Spyware and adware exists. Because it exists, it stands to reason that the people who install it on your box (legally or illegally) believe that they will gain some sort of benefit from doing so above and beyond their cost. It’s also clear that some of these people DO expend resources trying to sneak their software onto your box, either totally without consent (possibly a computer crime, ianal), or by sneaking a clause into an EULA, terms of service, or other document that few people actually read.
Anyway, in a practical sense, are there any adware or spyware purveyors that will pay me (or you, or your little sister, or your freshman roommate’s first girlfriend’s aunt’s first crush’s next door neighbor’s parole officer) cold hard cash to willingly submit/consent to having spyware or adware installed on my computer?
There are spyware and adware purveyors who will pay you to install their stuff on other people’s computers. Google “pay per install” to open that can of worms.
I guess you could sign up for a PPI network and get paid for installing a copy on your own computer. It might earn you a dollar (if you ever get paid; a lot of those networks are, shall we say, not entirely reputable).
No, I’m talking about approaching a spyware purveyor and saying, “Ok, it seems that you would derive an economic benefit worth $50 per month by having your spyware on my computer. Let’s stop the shenanigans in terms of trying to get it installed by subterfuge, and I’ll just offer to let you install it 100% willingly if you pay me $40 a month. Deal or not?”
I seriously doubt anyone would pay you for that. Why should they? They’re being hugely successful compromising computers whose owners don’t know any better. So why would they want to pay you?
Of course, if you do permit that stuff to be on your computer, this could happen to you.
During the dot com bubble there were companies that would pay you to view ads sent to your computer. Most people automated the “viewing” process and earned a few cents a day. As far as I know the companies offering these programs all went bankrupt.
There was an ISP, whose name I forget (“Zero Something”) which would provide you a free dial-up connection if you installed their ad software on your computer. I think they first tried to switch entirely to a paid service and eventually disappeared.
NetZero had ad-supported dial-up. While you were connected, it would push ads on your screen (I believe a top bar or something). As Evil Economist says, there used to be companies who would pay you some extremely nominal per hour amount to have rotating ads displayed as you used your computer. People would download something to fake mouse movements and let it run all day. Between that and internet advertising going bust with the dot-com burst, it was a failed business plan.
You can find a few places today – I’ll refrain from naming any – offering to pay you for installing an ad banner browser ad-on but they’re all shady and their stuff is nearly impossible to remove (and I doubt you’ll ever get paid; more likely they’d steal your bank info).
As a complete aside, NetZero is trying to reinvent itself (or someone just bought the name) as a low-cost mobile 4G service.
I understand that. The PPI networks I’m referring to give an approximation of the sort of money spyware/adware operators are willing to pay: somewhere on the order of $1 for the lifetime of a single install. Call it 10 or 20 cents per month, something like that.
The somewhat legitimate companies that would theoretically do this type of thing on your PC are largely focusing their efforts on social networking and smartphones now. No need for installing spyware on your PC if they can get the same results exploiting social networking or having their free app gather more specific, localized, and useful info.
As for apps, the examples are numerous and varied. There’s apps such as Viggle that pay you to watch certain TV programs, and apps such as ShopKick (and many others) that pay you to “check in” at certain stores.
Spyware on your PC (installed surreptitiously, or not) is still an issue, but it’s being marginalized by the new and improved ways of getting all up in yo’ business.