Zango

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

180solutions, Inc. Zango
Type	Private
Founded	1999
Headquarters	Bellevue, Washington
Key people	Keith Smith, Co-founder, Chief Executive Officer Daniel Todd, Co-founder, President Ken Smith, Co-founder, Chief Technology Officer Doug Hanhart, Co-founder, Chief Information Officer York Baur, Executive Vice President
Industry	Computer software Advertising Marketing
Products	Adware Alleged spyware
Revenue	$50 Million (2004)
Employees	150 to 250
Website	www.zango.com

Zango was a software brand name for 180Solutions but following 180Solution's merger with Hotbar, the company has been called Zango. Zango manufactures adware typically downloaded in the form of games, DRM-protected videos and software for download such as Zango Messenger. Zango's consumer website asserts that the company is "committed to creating a content economy." Warner Bros and other notable content manufacturers have been known to provide content. This content ranges from Internet soap operas to video shorts like Medical Island. Zango is listed as a "Potentially Unwanted Product" by McAfee, and can be removed by most leading anti-virus and anti-spyware software.

Contents 1 Early History (before 2002) 2 2002 - 2005 3 Recent history (2006 and later) 4 Mergers and acquisitions 5 Hotbar 5.1 Controversy 6 References 7 External links 8 See also

[edit] Early History (before 2002)

When founded in 1999, Zango was known as Epipo. It was one of the first "pay-to-surf" companies, following in the footsteps of All Advantage. This business model paid users a minimal amount to surf the Internet while running an application that showed banner ads. Users could also make money by referring others who would use this application.

After enjoying brief success, the pay-to-surf business model declined with the bursting of the Internet bubble in 2001, and 180 Solutions adjusted their technologies in several ways:

• To show popup ads rather than banner ads.
• To not have any visible GUI.
• To be bundled with other potentially valuable applications.

Epipo changed their name to 180solutions.

[edit] 2002 - 2005

From 2002 through 2005, 180Solutions' applications (ncase and 180SA(search assistant)) were distributed via various affiliates. While these affiliates were legally required (by 180Solutions contract and other laws) to obtain the permission of the user prior to software installation, many did not; this resulted in millions of illegal non-consensual installs. Many other affiliates notified users only via the end user licence agreement EULA; this resulted in millions more of technically legal but still essentially non-consensual installs.

180Solutions' software shows popup ads while the user is surfing the Internet. This software was often, but not always, bundled with other pieces of free software which the user intentionally installed. Since permission to install the 180Solutions adware was at best hidden in a EULA, most users were unaware of the fact that they were installing adware.

In some cases 180Solutions' software was not bundled with any other software, but installed as a standalone install. Using this method, an ActiveX prompt simply asked the user to install the software so that they could receive "comparison shopping advertisements."

180Solutions contends that the value of the bundled software or the comparison shopping advertisements makes up for the inconvenience of the popup ads. The value of this trade-off is contested by critics of the adware business model.

In 2004 Benjamin Edelman of Harvard University analysed the network behaviour of 180solutions applications and claimed they redirected commissions to themselves that were properly due to affiliates, and additionally caused merchants to pay commissions when affected users clicked on merchant sites directly.^[1]

During this time, 180Solutions' applications were often difficult to uninstall, requiring the user to download an additional 'uninstall' application made by 180Solutions or to use a spyware or adware removal tool. In 2005, the software uninstall was standardized to use the Windows 'add/remove programs' feature.

In 2005, 180Solutions implemented a number of initiatives that were intended to show that the company was serious about controlling the distribution of its software to eliminate non-consensual installs:

• March: Acquired one of their distribution partners, a Canadian company called CDT (dba LoudCash). This gave them direct visibility into and greater control of many of the formerly "third party" distributors.
• June: Claimed to have renotified its 20 million user customer base and implemented a program that notifies all users within 72 hours of install and re-notifies all users every 90 days thereafter.
• August: Filed suit against seven individuals alleged to have illegally distributed its software using a botnet.
• November: Announced an ongoing partnership with the FBI in breaking up a botnet ring in the Netherlands.
• December: Ended distribution of the 180SearchAssistant and closed LoudCash (a remnant from the CDT acquisition). They claim that this removes the financial incentive for fraudulent installs, which many critics claim not to be true.

[edit] Recent history (2006 and later)

On January 23rd, 2006, a public advocacy group filed two official complaints with the Federal Trade Commission. The Center for Democracy and Technology complaints charge 180 Solutions with engaging in unfair and deceptive business practices, deliberately duping Internet users into downloading intrusive advertising software.^[2]

Despite the initiatives of 2005, 180 Solutions recently admitted that it is possible for malicious users to hack their install routines and thus cause fraudulent installs.^[3] They claim that the percentage of fraudulent installs has dropped from over 10% to under 1%.[] Critics claim that the business model is untenable because fraud against 180 (which therefore harms unknowning users via nonconsensual installs) can never be completely removed.^[4]

In the summer of 2005, attorney Shawn Collins of The Collins Law Firm along with Varga Berger Ledsky Hayes & Casey filed a class action lawsuit on the behalf of three plaintiffs. The claim was that the company puts spyware on personal computers. The case was dismissed with prejudice on grounds that 180solutions claims clients invited their program onto their computers. Collins hoped the suit could be termed a class action with the potential of collecting damages for thousands of computer users who have unsolicited spyware on their computers. Collins dropped the case but will continue to go after companies who load spyware onto people's computers. ^[5]

In 2006, the Federal Trade Commission charged Zango with "Deceptive Failure to Disclose Adware", "Unfair Installation of Adware", and "Unfair Uninstall Practices" in violation of the Federal Trade Commission Act.^[6]

In November 2006, Zango settled this complaint via a consent decree with the FTC, without formally admitting guilt. In the words of the Federal Trade Commission press release, "Zango, Inc., formerly known as 180solutions, Inc., one of the world’s largest distributors of adware, and two principals have agreed to settle Federal Trade Commission charges that they used unfair and deceptive methods to download adware and obstruct consumers from removing it, in violation of federal law. The settlement bars future downloads of Zango’s adware without consumers’ consent, requires Zango to provide a way for consumers to remove the adware, and requires them to give up $3 million in ill-gotten gains."^[7] These restrictions remain in force for twenty years.

It's worth noting that since the FTC ruling has passed, security researchers continue to find Zango involved in problematic installs.

[edit] Mergers and acquisitions

180solutions has acquired Hotbar for an undisclosed amount of money.^[8][9] 180solutions will be renamed after its consumer brand: Zango. About 20 people have been laid off from Hotbar's Israeli and New York offices, 180solutions will retain 83. According to Zango VP, York Baur; the combined companies will offer 100,000 pieces of free content and the combined user base will be greater than 30,000,000 users and that around 150,000 people are signing up for their services and applications every day.

According to the 180solutions press release, Hotbar and 180solutions will merge and the combined company will be called Zango.^[10]

[edit] Hotbar

Hotbar (also known as HbTools) is a program which was produced by Hotbar.com, Inc, until 180Solutions merged with Hotbar. It is a plugin for Microsoft programs Internet Explorer, Microsoft Office Outlook and Outlook Express, which adds a toolbar and the option of extra skins. It also allows the user to add emoticons to emails created in Outlook or Outlook Express or check the weather report. Once installed, Hotbar may also show an advertising banner in Microsoft MSN Messenger, offering free emoticons; this banner redirects to Hotbar main page. In addition, a weather forecast application is installed.

[edit] Controversy

Hotbar is an example of adware due to its banner advertising and use of popup windows, and also an example of spyware as it monitors the webpages the user visits. Hotbar does disclose these aspects of its behavior in its Terms of Use. The user's browsing habits are sent to the Hotbar servers (adopt.hotbar.com, tooltips.hotbar.com and dynamic.hotbar.com) with a unique user ID which allows a user's browsing habits to be tracked over an extended period of time.

Hotbar can be detected and removed by several anti-spyware and anti-virus programs, including Windows Defender, Spybot - Search & Destroy, and Norton AntiVirus. However, some utilities do not remove Hotbar completely and leave keys behind in the Windows Registry.

[edit] References

[edit] External links

• Zango-Consumer Website (downloads contain Zango advertising software)
• 180Solutions in 365 days
• Information on how to remove Hotbar

[edit] See also

• Adware
• Spyware
• Computer Virus