The software awards scam
August 17, 2007 8:36 AM Subscribe
The software awards scam. I put out a new product a couple of weeks ago. This new product has so far won 16 different awards and recommendations from software download sites. Download it now from PC World!
I believe that this sort of mentality is part of why I find so many random "utilities" on the computers of friends and relatives. Applications that do little or nothing receive so many "awards" that they must really speed up your computer, right? It must be reputable if that many people believe it's worth giving five stars!
posted by mikeh at 8:43 AM on August 17, 2007
posted by mikeh at 8:43 AM on August 17, 2007
The truth is that many download sites are just electronic dung heaps
Next you're going to tell me my Cool Site award gifs are worthless.
posted by katillathehun at 8:47 AM on August 17, 2007
Next you're going to tell me my Cool Site award gifs are worthless.
posted by katillathehun at 8:47 AM on August 17, 2007
Applications that do little or nothing receive so many "awards" that they must really speed up your computer, right?
Heh. Anybody remember SoftRAM?
posted by Armitage Shanks at 8:49 AM on August 17, 2007 [7 favorites]
Heh. Anybody remember SoftRAM?
posted by Armitage Shanks at 8:49 AM on August 17, 2007 [7 favorites]
I generally find worthwhile utilities by googling for answers to a specific problem and finding messageboards where users recommend this or that product. You can tell whether people on messageboards have encountered the clue stick from their writing style. This makes their recommendations easy to evaluate.
I don't think I've visited one of those software library download sites for years.
posted by fleetmouse at 8:54 AM on August 17, 2007 [2 favorites]
I don't think I've visited one of those software library download sites for years.
posted by fleetmouse at 8:54 AM on August 17, 2007 [2 favorites]
It's interesting how advertising offline and online are harmful (to me) in different ways: In offline advertising, the advertising itself bothers me, along with the messages spread in that advertising that people buy into. A billboard imposes itself upon my view, TV commercials are annoying, corporate graffiti... And with offline advertising people buy into the consumerism, fake implausible lifestyles, and fear ("You need hand sanitizing gel because there are GERMS ALL OVER EVERY SURFACE.")
Meanwhile, with online advertising, I don't even notice much of it. I generally notice standard banner and sidebar advertisements about as much as I notice the big blue space to the right of this textbox. What I like about the Google ads is how uniform and thus simple to always ignore they are. And it seems like few people buy into the online advertising crap. The harm of online advertising comes from the fact that half the internet (Digg, fake blogs, Answers.com, etc.) is basically a scam to trick people into viewing your ads without you had to make anything useful.
posted by TheOnlyCoolTim at 8:56 AM on August 17, 2007 [1 favorite]
Meanwhile, with online advertising, I don't even notice much of it. I generally notice standard banner and sidebar advertisements about as much as I notice the big blue space to the right of this textbox. What I like about the Google ads is how uniform and thus simple to always ignore they are. And it seems like few people buy into the online advertising crap. The harm of online advertising comes from the fact that half the internet (Digg, fake blogs, Answers.com, etc.) is basically a scam to trick people into viewing your ads without you had to make anything useful.
posted by TheOnlyCoolTim at 8:56 AM on August 17, 2007 [1 favorite]
Heh. Anybody remember SoftRAM?
My dad had that. Boy, was he pissed...
posted by Pope Guilty at 9:02 AM on August 17, 2007
My dad had that. Boy, was he pissed...
posted by Pope Guilty at 9:02 AM on August 17, 2007
If this were the mid-90's, you could substitute "shareware" with "websites". I worked on one of the early successful corporate-backed web ventures, and every week brought another "Best of the Web"/"Site of the Week"/whatever "badge" that people wanted you to display on your site, linking back to them. Sites had entire pages devoted to the "awards" they got.
posted by mkultra at 9:23 AM on August 17, 2007 [1 favorite]
posted by mkultra at 9:23 AM on August 17, 2007 [1 favorite]
Awards huh. What are they good for? Nothing. Absolutely Nothing. Say it again y'all.
posted by srboisvert at 9:25 AM on August 17, 2007 [2 favorites]
posted by srboisvert at 9:25 AM on August 17, 2007 [2 favorites]
Remember when it seemed every site had that Top 5% Rating.
posted by ALongDecember at 9:36 AM on August 17, 2007
posted by ALongDecember at 9:36 AM on August 17, 2007
Reminds me of Sokal's hoaxed cultural studies paper.
posted by Cool Papa Bell at 10:21 AM on August 17, 2007
posted by Cool Papa Bell at 10:21 AM on August 17, 2007
Next you're going to tell me that my acceptance into the HTML writers guild is worthless.
posted by 2sheets at 11:17 AM on August 17, 2007 [2 favorites]
posted by 2sheets at 11:17 AM on August 17, 2007 [2 favorites]
I never paid any heed to these awards because I just didn't know who was giving them. I never realized they were that worthless. That is funny.
posted by caddis at 12:21 PM on August 17, 2007
posted by caddis at 12:21 PM on August 17, 2007
Is there a Motor Trend Software of the Year Award?
posted by Kirth Gerson at 12:52 PM on August 17, 2007
posted by Kirth Gerson at 12:52 PM on August 17, 2007
ALongDecember: Remember when it seemed every site had that Top 5% Rating.
They never had it on porn sites, which tells you a lot about that other 95% of the web.
posted by Riki tiki at 3:41 PM on August 17, 2007 [1 favorite]
They never had it on porn sites, which tells you a lot about that other 95% of the web.
posted by Riki tiki at 3:41 PM on August 17, 2007 [1 favorite]
Hi, I'm an admin with the Everyone Loves a Gold Star group and I admire your post. I invite you to add it to our group! Please add Gold Star Award as a tag. In the old days I would have decorated this announcement with an animated gif of the site's founder jumping a brightly shining puddle of elephant urine on a BMX bike, but the ability to do that was taken away.
posted by TimTypeZed at 4:14 PM on August 17, 2007
posted by TimTypeZed at 4:14 PM on August 17, 2007
I visit download sites, but it's often my job to stay situationally aware of shitty, malware-ridden or otherwise potentially dangerous software.
That sounds harsh. Let me rephrase that for the benefit of a certain, thankless segment of the tech and/or software industry:
Hey, thanks for the great, light, quick and often free software. Some of my most prized programs come from you tireless, giving and smart folks. Programs like Winamp (2.9x or smaller, please ;) and TightVNC, cygwin, ERD system commander, VLC player, ACDSee, Ethereal, Netstumbler... and so many more. Great work!
The other 90% of you? Knock it off. Code all you want, but just stop releasing, ok? Oh, you work as a professional coder? Jesus. Whatever. You make my life a living hell with your memory leaks and shitty registry scripts, your hideously wrong interfaces and incredibly painful usage protocols. I hate you. I really do. Please don't ever code for anything important like aerospace projects or medical equipment. You'll kill people. No, I mean - you'll actually kill people, not just drive them to suicide.
posted by loquacious at 5:05 PM on August 17, 2007 [3 favorites]
That sounds harsh. Let me rephrase that for the benefit of a certain, thankless segment of the tech and/or software industry:
Hey, thanks for the great, light, quick and often free software. Some of my most prized programs come from you tireless, giving and smart folks. Programs like Winamp (2.9x or smaller, please ;) and TightVNC, cygwin, ERD system commander, VLC player, ACDSee, Ethereal, Netstumbler... and so many more. Great work!
The other 90% of you? Knock it off. Code all you want, but just stop releasing, ok? Oh, you work as a professional coder? Jesus. Whatever. You make my life a living hell with your memory leaks and shitty registry scripts, your hideously wrong interfaces and incredibly painful usage protocols. I hate you. I really do. Please don't ever code for anything important like aerospace projects or medical equipment. You'll kill people. No, I mean - you'll actually kill people, not just drive them to suicide.
posted by loquacious at 5:05 PM on August 17, 2007 [3 favorites]
Remember when it seemed every site had that Top 5% Rating.
There was a badge of honor for everyone else, too. And very popular it was.
posted by George_Spiggott at 8:49 PM on August 17, 2007
There was a badge of honor for everyone else, too. And very popular it was.
posted by George_Spiggott at 8:49 PM on August 17, 2007
Holy crap. Someone managed to sell boxed. printed CD's of a program that did NOTHING? Incredible.
posted by Jon Mitchell at 2:57 AM on August 18, 2007
posted by Jon Mitchell at 2:57 AM on August 18, 2007
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posted by delmoi at 8:40 AM on August 17, 2007