Adware, Shareware, and Consumer Privacy

Nataly Gantman () and Yossi Spiegel ()
Additional contact information
Nataly Gantman: Tel Aviv University
Yossi Spiegel: Tel Aviv University, http://www.tau.ac.il/~spiegel/

No 04-02, Working Papers from NET Institute

Abstract: Programmers can distribute new software to online users either for a fee as shareware or bundle it with advertising banners and distribute it for free as adware. In this paper we study the programmers’ choice between these two modes of distribution in the context of a model that take explicit account of the strategic interaction between programmers who develop software, …rms that advertise their products through ad banners, and consumers who buy software and consumer products. Adware allows advertisers to send targeted information to speci…c consumers and may therefore improve their purchasing decisions. At the same time, adware also raises privacy concerns. We study the e¤ect of programmers’ choice between shareware and adware on consumers’ welfare through its e¤ect on the bene… cial information that consumers receive about consumers products on the one hand and their loss of privacy on the other hand. We also examine the implications of improvements in the technology of ad banners and the desirability of bans on the use of adware.

Keywords: adware; shareware; advertising; privacy; ad banners (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: L12 L13 M37 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Pages: 37 pages
Date: 2004-10, Revised 2004-10
New Economics Papers: this item is included in nep-ict and nep-mkt
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (1)

Downloads: (external link)
http://www.netinst.org/Gantman_Spiegel.pdf (application/pdf)
no

Related works:
This item may be available elsewhere in EconPapers: Search for items with the same title.

Export reference: BibTeX RIS (EndNote, ProCite, RefMan) HTML/Text

Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:net:wpaper:0402

Access Statistics for this paper

More papers in Working Papers from NET Institute
Bibliographic data for series maintained by Nicholas Economides ().