Scam Site? BrotherSoft dot com?
REM
I don't know. I've always just had a bad feeling about that site
showing up near the top of most searches. I saw a post where it was
mentioned as saying there was a freeware PDF-> Word converter link.
I started thinking about it and it seems that every time I've followed
links there they lead to a dead end in a bait and switch type deal.
It has been over a year since I've been really active, so I'm not
sure... maybe you can tell me?
SecureDongle X Software Protection 1.0?
Remove Fake Antivirus 1.0?
Spyware Cleaner 2008 2.0604?
Where are the programs that we all know?
Top Freeware: AVG Free Edition 7.0 ???
AVG v7x is _completely nonfunctional_. The author has it now that any
PC with v7x is almost completely unusable with the software demanding
that it be updated to the current version. There are no definition
updates for quite awhile now.
They seem like a file server... in that you don't go to AVG... you get
the BrotherSoft-AVG download.
AVG v8,5.336.1515 is listed as:
"# License: Freeware Free
There are no disclaimers about being free for one PC at home only, as
the AVG site does point out.
<q> avg.com
Licensing details
* AVG Anti-Virus Free Edition is for private, non-commercial,
single computer use only. The use of AVG Free within any organization
or for commercial purposes is prohibited.
* AVG Anti-Virus Free Edition may not be bundled with other
software programs, hardware components, or any other services.
<q>
Is it just me? Or, is there something shady about this site?
miskairal
I've been doing it for long enough that I've forgotten why but am pretty
sure it didn't lead to freeware.
Craig
> miskairal<misk...@gmail.com>:
>
>> All I know is that I ignore search results that include brothersoft.
>> I've been doing it for long enough that I've forgotten why but am pretty
>> sure it didn't lead to freeware.
>
>
> Yrrah
>
+1+1
-Craig
Ron
Istr Brothersoft once posted scamware and maybe even links to warez.
Like the others, I've been ignoring the site for so long I've forgotten
exactly why. At the very least, there's a good chance anything you
download will try to give your OS a wedgie. <vbg>
Ron
Mister2u
> Craig wrote:
> > On 05/22/2009 05:08 PM, Yrrah wrote:
>
> >>> All I know is that I ignore search results that include brothersoft.
> >>> I've been doing it for long enough that I've forgotten why but am pretty
> >>> sure it didn't lead to freeware.
>
> >> +1
>
> >> Yrrah
>
> > +1+1
>
> > -Craig
>
> Istr Brothersoft once posted scamware and maybe even links to warez.
> Like the others, I've been ignoring the site for so long I've forgotten
> exactly why. At the very least, there's a good chance anything you
> download will try to give your OS a wedgie. <vbg>
>
>
> - Show quoted text -
Or friend John Corliss also hates it
http://groups.google.com/group/alt.comp.freeware/browse_thread/thread/a04b1cb3943c040f/0c95f637a6af5cac?hl=en&lnk=gst&q=brothersoft+corliss#0c95f637a6af5cac
He used to like it
http://groups.google.com/group/alt.comp.freeware/search?hl=en&group=alt.comp.freeware&q=brothersoft+corliss&qt_g=Search+this+group
John Fitzsimons
wrote:
< snip >
>All I know is that I ignore search results that include brothersoft.
>I've been doing it for long enough that I've forgotten why but am pretty
>sure it didn't lead to freeware.
Why bother getting BrotherSoft results at all ? If you are Google
searching then add " - Brothersoft " (without commas) to your
search criteria. That should partly, or wholly, reduce the number
of BrotherSoft results.
Regards, John.
Klaatu
alt.comp.freeware:
> Why bother getting BrotherSoft results at all ? If you are Google
> searching then add " - Brothersoft " (without commas) to your
> search criteria.
What commas?
--
YOU is not a letter!
Bring the 'Y' and the 'O' back to the Internet!!
John Fitzsimons
>On Sun, 24 May 2009 00:49:28 GMT, John Fitzsimons posted to
>alt.comp.freeware:
>> Why bother getting BrotherSoft results at all ? If you are Google
>> searching then add " - Brothersoft " (without commas) to your
>> search criteria.
>What commas?
The inverted commas " ". Add - Brothersoft to your search criteria.
The commas/quotation marks are used to more clearly emphasise
the actual data that needs to be added.
Regards, John.
John Corliss
> I don't know. I've always just had a bad feeling about that site
> showing up near the top of most searches. I saw a post where it was
> mentioned as saying there was a freeware PDF-> Word converter link.
>
> I started thinking about it and it seems that every time I've followed
> links there they lead to a dead end in a bait and switch type deal.
>
> It has been over a year since I've been really active, so I'm not
> sure... maybe you can tell me?
> Is it just me? Or, is there something shady about this site?
It's what I refer to as a "crapware site". I use the "CustomizeGoogle"
extension:
https://addons.mozilla.org/en-US/firefox/addon/743
to filter it out along with a whole slew of other such sites. And
despite the comments, the extension still works perfectly for me with
the latest version of Firefox. Maybe that's because I only use it to
filter out Google search results.
Here's a list of the crapware sites I filter out:
10001downloads.com
3d2f.com
afterdawn.com
bluechillies.com
brothersoft.com
dirfile.com
download3000.com
download5000.com
downloadjunction.com
downloadsoftware4free.com
downloadthat.com
exefind.com
experts-exchange.com
filebuzz.com
filedudes.com
fileflash.com
filegets.com
filetransit.com
finaldownload.com
findmysoft.com
free-downloads.net
free-downloads.net
freedownloadmanager.org
freedownloadscenter.com
freesoft411.com
freeware1.com
freewarepark.com
giveawayoftheday.com
qarchive.org
redferret.net
searchanalytics.com
searchanalytics.compete.com
shareme.com
soft32.com
soft411.com
softplatz.com
softwaregeek.com
sqlservercentral.com
supershareware.com
topdownloads.net
topshareware.com
vicman.net
wareseeker.com
xentrik.net
New sites are created almost daily. I keep adding them as I encounter
them. I'm not sure why all these crapware sites exist, but I have a
sneaking hunch there's some kind of loaded agenda on somebody's part for
creating them.
--
John Corliss BS206. I use nFilter to block all Google Groups posts
because of Googlespam. No ad, cd, commercial, cripple, demo, dotnet,
nag, share, spy, time-limited, trial or web wares OR warez for me, please.
2008 Pricelessware list: http://www.geocities.com/rtd3ws/08PWlist.html
miskairal
they always get such high rankings, nearly always on page 1? I can't
believe that many people pay for their advice when there is always a
free way to get it.
John Corliss
Sorry. *Most* of the sites I block are crapware sites. That "Experts
Exchange" site is simply a waste of time since they provide info for a
price. I look for answers to computer problems sometimes, or simply to
identify a file. Those idiots always show up at the top of the list like
you say. There's a way to get mentioned high up on Google results, can't
remember what it is right now but it's dishonest as hell and Experts
Exchange uses that tactic.
John Corliss
>
>> Here's a list of the crapware sites I filter out:
I shouldn't have said "crapware sites", since there are a few domains in
there that I block for other reasons.
> You appear to be punishing freedownloadscenter.com simply because it's
> not 100% freeware. freedownloadscenter.com and vicman.net have useful
> freeware that has been recommended in a.c.f. You can search on the
> "freeware" keyword at freedownloadscenter.com to avoid their
> shareware.
It would appear that I got them mixed up with this crapware site:
http://freewaredownloadcenter.com
Not sure how that happened, since I've used freedownloadscenter.com
before myself.
I'll make the change. Also note that if you go to a sub-sub-category at
the freewaredownloadscenter site, you can filter by license (either
"all" or "freeware").
> I don't understand your dislike of vicman.net either since
> most of their offers are freeware, and there are some quite good ones
> at that. Neither of those sites deserve to be vilified on the same
> level as brothersoft.com and wareseeker.com.
Vicman did something to piss me off in the past. They wouldn't be on the
list if they hadn't. I don't remember what it was off the top of my
head, but if you like their stuff, by all means, use and recommend them.
I prefer not to. Rather than speculate about what the reason was for my
disliking them, or going through the PITA experience of installing all
of their programs to see if I can remember, I'm just going to leave it
at that.
> It is inexplicable examples such as those that make me wary of your
"list of"
> disrecommendations in general.
Well, you're right. I should have gone over the list before posting it.
Guess I was in a rush. Regardless, making such a list is a difficult
proposition. Try doing it yourself from scratch. The jerks who create
crapware sites keep adding new ones and often I add a domain when I'm
heavily involved in searching for something, focused on other things.
It's easy to make a mistake.
> topshareware.com? supershareware.com? Why were those on your go-to
> list in the first place?
It's not a "go-to" list. It's a list of sites that I *don't* want to go
to. Those two sites are there because they often show up at the top of
results whenever I do Google searches for freeware. They're sites I'm
absolutely not interested in. If I include -shareware in my search
terms, it excludes too many possibilities. Excluding those two by
default helps when I'm doing a much looser search.
Klaatu
> Sorry. *Most* of the sites I block are crapware sites. That "Experts
> Exchange" site is simply a waste of time since they provide info for a
> price. I look for answers to computer problems sometimes, or simply to
> identify a file. Those idiots always show up at the top of the list like
> you say. There's a way to get mentioned high up on Google results, can't
> remember what it is right now but it's dishonest as hell and Experts
> Exchange uses that tactic.
It was a surprise to me when someone told me, but do you know that if you
go to one of those search result pages on the experts-exchange site, that
you can actually see the replies to a post if you scroll down to the bottom
of the page?
--
"The two most common elements in the universe are hydrogen and stupidity."
- Harlan Ellison
John Corliss
> John Corliss wrote:
>
>> Sorry. *Most* of the sites I block are crapware sites. That "Experts
>> Exchange" site is simply a waste of time since they provide info for a
>> price. I look for answers to computer problems sometimes, or simply to
>> identify a file. Those idiots always show up at the top of the list like
>> you say. There's a way to get mentioned high up on Google results, can't
>> remember what it is right now but it's dishonest as hell and Experts
>> Exchange uses that tactic.
>
> It was a surprise to me when someone told me, but do you know that if you
> go to one of those search result pages on the experts-exchange site, that
> you can actually see the replies to a post if you scroll down to the bottom
> of the page?
Well I'll be... several sites say you're correct. In any event, I'm sure
you've actually given it a try too. I guess I'll check it out. Thanks!
miskairal
> M.L. wrote:
> It would appear that I got them mixed up with this crapware site:
>
> http://freewaredownloadcenter.com
>
> Not sure how that happened, since I've used freedownloadscenter.com
> before myself.
>
> I'll make the change. Also note that if you go to a sub-sub-category at
> the freewaredownloadscenter site, you can filter by license (either
> "all" or "freeware").
>
I'm not seeing how to filter by freeware. Any hints ;)
John Corliss
Notice I said "SUB-sub-category". You can't sort a sub-category that way.