OpenCandy was an
adware module and a
potentially unwanted program classified as
malware by many anti-virus vendors.[1][2][3][4] They flagged OpenCandy due to its undesirable side-effects.[5][6] It was designed to run during installation of other desired
software. Produced by
SweetLabs, it consisted of a
Microsoft Windowslibrary incorporated in a
Windows Installer. When a user installed an application that had
bundled the OpenCandy library, an option appeared to install software it recommended based on a scan of the user's system and
geolocation. Both the option and offers it generated were selected by default and would be installed unless the user unchecked them before continuing with the installation.[7][8]
OpenCandy's various undesirable side-effects included, changing the user's homepage, desktop background or search provider, inserting unwanted toolbars, plug-ins and extension add-ons in the browser. It also collected and transmitted various information about the user and their Web usage without notification or consent.[1][9] After massive criticism of the software occurred, it was eventually discontinued in August of 2016.
Development
The software was originally developed for the
DivX installation, by CEO Darrius Thompson. When installing DivX, the user was prompted to optionally install the
Yahoo! Toolbar. DivX received $15.7 million during the first nine months of 2007 from Yahoo and other software developers, after 250 million downloads.[8]
Chester Ng, the former DivX business development director, is chief business officer and Mark Chweh, former DivX engineering director, is
chief technology officer.[8]
Windows components
Components that the program used may have differed but here are some similar names based on versions of the software.
There were workarounds to bypass OpenCandy by running some installers with a /NOCANDY parameter on the
command line, which was up to the installer to support or not.[39]
^LIGHTNING UK! (16 June 2013).
"The Official ImgBurn Website: Change log". www.imgburn.com. Retrieved 3 October 2017. Changed: No longer bundling/offering the Ask.com toolbar in the setup program, OpenCandy now handles product offerings during installation.
^"ImgBurn". www.majorgeeks.com. 23 June 2016. Retrieved 3 October 2017. This is a clean, no OpenCandy version.
^
abcgizmo, richards (8 February 2014).
"Controversial Advertising Program Now Being Embedded in More Software". Gizmo's Freeware.
Archived from the original on 7 August 2014. Retrieved 30 August 2014. OpenCandy (OC) is a relatively new advertising product that more and more software developers are bundling with their programs. It can now be found in the installers of dozens of popular programs including IZArc, mirC, PrimoPDF, Trillian Astra and more.
^Schember, John (21 January 2012).
"Sigil 0.5.0 Released". Archived from
the original on 24 April 2016. Retrieved 17 March 2012.{{
cite web}}: CS1 maint: numeric names: authors list (
link)