SAN FRANCISCO (02/22/2000) - AdSubtract.com LLC is trying to turn a heated privacy debate into profits. The company is giving away free software that blocks "cookies" and ads delivered by DoubleClick Inc. to Web browsers.
The company has singled out DoubleClick because it is the "most aggressive Internet advertising firm identifying and tracking people surfing the Web," says Ed English, president of AdSubtract.
As part of its marketing pitch, AdSubtract software (a 2.5MB download) comes preconfigured to block DoubleClick ads and cookies. But you can make the software block all Internet ads and decline all cookies, which are unique snippets of code that a Web site puts in a file in your browser, to "remember" you when you surf to that site. What's more, AdSubtract keeps a running scorecard on the number of items it blocks. English adds that while protecting privacy, the software also boosts download speeds of Web pages by removing banner ads.
English is hoping that consumers who download free versions of AdSubtract Standard Edition software will upgrade to a $20 AdSubtract interMute version that offers advanced filtering options.
DoubleClick Accused of a Doublecross
This week, state and federal regulators began looking into DoubleClick's efforts to combine its use of cookies with consumer data maintained by Abacus Direct, an offline direct marketing research firm that DoubleClick acquired last year.
Cookies are noted by some Web sites that you visit. They let you revisit password-protected Web sites without entering your password every time, and don't necessarily track your movement. But by pairing the identifying information in cookies with the Abacus database of offline demographic information and online data that you offer to other sites, such as electronic-commerce sites, DoubleClick and Abacus can track your specific Web treks.
DoubleClick says it isn't currently using any of the personal information, including addresses, telephone numbers, and purchasing habits, in its Abacus database to deliver targeted ads. However, it plans to do so by the end of this year.
DoubleClick delivers banner ads to more than 1500 popular Web sites (including PC World.com). Last month, it began linking cookies to people's names and addresses for selected clients of both its services and those of Abacus.
(Neither PC World.com nor parent company IDG is a client of Abacus, and does not cross-reference cookies with customer data).
It's Up to You to Protect Your Privacy
To quell mounting concerns, DoubleClick has launched a public relations campaign to promote a new "opt-out" policy that lets you remove your data from its ad network. Privacy activists criticized the "opt-out" campaign, arguing that its measures don't go far enough to protect privacy.
In fact, on Monday DoubleClick disclosed that the Federal Trade Commission has begun an "informal inquiry" to determine whether its data-collecting practices are deceptive.
AdSubtract's English is hoping that outcry over DoubleClick's practices will convince you to put your faith in his technology to protect privacy while regulators scrutinize DoubleClick.
Ad-Free Surfing
AdSubtract loads onto a PC's system tray, which is located on your Windows toolbar. You can customize its blocking features, choosing to filter ads and cookies at specific sites or over the entire Internet.
The program includes a "Stats" tab that shows you how many cookies or ads it has blocked on any given Web page. It can even give you an audible alert whenever it blocks an ad or cookie.
The interMute upgrade version blocks pop-up ads, animated graphics, background music, Java scripts, and refer string (which lets Webmasters know what site you came from). AdSubtract SE requires at least a Pentium II-class system running a 3.0 or later version of Netscape, Internet Explorer, or America Online browsing software.
AdSubtract.com is the latest to offer such a service, but far from the first.
Software firm Siemens has a free cookie-blocking program called WebWasher; Symantec has a $50 product called Norton Internet Security 2000; and Kookaburra Software markets a $15 utility called Cookie Pal.
AdSubtract expects to release AdSubtract Pro this spring, also priced at $20.
That version will be targeted at consumers and business, as opposed to the free version targeted primarily at consumers. By blocking online advertising, English says, businesses can keep their networks' bandwidth open, and employees won't be distracted by online advertising.