Cyveillance Study Says Holiday Shoppers 'Entangled' On the Web With Intrusive Technology.

Business Editors/Hi-Tech Writers

ARLINGTON, Va.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Nov. 29, 2001

More Than 30% of the Internet's Top 100 Sites Using Unsolicited 

Technology Tactics; Spawning "Pop-Ups" Leads Top 10 List

Cyveillance(R), the leading provider of automated Internet intelligence, today announced the results of a study that indicates a high prevalence of aggressive technology tactics on the Internet's top 100 destinations that can entangle and divert holiday shoppers. In a list of top 10 tactics employed, the spawning of unsolicited "pop-up" ads and "mouse-trapping" - where users can't go back or exit - lead the list.

The Cyveillance study reveals that 30% of top sites in the U.S. and 20% of top sites in European domains employ spawning techniques. Leading sites are heavier users of this tactic; however, 12% of the sites on the Internet overall also employ spawning. Additionally, mouse-trapping tactics were found on 5.2% of the sites on the Internet. Both tactics are highly disruptive to the customer and expose them to content they would otherwise not have elected to view.

The study used Cyveillance's proprietary technology to collect and analyze sites. Beyond the top destination sites, the study looked at a representative sample of 100,000 sites. Based on the criteria of frequency, level of intrusiveness and potential for damage, the study found that the top 10 technology tactics used to entangle shoppers on the web were the following:

1. Spawning - often called "pop-ups" that were pioneered in the

pornography industry. Typically, this occurs as an automatic

launch of new browser windows upon entering a site, upon exit,

on delay, or other triggers.

2. Mouse-trapping - disables the user's ability to go back, exit

or close while viewing the page.

3. Invisible seeding - the hiding of content to optimize search

service rankings. This is sometimes referred to as

meta-tagging or traffic diversion, one of the most common

intellectual property abuses perpetrated against top consumer

brands.

4. Unauthorized software downloads - invades a consumer's privacy

by leaving behind software that can contain embedded 

advertising or tracking capabilities. Often this is coupled

with the mislabeling of buttons, so a download occurs when

either "yes" or "no" is selected.

5. Spoof pages - pages that are placed in a site specifically for

the purpose of attracting search engine traffic for higher

ranking on search results. These are also called magnet pages,

where content is seeded with select words, brands, slogans and

personalities to draw traffic.

6. Typo-piracy and cyber-squatting - sites playing word games by

using misspellings and derivations of a popular brand used to

divert traffic to an unintended site. It is not uncommon to

see thousands of derivations of popular brand names in

registered domain lists.

7. Changing home page or favorites - unauthorized substitution of

a new home page setting or changes to the user's "favorites"

list. Approximately 1.4% of sites on the Internet engage in

one of these two intrusive tactics.

8. Visible seeding - using visible means of placing popular

brands, slogans and proprietary content into a site to

optimize search engine rankings. Placing a brand name in the

title bar at the top of a window would be one such example.

For brand names, this can create false affiliation to

objectionable content.

9. Mislabeling links - false labeling of hyper links that send

the shopper to an unintended destination.

10. Framing - a way of holding on to a customer; the shopper

thinks they have left, but they haven't. Users are kept on the

original site while viewing the content of another, through

the original site's window. The original site can increase ad

revenue via higher visit time statistics.

"As the economic downturn drives companies to seek revenue by all available means, it is no surprise to see these innovative tactics emerge into the consumer mainstream," said Panos Anastassiadis, president and chief executive officer, Cyveillance. "These activities serve to reemphasize the uncontrolled nature of the Internet environment and the critical need for continued Internet intelligence."

"Over 25% of top destination sites are now using one of these 10 tactics in an apparent attempt to divert and capture shoppers," said Brian Murray, senior director of client services, Cyveillance. "There is undoubtedly a growing level of consumer frustration online that poses a threat to global brands."

To download the complete study, visit www.cyveillance.com.

About Cyveillance, Inc.

Cyveillance, Inc. helps companies address critical business issues by delivering 100% Relevant Intelligence mined directly from the Internet. Cyveillance's solutions enable businesses to capture revenue by taking control of their brand identity, digital assets and corporate reputation online. Cyveillance configures its proprietary technology with client-specific parameters to locate and categorize unstructured content, transforming the Internet into a critical resource for strategic analysis. Cyveillance's hosted solutions are available in multiple languages and designed to serve its growing list of Global 2000 organizations. Cyveillance headquarters are in Arlington, VA with international operations based in London. For more information, please call 888/243-0097 or visit www.cyveillance.com.