Unpredictable. Unfocused. Just like life.

When I tried the new Yahoo! anti-spy toolbar, I never even noticed that it did not scan for adware by default. It was necessary to check a box each time you run the scan. An article in eWeek suggests that this may be due to the fact that Yahoo! has a vested interest in adware. For example, Claria (formerly Gator), one of the most prolific purveyors of adware, is a Yahoo! business partner. According to the article, Yahoo's Overture division, a leading provider of paid search listings, contributed 31 percent of Claria's 2003 revenues through a partnership in which it supplies paid listings to Claria's SearchScout service, according to Claria's April S-1 filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. A Yahoo! spokesperson said that Overture screens its distribution partners to make sure they gain user permission before downloading software.