Ben Edelman’s Valentine’s Day missive to C-NetMedia is definitely not a love letter. In a detailed report posted on Thursday, the spyware researcher, attorney, and assistant professor at Harvard University accused the Alabama-based anti-spyware company of deceptive business and marketing practices, and of selling ineffective security software.
C-NetMedia could easily be confused with CNET Networks; in fact, the two companies have nothing to do with each other.
As Edelman points out, C-NetMedia profits from confusion. It had paid for a sponsored link that appears on Google searches for “spybot.” SpyBot Search & Destroy happens to be a popular anti-spyware tool. C-NetMedia’s sponsored link leads to SpywareBot.com/SpyBot, a Web link that could easily be mistaken for the official SpyBot Search & Destroy site. C-NetMedia’s ad text — “Official Site - Search & Destroy Spyware. Download Spyware Bot Now!” — magnifies the confusion.
