Prying1 - Digging Up the Dirt on Zango and Who Advertises for Them

Paul Young - author of "Digging a Little Deeper" did a great post about Zango and slammed (rightfully) the Guardian Unlimited U.K. for what some of us would consider deceptive advertising.

In Paul's own words:

But as I was surfing for more information I came across a Guardian Unlimited (UK) webpage that had a short Macromedia Flash shot. "YOU WON'T BELIEVE YOUR EYES" it says. Then it shows a kid running in front of a bus and laying down in front of it. Looks lke his plan is to be lying between the bus wheels as it passes over him. "SEE WHAT HAPPENS NEXT! NOT FOR THE SQUEAMISH." in the middle of the advert is a forward arrow (>) for you to see what happens next.

Not being squeamish I clicked on it and a new window opened for ZANGO.com whose slogan is, "With Zango – You’re Good to Go(TM)" - They also give this blurb - Zango offers a vast network of free ad-supported games, videos and downloads powered by proprietary and revolutionary time-shifted advertising technology. Zango allows users, publishers, content providers and advertisers to connect within one unique online community. - Also on the page was a lot of screenshots of various videos you can watch.

Link to prying1, here.

In case anyone is unaware of Zango, using them normally causes a lot of "unwanted" spy/adware to be loaded on your system.

That way - Zango's sponsors can track your every move - and the spy/adware will probably slow your system down to a snail's pace.

And if you want to clean up the mess it will make - it's going to cost some money.