New 'Adware' Apps Bug Facebook, Google

A new generation of controversial advertising software is wreaking havoc on the ad businesses of Web giants including Facebook, Google and Yahoo, inserting a layer of ads on websites or covering up other paying ads.

The software comes in the form of applications that allow people to customize their Facebook profiles with, say, special borders of snowflakes or colorful designs or turbo-charge Web searches. But in downloading the software, computer users open up a door to ads that the big Internet companies complain are rogue. Once people download the apps, with names like PageRage and BuzzDock, extra ads can appear on Facebook and search-engine results pages. Facebook and Google don't see any of the revenue from these ads, which often are for big-name companies including Gap, American Express and AT&T. The vast majority of user complaints that Facebook receives about advertising are because these ads.