Advertising on adware is not for porn sites and your friendly body part enlargemenent gurus anymore, Associated Press says. Such companies as JC Penney, Capital One, Vonage, Monster, Expedia, Priceline, Orbitz, Sprint, Sony, Circuit City and Mercedes-Benz have all been pumping money into shady advertising practices, where pop-up ads are flashed through a “helpful” utility that got installed on unsuspecting users’ PCs. Some companies are staying away from such campaigns, but some acknowledge they work:
Melinda Tiemeyer, spokeswoman for Sprint PCS, said Internet users have clicked on ads delivered by adware, meaning they find them useful. Sprint is OK with using adware because users, she said, accept it in exchange for phone service offers and discounts.
