uTorrent Is Going to Make Money With a Toolbar
Written by Ben Jones on April 22, 2009New users of uTorrent may shortly have the option of something extra with their BitTorrent client. In a move to try and generate extra revenue, some of the of new installs will have the option to include the Ask.com browser toolbar in addition to the most popular torrent client in use today.
The current economic situation is affecting everyone, and high technology companies are no exception. We’ve previously reported how BitTorrent Inc. had made layoffs and closed their Torrent Entertainment Network in recent months, in an attempt to cut costs and stay in business.
This February, the company went on to Google powered torrent search to the uTorrent website to make a few extra bucks, and they’re still looking for additional sources of revenue. This is where Ask.com comes in with their browser toolbar that is used to monetize other P2P clients as well.
Simon Morris, Vice President of product management at BitTorrent Inc. said that the toolbar will be included in new downloads of uTorrent 1.8.2. He assured people that it would be optional though, and that the executable will not have any size increase beyond the download option page. Also, we were told that those doing an upgrade will not be prompted about the bar.
Of course, this new ‘feature’ will fuel speculation by some that it carries on with the ‘MPAA spying’ which some have accused BitTorrent of doing since it bought the uTorrent client, and leads a small groups of people to continue using old versions. To date, we’ve yet to observe any ‘callhomes’ or similar that match any of those accusations.
Simon addressed these concerns telling TorrentFreak: “We are NOT on a path to do anything evil with the user community to make a quick profit. I know you only have our word on this, but it’s not hard to see that we have no chance of achieving our objectives if we alienate the very people on who the popularity of our software depends.”
While browser toolbars have sometimes gained a reputation as being a malware vector, this is usually due to 3rd party advertising. The toolbars generally make money though the search traffic that is generated by its users, and that is also the reason why most torrents sites – The Pirate Bay and Mininova included – now offer their own toolbars.
What BitTorrent inc. is aiming for is simply an extra influx of cash. What it is not looking to do is annoy their users, a point Simon is firm on. “To be very clear – uTorrent is very popular free BitTorrent software – the only thing we hope to change here is to make it even more popular. We hope the community will continue to support us in our efforts,” he told TorrentFreak.
If clients are to continue to develop, then with a growing shortage of venture capital there needs to be other ways to generate income. If the addition of one simple installer option about a browser toolbar means that uTP can be funded to completion (obsoleting many traditional throttling methods) is that really such a bad thing?
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95 Responses
“To be very clear – uTorrent is very popular free BitTorrent software – the only thing we hope to change here is to make it even more popular. We hope the community will continue to support us in our efforts,” he told torrentFreak.
Yea right. >_> I don’t like this idea at all… Unless you add some really awesome features from the revenue. :]
i think ill make a new, simple client this weekend.
ignore mpaa/riaa biatch, or any other trolls, they just want attention
Shut it you pirates. uTorrent can do whatever they want to. Why would the listen to criminals like you.
@3
You are hilarious. Thanks for the laughs.
How the hell is bloatware going to make it more popular?
Fucking idiots.
Sounds like a good idea – I’m glad they kept it optional. I doubt it would be too hard either to use a firefox plugin which routes Ask to pirate bay.
In essence you could type the torrent you want in Utorrent, and go directly to a torrent website of your choice.
uTorrent is lackluster.
@3 you really think people from the RIAA MPAA etc take there time to comment on this site? It’s just really easy to troll this website because everyone feeds them
Imho this is a step in the wrong direction.
@10
So do I.
I just uninstalled utorrent after reading this.
Looking for alternatives.
and so it begins
well i’m glad i moved to Deluge recently.
god you guys are so close minded its just an OPTION you don’t have to install it at all overall the client is unchanged this is just a way to make money to help develop the utorrent client retards and you call yourself pirates
Anyone know whether this spying this is genuine?
what makes it different from the other 193270070 crap-ware toolbars out there?
i love uTorrent, I’ll keep my opinion to my self until i actually see the thing. Who knows, maybe it will kick ass…
@14
Can you be sure of that?
From the moment Ask.com enters in the picture, I am not sure of anything anymore.
I know it is optional, on the installer, but, every program that I’ve used, that has a Ask.com bar, has become suspicious to me.
Maybe I’m wrong, great, wouldn’t be the first and it will not be the last time. But… so sorry, no more uTorrent here.
not a big fan of toolbars.. unfortunately it will be opt-out (as is the normal ask.com toolbar packages) so many users will get caught..
I will be uninstalling utorrent. thanks for the heads up torrent freak.
Any one recommend any other client besides bitcomet and vuse?
uTorrent plus an opt-out-able toolbar is still marginally better than the mainline bittorrent.com client, which is uTorrent plus that wretched “DNA” background bandwidth hog / router locker-upper. At least that thing can be opted out of now, too.
@ugh (#19): Azureus/Vuze, BitComet and uTorrent/BitTorrent are “the big three” of torrent clients. Since all of them are now ad-supported, you can either use old versions (classic Azureus, BitComet 0.70 or uTorrent <1.8.2) or switch to another client. Check http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_BitTorrent_clients for list of candidates, and have a closer at Deluge if you don’t want to stick with old versions of “big three”.
This is what I was afraid of the day Bittorrent brought uTor. =/
Now that µTorrent is making money, they too can be taken to court for profiting from copyright infringement!
Haha all you diehard utorrent fans. Anyone with a brain knew it was going downhill when it was bought ought. But you still scream #1 #1. Now look where it’s going.
Grrr I hate the ask toolbar. I’d much rather just paypal them some ££ as a way of saying thanks.
ktorrent \m/
Ask.com? Who the fuck uses ask.com?
I don’t care if it’s optional or not, BitTorrent Inc. can go to hell for pulling a stunt like this. It can go to hell and it can die.
On the bright side, once µTorrent becomes a large enough travesty, it’ll inevitably lead to at least one person out there getting frustrated and making their own free, liteweight, opensource bt client to replace it.
So I guess you call this a perverted form of progress.
2009-04-22 – Swedvdr’s future
Most Swedish trackers including Swedvdr has received threats from the Anti-Piracy Office so torrent activity must stop.
Since I do not want litigation against me will be sadly Swedvdrs tracker and torrents disappear within a week.
Like Swebits page will still be evident, including the Forum remains. / / Soft
Install a packet sniffer and watch uTorrent dial home.
They do definitely dial home, use wireshark and find out for yourself.
@admin (#29)
Those packets are either:
* Checking for new versions (you can disable in the options)
* Anon usage states (can be disabled in the options)
* DHT bootstrap (uses a fixed note at utorrent.com to find other nodes at first.
If you have any evidence that it’s anything else, feel free to drop us a line, with evidence. We’ll gladly investigate. Email’s on my userpage, hit my name at the start of the article
What part of optional dont you people understand? You don’t need to install it. Going by some of the comments on this site anyone would think that most fileshares are complete retards who can just about manage to read never mind actually comprehend. Maybe thats why you download from the internetz, to save you the embarrassment of having to ask someone how much something costs. Bunch of illiterate freetards. You’d probably use the toolbar if someone rared it, stuck an nfo with it and uploaded it to the pirate bay.
Do any of you whiners know the meaning of the word OPTION? It means you can take it or leave it, if you don’t want it, don’t install it. I swear most of the people who post here are illiterate retards. The only time your brain cells actually work is when you are typing out that someone is a troll or an industry plant. And I use the word WORK very loosely, not that any of you know what WORK actually is.
Utorrent + uTP = Bliss
utorrent + ask.com toolbar = :(
Utorrent will become adware.ugghhh
i dont think its adware comming prolly annoying tho, supose we use utorrent to dl the older version of utorrent by bitorrent, that ok with everyone?
Holly Crap Guys get a life
its optional and you don’t have to upgrade to it .
and UTP works BELL throttles ME.
I use UTP to defeat it . ikll keep using utorrent. azureus is bloated
and uses java .
@21 Absoloutly agreed..
Users will have to UNSELECT THE CHECKBOX to not have the toolbar installed.. It will be like any other app you get bundled with the ask.com toolbar..
Im actually going to have to go out on a limb and say im compleltly against this now.. The ask.com toolbar digs in VERY deep.. Hooks homepages etc..
I think this will be in the 1.9 official release… Im also not quite sure why their are two beta builds going atm.. 1.8.3 beta and 1.9.x beta?
On a side note UDP enabled torrenting has been very fast and helpful up here in Canada.. No more throttling for a bit longer til Sandvine updates their boxes..
@ 36 It will work until sandvine updates boxes.. Which they started a few weeks back..
@38 sandvine has never reconized my traffic routed through a socks5 proxy or vpn
WHY DOES EVERYTHING HAVE TO BECOME BLOATWARE
FIRST CCLEANER AND NOW MUTORRENT
FUCKKKKKKK
ehhh… I’ll stick with Vuze.
yup, get a grip. Its optional. What this means though is that you would probably need to download something that’s more in size and waste some bandwith, but whatever. I have kept the old version anyway in case i don’t like the outcomes, though I am not judging a book by its cover unlike the 90% of commenters. Shrug.
Please don’t let me down utorrent.
“Also, we were told that those doing an upgrade will not be prompted about the bar.”
Read, people. This doesn’t affect you.
More bundleware. Stupid, but it does make money.
I will say this though. Ask, yahoo and the like are all terrible. Ask is borderline malware.
I hate toolbar bundles because they are selected to automatically install unless you uncheck them.
It’s a noob trap. However, if you’re not a noob, then don’t worry about it.
If it pays for futher client development then I’m for it.
I hate the idea of this personally, I can just see this as being the end of uTorrent.
Bitcomet was once simular in that is was a good client but each release ended up with like a thousand more awful extras that were purely there to grab revenue.
I’m thinking a new open source torrent app using Mono Torrent is in order, completely cross platform and easy for .NET noob programmers like myself.
@41 “ehhh… I’ll stick with Vuze.”
Vuze had been bundled with a toolbar for quite some time now, and has targeted in client ads via the Vuze UI. Even utorrent are not going that far, yet.
try deluge
it’s the new utorrent
and works like a charm on linux
ITT: Trolls trolling trolls
Ask.com is their pimp.
But google is their whore.
Hi Ben, me post (something around first 10 post) was deleted. Just want to know if their was an justified reason?
Hi Ben, my post (something around first 10 post) was deleted. Just want to know if their was an justified reason?
The toolbar is not a problem (FrostWire also has it and give the user the choice to install it or not) bug µTorrent has a very big flaw: it’s not open source. Why would I use it when there are plenty of free software alternatives?
On pure principal matters this will encourage me to find alternatives for the future. bundling borderline malware toolsbars is not the way to go, but hey, when utorrent sold out to bittorrent we kinda knew which way the donkey was headed. shame on them
DELUGE is the way to go today and in the future and it is just like a sister to utorrent. Enjoy !!
Doesn’t really matter about the toolbar imo. You find similar “add-ons” in IrfanView, Daemon Tools and a bunch of other applications. Software developers also have to eat, and that’s hard to do without money.
People were also very suspicious when bittorrent.com purchased utorrent. Client versions above 1.6.something was banned from many private trackers. Now at build 15xxx most trackers are still allowing the new client versions.
Imo ut is the best client there is. I’ve tried Deluge, Ktorrent, Azureus (that was a bad experience), Tomato, rTorrent, and many more. The only thing about utorrent i don’t like is that it doesn’t run on linux (natively without wine), and i don’t like the mac client either. Hopefully it’s will only be a matter of time before it’s up to date with the windows version.
So… are the open source torrent client authors going to try and squeeze money out of users too? I think not!
“Software developers also have to eat, and that’s hard to do without money.”
Hey, Kenneth, if all developers want is to eat then why don’t we pay them in food and cut out the middle man, yeah?
Also I’ll let you into a little secret. In our countries, you know, Europe and US etc. you won’t die if you have no money for food because civilization now takes care of those people through various means. Nobody dies of starvation anymore in those countries.
So please stfu pretending people are going to die because they never sold their software because only a dickhead believes that bs.
Boycott uTorrent! They’re slowly selling out! Use Deluge instead!
No not the Ask Toolbar!!! I got tricked into installing that crap and I can’t proberly get rid of it :(
Seriously make sure you don’t install it!
Boycott uTorrent!
Like most people, I ditched utorrent a while ago. Try Deluge or Halite, they’re both equally great clients and the best part? They’re completely free, unlike this ad-ridden crap.
Personally, I’ve been using Deluge since utorrent was acquired by BitTorrent Inc. I had my reservations about it in the first place anyway, considering the closed source nature of the program. This adware toolbar addition should be enough to stop using it on principal. utorrent is no longer any better than the pen source clients available…get your fanboy heads out of 2006.
I recommend that all of the utorrent users out there switch to Ktorrent or Deluge which are both open source and support almost every feature that utorrent does. As for Halite, it isn’t a mature enough client to be employed for mainstream use.
Can torrentfreak please do a comparison between ktorrent, utorrent, Delufe and Halite.
Does deluge support uTP or even Encryption?
That sucks BUT it’s better than the alternative; close the development of uTorrent. THAT would suck. Also, I’m sure we can choose not to install the toolbar.
Soundwave, yes, it has few more options than utorrent, its encryption capability are awesome, i remember that utorrent analised deluge in the past to try figure how deluge bypassed all kinds of traffic shapping around the world, and it still does.
hey if its optional, you gotta do what you gotta do..
Let the noobs installed it, anybody who knows what there doing just uncheck it.
This is what makes pirates look like ignorant fucktards…
UTorrent is an awesome lighweight client who will be adding an ” Optional ” search bar to the client..u may install with the client, you may not install it..or u may first install it and later disable it !!!
So whats the problem????
Haven’t u ever seen a browser with google toolbar…and don’t u also see a uninstallation option of such a toolbar in ur Add Remove programs !!
Any toolbar is of no harm unless it gets installed forcefully like a spyware without users consent and without the software makers approval !!!!
let’s face it, torrent is prety a fragile protocol, yeah someone can say it is “descentralized” but how if it become useless without trackers and fragile websites to download the “content”, and with MAIN client becoming adware/untrusted/sold to **AA there is no place to run…
come on guys really.
How is it you can bit torrent and figure out how to install hacked up programs yet, a simple check box defeats you and turns you away from a good program
Hows this just update and it won’t even ask. next time read the story not just the head line
Someone make a new client will ya guys.This is outrageous.Why do they need to monetize,make a app and leave it at that.If a single guy can do it,why can’t an org.
Nobody uses ask jeeves!!!!
Bye bye uT, it was fun while it lasted :)
*installs Deluge
Oh, and for all you guys saying “oh its okayyyyyy” lets see how long you guys will stick with uT if it has more nasty tricks like this up its sleeve. You seem to be in love with this client. With the immense ammount of clients out there its stupid not to pick the best one out. You are the same people that complain about Firefox becoming slow and STILL stick with it.
GET YOUR HEADS OUT OF YOUR ASSES.
I have to say I was concerned initially when I heard u-torrent was bought out by bitorrent inc but have carried on regardless and not had a single warning [ever] so am [for now?] not that concerned about it.
everything else I have tried [Vuze specifically] seems more likely to sell me out ¬_¬
I never install uTorrent, I just run the binary from my deskop. So this would be a non-issue for me.
I won’t be upgrading uTorrent anymore. One of the reasons I liked it was because it was a single EXE that I could place anywhere I wanted. It didn’t make any changes to my system. Now it comes as a standard installer that makes you go through all the usual crap Windows insist on and who knows what it’s actually putting on your system. No thanks…
Ha my computer picked the right day to crash! now i can use a better client
There are plenty of legit apps which add opt-out piggybackers into their installers to generate revenue. CCleaner and Adobe Flash being popular examples. I don’t feel as if uTorrent should be looked any less upon just because of an optional toolbar; however, it makes its loyal users a bit more watchful of changes going forward.
@12
Nice Babylon 5 reference there! (or at least I think it was) Kosh would not approve of utorrent’s behavior!
Ya I use utorrent almost exclusively but lately I’ve been a little disappointed with them. Does anyone know any good alternatives?
Come on guys; its a lovely client, quite a few of you ^ probably use it, if your so annoyed about it, paypal them some money and in the note, voice your feelings.
@32
Totally agree with you. People here need to quit bitching about it. If you don’t want it, DON’T SELECT IT AS AN OPTION.
Of course, it would be better if the box was unchecked. Now, if they start bundling it in with the install, I’ll jump ship but as long as this toolbar remains optional, I’m staying with it.
I guess tomorrow or the day after tomorrow Bittorrent Inc. / MAFFIA release a new version of uTorrent without the Toolbar.
They can’t stand so much critique on their decision.
Luckly enough I use :hail: Deluge :hail:, the only good Windows torrent cliënt who’s left :P
Sad day for uTorrent.
+1 looking for a replacement proggy.
uTorrent was the best for longest and continues to innovate (e.g. uTP to defeat throttling)
however, if it wants to lead, grow + survive it must now go to OSS model and find other ways to generate income which avoid the insulting stigma of noob-trap malware toolbars
e.g. include a convenient paypal button on GUI and get the app included in Distro repositories.
QUOTE:
‘You’d probably use the toolbar if someone rared it, stuck an nfo with it and uploaded it to the pirate bay.’
LMAO this so made my day :D
I won’t judge on it yet, I’ll see how things go first.
Deluge looks interesting nevertheless. o:
there are a few problems with deluge too.
it doesn’t send have messages and it’s written in python, not c
and utorrent will have utp enabled by default in 1.9 which will eliminate tcp ack overhead
i don’t see anything wrong with having to uncheck a checkbox at installation. do you people just click next next next next when installing something?
Why wouldn’t they just ask for donations instead of installing simply malware?
Or better yet, ask their copyright friends for money? As far as I recall, they were bought by RIAA or MPAA.
everyone had their price, obviously ask.com made some nice deals that utorrent cant resist.
if they want it optional, the default option should be unchecked. there also should be and option to clean uninstall the toolbar.
in the end, no one can blame them for wanting some quick cash. who doesnt !!!
everyone had their price, obviously ask.com made some nice deals that utorrent cant resist.
if they want it optional, the default option should be unchecked. there also should be and option to clean uninstall the toolbar. OR, this is the best option. make it downloadable only from the website.
in the end, no one can blame them for wanting some quick cash. who doesnt !!!
All apps eventually start carrying many burdens… for torrents Azureus went the Vuze way while uTorrent is looking for revenue generating toolbars.
I think it’s laughable that people actually think you can run a real company with actual employees through donations. Seriously, what major tech company out there is run solely via donations and isn’t operating at a loss?
all those who think they are smart as they read the word ‘optional’, have they really checked what happens when they opt NOT to install toolbar? Have they checked the client itself (w/o toolbar) is NOT sending information to RIAA/MPAA.
First people use windows, (in which everything is already concealed) on top of that adware and still thing they are SMART. makes me laugh all the time.
@51 good one :)
So to all those “DUMB” people who think they know better than the “SMART” people, please produce the Wireshark evidence that it’s phoning home.
winamp has also OPTIONS with a toolbar .. is this a reason to uninstall winamp?? no u fuckheads ^^
not everything is free in life, companies need income.
utorrent + torrentflux 4 life :)
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