I exit Chrome, I get a message from Windows "An error has occured do you want to try to find a solution" and this is on a FRESH Windows 7 64Bit installation with no other browser installed, happened to me twice on both the latest Chrome and even their portable version........

That's when I said bye bye to Chrome forever and stuck to my trusty Firefox with the Ad-Block Plus Addon

 

Can some authority stop this BS? Seriously.... it has gone to limits far beyond imagination

What's REALLY sad is that Avira AntiVir (one of my favorite FREE antivirus apps before switching to Kaspersky Internet Security) has Ask.com bundled! I mean what kind of mad CEO signeed the approval for this BS?? To include a sort of fishy virus in their ANTI-VIRUS? Wow!

Too bad, Avira had a good scanning engine (I believe it was somehow similar to the Kaspersky engine) was light on resources, and has less false positives)

 

I prefer free software as long as there is an option.

 

I guess it's all about driving search traffic to Google instead of their competitors. But I do find it annoying particularly when it comes bundled with my favourite free antivirus software Avast.

I tried Chrome when it as first released and didn't like it. I also used it again recently because it was already installed on a computer I bought.

For me it just does not have enough configuration options. If I can't configure a browser so that every url I enter is loaded in a new tab right next to current tab (not after all other tabs) I won't use it. I'm more than happy with Orca (and I use Maxthon occasionally) and compared to these browsers, Chrome seems pretty basic.

With Firefox having better extensions compared to Chrome - it's just another reason to my that Chrome is a very average web browser. It's no wonder that Google tries to foist it on so many unsuspecting users.

 

QFT!

D!tto br0