Fuckarse GATOR Corporation

[istara]

Those fucking ubiquitous spammy-spam-spam-fuck pop-up Gator ads.

ARRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRGHH!!!

Why in sweetfuck’s name isn’t there a box that says:

“NEVER trust content from the Gator corporation”

???

I just hate them SO much. I want them to go away for ever. Sorry if there is something really simple and obvious to block them, I just don’t know how.

[Binarydrone]

In Internet Explored, have you tried Tools ¨ Internet Options ¨ Advanced, and then un-checking “enable install on demand”?

[Q.E.D]

Download and run or [url=http://beam.to/spybotsd]Spybot. Both are highly effective at removing Gator.

[Q.E.D]

Crap. Adaware – Spybot.

[istara]

Thanks - yes - I have both Adaware and Spybot, they are both excellent.

Binary - will disabling the install-on-demand cause any other problems in installing stuff? (What other things than Gator install on demand?)

[Bubba_Ray]

I have both www.gator.com as well as www.cometsystems.com added to my not trustes sites, that seems to hold the plugins at bay.

[Binarydrone]

*Originally posted by istara *
**Thanks - yes - I have both Adaware and Spybot, they are both excellent.

Binary - will disabling the install-on-demand cause any other problems in installing stuff? (What other things than Gator install on demand?) **

My experience has been that this does not cause problems. You should be able to install anything that you choose with no problem, as far as I can tell all that it does is eliminate those annoying things that want to install when you hit some web-pages (like those clock weather enhancement things, as well as other spyware type crap).

I would also recommend that you get and install Zonealarm. A pretty cool personal firewall that will let you know if things are trying to phone home.

[Q.E.D]

Some info on blocking Gator can be found on this discussion board.

[jovan]

Sorry for the innocent question, but should you be foolish enough to let Gator install itself on your machine, what happens?

[Lissa]

Uhm, please tell me what’s so bad about Gator? I use it for almost all of my internet passwords (excepting important sites, such as those which have my credit cards numbers or personal information).

You guys have me worried.

[Mr.Blue_Sky]

*Originally posted by Lissa *
**Uhm, please tell me what’s so bad about Gator? I use it for almost all of my internet passwords (excepting important sites, such as those which have my credit cards numbers or personal information).

You guys have me worried. **

Here’s a story.

[Larry_Mudd]

Gator monitors the websites you visit, creating a personal profile about your apparent interests which it passes on, along with your e-mail address, to spammers looking for targeted demographics. Less subtley, it scans for keywords in web content, and causes pop-ups to appear, as though they are the sponsors of the web-pages you’re looking at. They also offer advertisers the opportunity to piggy-back on specific web-pages.

In short-- more junk and clutter!

Of course, that’s just what it’s designed to do-- it’s also crap software, and an added benefit of having it installed is that you’ll often find that your browser crashes spectacularly often-- sometimes even bringing down your entire OS, requiring a reboot. Great!

[Lissa]

Aw, jeeze! All this time I kept wondering what the hell was wrong with my computer . . . . Thanks for the info.

Now, I have to go learn all of my passwords so I can get rid of it.

[Mr.Blue_Sky]

Gator = Bonzi

Both are spawns of Satan.

[Larry_Mudd]

Correction-- Gator claims that they do not collect e-mail addresses. From the horse’s mouth:

Whether you are an advertiser, direct marketer or researcher, Gator can reach your target audience through: Demographic and lifestyle profiles
Delivering your message to consumers viewing any site on the Web, at any time.
Delivery customized offers to consumers based on past behavior.

Gator provides targeted promotions and advertisements for over 400 companies (including 60 Fortune 500 companies and 80 advertising agencies), driving extraordinary ROI. Gator campaigns often reach double-digit click and conversion rates - up to 20 to 40 times higher than traditional banner ads.
Gator has the ability to anonymously monitor user behavior throughout their Web travels without ever collecting personally identifiable information. To review our Privacy Statement, click here. Thru this permission-based relationship, Gator has incredible insights into user behavior, and thus can deliver targeted, relevant ads.

[Skywatcher]

*Originally posted by Lissa *
**Uhm, please tell me what’s so bad about Gator? I use it for almost all of my internet passwords (excepting important sites, such as those which have my credit cards numbers or personal information).

You guys have me worried. **

Warning issued by my employer a couple of years ago (bolding mine):

While Gator seems like a good Internet form filling application at first glance, it is a problem to USPTO’s security because it can be used to compromise the integrity of PTOnet. The USPTO has recorded a couple of incidents where the application was used to launch denial of service attacks to Internet sites.