Ad-Aware is an anti-spyware and anti-virus program developed by Lavasoft that detects and removes malware, spyware and adware. It was originally created in 1999 and has evolved over time to incorporate additional protections against viruses and other threats. Lavasoft offers various versions of Ad-Aware, including free, pro, and total security editions for individual users as well as a business edition. Independent tests have found Ad-Aware to be effective at detecting malware, though competition from free alternatives threatens its paid versions.

1. Ad-Aware
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This article is about the anti-spyware program. For advertising supported software,
see Adware.
Lavasoft's Ad-Aware
Ad-Aware 8.1 Pro running under Windows 7.
Developer(s) Lavasoft AB, Sweden
9.0.2.0 / March 3, 2011; 16 days
Stable release
ago
Operating system Microsoft Windows
Available in Multilingual[1]
Type Spyware removal software
License Proprietary
Website Lavasoft.com
Ad-Aware is an anti-spyware and anti-virus program developed by Lavasoft that
detects and removes malware, spyware and adware on a user's computer. According
to Lavasoft, Ad-Aware detects spyware, computer viruses, dialers, Trojans, bots,
rootkits, data miners, aggressive advertising, parasites, browser hijackers, and
tracking components.[2]
Contents
[hide]
• 1 History
• 2 Overview

2. • 3 Market share
• 4 References
History
Ad-Aware was originally developed in 1999 to highlight web beacons inside of
Internet Explorer.[citation needed] On many websites, users would see a tiny pixelated
square next to each web beacon, warning the user that the computer's IP address and
other non-essential information was being tracked by this website. Over time, Ad-
Aware added the ability to block those beacons, or ads. Ad-Aware no longer makes
the user aware of the ads on the screen, instead the program fights spyware, adware,
viruses and other malware.[citation needed]
In the 2008 Edition, Lavasoft bundled Ad-Aware Pro and Plus for the first time with
an antivirus scanner,[3] which uses the Avira engine[4] and this practice continued in
the subsequent releases.[5]
Overview
As of 2010, Lavasoft makes Ad-Aware version 8.3 available in three core versions:[6]
1. Ad-Aware Free Internet Security
2. Ad-Aware Pro Internet Security
3. Ad-Aware Total Security
Lavasoft also offers an Ad-Aware version for businesses, named Ad-Aware Business
Edition,[7] which is designed for use over networks. It has a central server console
interface with licences for installing Ad-Aware Pro Internet Security on the
networked machines.[8]
Lavasoft also makes available an Ad-Aware spin-off product aimed at online gamers
and entertainment fans, called Ad-Aware Game Edition.[9]
Each version includes anti-spyware and anti-rootkit protection, as well as integrated
protection against real-time threats. As of July 7th the Ad-Aware Free Internet
Security version also include antivirus.[10] According to Lavasoft, Ad-Aware allows
computer users to combat malicious spyware, viruses, and malware; it protects users
from malware that takes control of a computer and can result in aggressive advertising
pop-ups, in sluggish computer activity and in the stealing of private information. The
vendors says that Ad-Aware detects hazardous content on a user's computer, identifies
the threat level, and then gives the user the ability to block or remove unwanted
content.
According to PC World magazine, an older version of Ad-Aware, the Anniversary
Edition, could locate only 83.6% of malware in a comparative test carried out by the
security firm av-test.org.[11] However, as the article states, no such tests have been run
on the newest version. Neil J. Rubenking at PCMag has performed a lab test on the

3. latest version, 8.3, where Ad-Aware scored 9.2 points, beating the previous top score
of 9.1.[12]
Ad-Aware installs Google Chrome, which will be done automatically unless the user
de-selects the tick-box in the Ad-Aware installation program.
Market share
Ad-Aware Anniversary Edition, which has now been replaced with Ad-Aware 8.1, is
listed as having been downloaded over 339 million times as of November 2009;[13]
however, since its primary competition is not downloadable from the same location, a
comparison of relative market-share is not possible with these figures.
The paid versions of the product are under threat from more functional and lower
cost, even free, competition such as Microsoft Security Essentials.[11]
From http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ad-Aware