By Jennifer Kyrnin

On August 17th, 2001, c|net reported that a new advertising scheme hit the Internet. A software company that offers a quick and easy way to remember passwords and more has come up with a new way to make money. And it's from your advertising dollars.

The first iteration of this type of advertising was with Ezula and their software that targets keywords and displays popups for competitive products. So, if you have TopText running on your system and go to a Symantec Web site, you might get pop up ads for McAfee.

This type of competitive marketing was bad enough, but (in theory) the customers had requested to see these pop ups and so it was acceptable. But then Gator upped the ante.

Instead of just showing a pop up ad for a competitor, Gator will now display a competing banner ad that replaces the current banner ad on the site.

Is This Fair or Legal?
If you downloaded and use Gator, you probably didn't read the fine print, or their privacy policy. In it they state that they will be doing this, and by using Gator you agree to these types of marketing practices. And we all know how many people read the user agreements, fine print, and privacy policies.

When these ads are displayed to replace an existing ad on a site, they are essentially stealing revenue from that site. Since many sites (including the Web Design site at About) are supported by advertising, this is stealing their money right out of their pocket.

Gator argues that this is a service, not theft. They are providing a service with their software, and if you get hijacking ads, that's just part of the service.

The Fight is On
The Interactive Advertising Bureau stated that they plan to pursue options against Gator. They are demanding that Gator stop selling ads designed to intentionally block ads sold on other Web sites. This includes both the cover up ads and the competitor pop up ads.

Gator responded by filing suit against the IAB on Monday, August 27th. Gator is trying to protect their right to use their "Companion Pop-Up Banner".

What do you think? Does Gator have the right to hijack ads? Is what they are doing simply a new form of "free speech"? Or do Web site owners have a right to own the revenue from their own sites.
Tell me what you think

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