Major brands hit with adware fines

Landmark case blames advertisers for malware tactics.

Three major brands,

Priceline

,

Travelocity

and

Cingular Wireless

, have settled a New York lawsuit charging them with using nuisance adware to promote their wares.

The lawsuit, brought last April, charged the infamous

Direct Revenue

adware product with using deceptive and intrusive practices. The three major brands were among many who funded

Direct Revenue

with large fees to spread their advertising. In a groundbreaking decision, the advertisers were held responsible for the crimes of the advertising delivery service.

Priceline

and

Cingular

will both pay $35,000, while

Travelocity

will pay $30,000, to settle the suit. All three have issued statements saying they have long since ceased using adware techniques in their marketing campaigns, and have been required to ensure all future advertising is clearly labelled and free from nuisance tactics.

Posted on 01 February 2007 by

Virus Bulletin