Adware can trigger pop-up ads that fit the nature of the content
being viewed by a user.
According to a complaint filed in the District Court for the
Western District of Washington by Avenue Media last month, the
company, based on the Caribbean island of Curacao, discovered that
the traffic for its Internet Optimizer browser had halved from two
million hits per day to one million hits per day. The software had
been earning the firm around $20,000 to $25,000 per day.
The firm investigated, and, according to the complaint,
discovered that when subscribers downloaded DirectRevenue's rival
browser, known variously as "abetterinternet", "direct-revenue",
"BI", "Twaintek" and "Thinstall", their computers were instructed
to uninstall the Internet Optimizer software.
Avenue Media has asked the court to grant an injunction and
damages of over $100,000.
