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Zango Easy Messenger

We find that Zango Easy Messenger is not badware, although it does engage in behaviors that users should be aware of.

We currently recommend that users who want to download Zango Easy Messenger be aware of the behaviors outlined in this report.

 
Yellow_large
OVERALL RATING

Yellow_smallDisclosed Behavior to Be Aware of: 
Behaves as spyware (Transmits private info) 
Bundled software cannot be closed (Interferes with computer use) 
Automatically runs on startup (Interferes with computer use) 
Installs adware (Potentially deceptive installation) 
Displays pop-up advertisements (Interferes with computer use) 
Modifies Internet Explorer (Modifies other software) 

Disclosed Behavior:
Behaves as spyware
Zango Search Assistant tracks your keyword searches as well as browsing habits in order to bring up targeted advertising in pop-up browser windows. This is disclosed on the first installation screen: "Zango Search Assistant . . . may display to you several ads per day based upon keywords from your Internet browsing."
Bundled software cannot be closed
The Zango Search Assistant runs in the background at all times and cannot be closed. However, this behavior is fully disclosed during installation, along with information about how to uninstall the software, (see first screenshot.)
Automatically runs on startup
Immediately after installation, Zango Easy Messenger asks the user whether or not to load the program at startup. The Zango Search Assistant will still automatically run at start-up; however, this behavior is fully disclosed during the software's installation, (see first screenshot.)
Installs adware
Zango Easy Messenger is bundled with Zango Search Assistant, which displays targeted advertisements. The bundling of this software and its adware nature is disclosed on the first installation screen, (see first screenshot.)
Displays pop-up advertisements
Zango Search Assistant displays pop-up ads based on users' surfing habits. The pop-ups have a small blue bar at the bottom of the window that alerts users that the advertisement is from Zango. These pop-ups appear while users are surfing the internet. The displaying of these pop-ups by Zango Search Assistant are made clear in the first installation screen, (see first screenshot.)
Modifies Internet Explorer
Zango Easy Messenger is bundled with Zango Toolbar, an application that adds a search toolbar to Internet Explorer. The search results are provided by ResultsMaster.com, which is Zango's search engine. The installation of Zango Toolbar is disclosed on the first installation screen.

For more information, visit www.stopbadware.org.

  
REPORT INFORMATION

REPORT DATE
October 10, 2006

REPORT VERSION
2.0

PREVIOUS VERSIONS
Version 1.0 -- 7/20/2006

UPDATE

10/06/06 - Zango has also addressed the other bad behaviors we found in our original report:
Auto-updating without consent. Zango now informs users during installation that automatic updating will take place. In addition, Zango claims that users will receive notification when an upgrade occurs, and that they "will not install any new software or update that has functionality that is materially different from the functionality of the previously installed" software without the user's consent. This second claim is supported by section 7 of Zango's EULA, which makes essentially the same promise.
Nagging the user to reinstall the Zango software. Before, if the user uninstalled Zango Search Assistant without uninstalling the Zango Easy Messenger, the program would pop-up dialogue boxes after each restart asking the user to reinstall Zango every time . Zango has eliminated these automatic pop-ups, and instead only asks the user to reinstall Zango after the user tries to start Zango Easy Messenger. Moreover, this dialogue box now clearly states that clicking "Yes" will reinstall Zango Search Assistant and toolbar.

7/20/06 - Zango, Inc. contacted StopBadware regarding our report on Zango Easy Messenger. They have expressed a desire to work with us to bring Zango Easy Messenger into conformance with our recommendations.


APPLICATION INFORMATION

SELF-IDENTIFICATION
Zango Easy Messenger says that it allows users to "[a]ccess AIM, Yahoo, MSN from one simple IM."

PRODUCER
Zango Easy Messenger is produced by Zango, Inc., which was formed by the merger of Hotbar and 180Solutions.

OBTAINED
We obtained Zango Easy Messenger from http://zango.com/ Destination/ catalog/ listing.aspx? tag=downloads.software.im

BUNDLING
The version of Zango Easy Messenger we downloaded from the the above URL is bundled with Zango Toolbar, a toolbar that is added to Internet Explorer, and Zango Search Assistant, which collects data about a user's internet habits in order to display targeted pop-up advertisements.