Last Updated on September 21, 2023 by Christopher G Mendla

Scumware

I started to do some research into scumware. It’s a real mess. To understand scumware, you first have to understand the small web publisher.

There are a lot of people and organizations that are making an income by providing content on the web. They integrate ad links into their website. For example. Suppose someone wants to publish a website on the care and feeding of guinea hens (used to eat the deer ticks that carry lyme disease). OK.. There are some costs involved.. First, the person needs to get webspace, perhaps a domain name and then they need ot put some time into the content. They might want to include some links to books on guinea hens and Lyme disease. They can become an amazon affiliate and place a link to the book on their site. If someone clicks through the link, then the website owner gets a small commission.

So far, so good. Provide useful content and make a little money in the process.

Enter the scumlords.. They package what is known as scumware with software that other users download. This software infects their machines and their browers. Now one of these users enters your site. They see a book on there that they like. They click on it and you almost have your 15% commission. However, the scumware kicks in on their machine and pops up windows for the same identical product, but with the scumware provider’s affiliate id. People click on their link. The scumlord gets the money without providing any usable content.

What does this mean to you?? If the practice continues, many smaller providers will be driven out of business. The amount of quality content will decrease..It also means that your privacy is being violated in many cases by the scumware.

What can you do?? You can go to the lavasoft site at Lavasoft Software to learn more and to download their software. Their software will check your system for scumware and spyware and give the the ability to delete it.