[mrbshouse]

http://blogs.zdnet.com/security/?p=5194&tag=nl.e550

[Kevin]

There's no words to describe how bad that is.....

[John Powell]

We have had companies "to big to fail" now we have one that's "to big to do evil".

[Dynamoo]

Perhaps "too big to notice that it is doing evil".

[redtagdeals]

Great find by Edelman.
I don't understand why a company with as wide reach as Google need to work with scumware toolbars whenU
MacFee clearly identifies whenU as spyware http://www.siteadvisor.com/sites/whe...ref=safesearch

[Linda - 5starAffiliatePrograms]

From another article:

Google (still) pocketing dollars for free clicks - 10 months of 'conversion inflation syndication fraud'

"According to Edelman's packet logs, Google does not have a direct relationship with WhenU. In the Continental Airlines example, traffic passes from Google to InfoSpace to LocalPages to NamiMedia and then on to WhenU. And with previous research, Edelman has recorded similar traffic chains... and Edelman has called on Google to sever its relationship with the so-called meta-search provider. "Google's first step is easy: Fire InfoSpace,"

So it sounds like firing InfoSpace would be a good 1st step.

[Joshua]

Originally Posted by Linda - 5starAffiliatePrograms

From another article:


So it sounds like firing InfoSpace would be a good 1st step.

Basically, an affiliate of a search provider (either NamiMedia or an affiliate of them) is buying adware traffic on MediaTraffic/WhenU, which then redirects to search feed site LocalPages, which syndicates its feed from InfoSpace, which syndicates its feed from Google. Infospace isn't the issue, it's their syndication partner, or the partner of their syndication partner, or partner of the partner of their syndication partner.

Connecting Google to WhenU? Sensationalism.

[MichaelColey]

Perhaps a bit, but it's ultimately Google's responsibility who they partner with (even indirectly).

[Dynamoo]

I've just dealt with a case today where malware was being served up through an ad running on Yahoo.. it demonstrates that by the time ads are sold and resold on through several levels, people at one end of the chain have no idea what is happening on the other end of the chain.

The practice of ad arbitrage has already been in Google's sights - perhaps they will stamp down on resellers like this.

If they don't.. well, I don't want my AdWords ads running on WhenU. So I might stop running AdWords ads, or disable them from third party sites. If enough people do that, then it DOES impact the bottom line of Google.. and money is something they DO care about!