Gian Fulgoni, ComScore chairman and co-founder, felt necessary to straighter the fact that the term "researchware", on one hand, and 'adware,' 'spyware,' and 'malware', on the other hand, must not be confused. The distinction is that while the first is used by the market researchers, the second ones are used by the criminal researchers.
The company’s worry reveals from its third-quarter 2007 SEC filing, "Concerns over the potential unauthorized disclosure of personal information or the classification of our software as 'spyware' or 'adware' may cause existing panel members to uninstall our software or may discourage potential panel members from installing our software."
But not all the Fulgoni’s critics regarded his explanation with friendly eyes. The spyware researcher Benjamin Edelman replied that "indisputable video proof" is showing that ComScore installed software "without any notice at all and without any consent at all".
Despite Fulgoni’s opinion regarding the difference between the above mentioned terms, Edelman finds a great similarity: "like adware and spyware, ComScore's software has a history of arriving on users' computers without users knowing what it is or agreeing to receive it" and it "tracks and transmits detailed information about users' online activities".
In two critics published by Edelman in January he wrote that the ComScore Company, although invading the user’s privacy, it offers nothing in return: "There's no good reason why users should share information about their browsing, purchasing, and other online activities". This is just a trick to provide their software.
ComScore’s answer was that people are aware of their deeds and they willingly accept accelerators, games, and screen savers that come with the company's tracking software and, more than this, marketing practices are respected.
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