Thanks for reminding folks (and informing new readers) of this increasing trend in a monetized world (what some have aptly referred to as “vulture capitalism”). The best they can do is provide due warnings for any such occasions, which is one of the main reasons DCT continues to recommend MajorGeeks while condemning .įor example here’s the respective download summaries for the popular free Any Video Converter, which comes bundled with ‘Spigot’ browser extensions and offers to change the home page and search engine to Yahoo: In fact, I’m coming round to the way of thinking that, while direct from the developer may overcome a download site’s adware wrapper, it may also make it more difficult to identify whatever crapware might be bundled.ĭownload sites can’t really afford to banish each and every software just because it comes bundled with crapware, or they’ll end up with next to nothing to list. We’ve published plenty of advice on how to avoid PUPS which come bundled with software downloads, including using Unchecky, using Ninite, and using ‘custom’ install options.Īs far as download options go it doesn’t really matter what source we utilize these days, be it direct from the developer or from any download site, the crapware is inherently bundled with the software so is pretty much unavoidable via any of these routes.

I could easily list dozens of editorial reviews which paint notoriously bad software in a favorable light, and even more download listings for disreputable software – and this is on top of ’s own adware wrapper. The main problem with is – it is part of large revenue orientated corporate structure where profits tend to outweigh considerations of impartiality and user safety. Here’s the thing these warnings do actually bear repeating because, it appears, too many users are still habitually downloading their software from untrustworthy sources such as. 62% of the Top 50 applications bundle toolbars and other PUPS.Mind the PUP: Top download portals to avoid.Among those coming ‘late to the party’ is the well known and well regarded security software vendor Emsisoft, with two recent blog publications: Now, some 4 years after DCT first brought this matter to notice, it seems everyone is jumping on the bandwagon. DCT first reported on the dangers of downloading from the popular way back in 2011 ( Beware downloading from CNET ), and we’ve continued issuing plenty of warnings since.

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