Technology, Culture, Commentary on the Internet Revolution

Microsoft Patents Worst Adware Ever

by Mike Abundo on July 18th, 2007

While Google uses Web page keywords to serve you relevant advertising, Microsoft must reach deeper to compete — all the way into your hard drive. On July 5, they applied to patent a system that looks at files on your hard drive to contextualize advertising.

The adware framework would leave almost no data untouched in its quest to sell you stuff. It would inspect “user document files, user e-mail files, user music files, downloaded podcasts, computer settings, computer status messages (e.g., a low memory status or low printer ink),” and more.

I understand that Microsoft needs to leverage their dominance of the desktop — but this is just abuse. Only Microsoft would stoop so low as to patent the most intrusive adware ever conceived in its mad quest to beat Google.

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POSTED IN: Advertising, Malware, Microsoft