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The first customers

German publisher Heise publishes an article about the first types of adware in their computer magazine c’t, reporting about the nearly the same files Patrick has encountered. But there are some differences, and Patrick emails the author of the article about details.

Not receiving a direct response, Patrick forgot about the software until he gets a few dozen emails within a day asking for his software. He checks where they come from, and finds out c’t has printed his email, which mentioned his tool, as a readers letter. So as soon as the next magazine was in print, people come asking for Spybot.

The first software

Patrick was active developing software back then, and was quick to find the responsible DLL file that downloaded the ads. Removing the file caused the software to display errors, so... continue reading

The first adware

Back in 1999 in Germany, Internet connections were usually metered, using dial-up with a modem (or later, DSL adapter). Software usually did not connect to the Internet unless the user... continue reading