Ad-Aware

Lavasoft Ad-Aware

Ad-Aware 10 Free running under Windows 7.
Developer(s)	Lavasoft
Initial release	1999
Stable release	10.1 / May 8, 2012; 1 day ago (2012-05-08)
Operating system	Microsoft Windows
Available in	Multilingual[1]
Type	Spyware removal software
License	Proprietary
Website	Lavasoft.com

Ad-Aware is an anti-spyware and anti-virus program developed by Lavasoft that detects and removes malware, spyware and adware on a user's computer. According to Lavasoft, Ad-Aware detects spyware, computer viruses, dialers, Trojans, bots, rootkits, data miners^{[citation needed]}, aggressive advertising, parasites, browser hijackers, and tracking components.^[2]

History

Ad-Aware was originally developed in 1999 to highlight web beacons inside of Internet Explorer.^{[citation needed]} On many websites, users would see a tiny pixelated square next to each web beacon, warning the user that the computer's IP address and other non-essential information was being tracked by this website. Over time, Ad-Aware added the ability to block those beacons, or ads. Ad-Aware no longer makes the user aware of the ads on the screen, instead the program fights spyware, adware, viruses and other malware.^{[citation needed]}

In the 2008 Edition, Lavasoft bundled Ad-Aware Pro and Plus for the first time with an antivirus scanner,^[3] which uses the Avira engine^[4] and this practice continued in the subsequent releases.^[5]

Overview

As of 2012^[update], Lavasoft makes Ad-Aware version 10 available in three core versions:^[6]

1. Ad-Aware Free Antivirus+
2. Ad-Aware Personal Security
3. Ad-Aware Pro Security

Lavasoft also offers volume licenses of Ad-Aware for businesses,^[7] which is designed for use over networks. It has a central server console interface with licences for installing Ad-Aware Pro Security on the networked machines.^[8]

Each version includes anti-spyware, antivirus, and anti-rootkit protection, as well as integrated protection against real-time threats. According to Lavasoft, Ad-Aware allows computer users to combat malicious spyware, viruses, and malware; it protects users from malware that takes control of a computer and can result in aggressive advertising pop-ups, in sluggish computer activity and in the stealing of private information. The vendors says that Ad-Aware detects hazardous content on a user's computer, identifies the threat level, and then gives the user the ability to block or remove unwanted content.

According to PC World magazine, an older version of Ad-Aware, the Anniversary Edition, could locate only 83.6% of malware in a comparative test carried out by the security firm av-test.org.^[9] However, as the article states, no such tests have been run on the newest version. Neil J. Rubenking at PCMag performed a lab test on version 8.3, where Ad-Aware scored 9.2 points, beating the previous top score of 9.1.^[10]

Ad-Aware installs Google Chrome, which will be done automatically unless the user de-selects the tick-box in the Ad-Aware installation program.

Market share

Ad-Aware Free is listed as having been downloaded over 375 million times on download.com as of April 2012^[update];^[11] however, since its primary competition is not downloadable from the same location, a comparison of relative market-share is not possible with these figures.

The paid versions of the product are under threat from more functional and lower cost, even free, competition such as Microsoft Security Essentials.^[9]

References