The software awards scam

[Major Attitude]

Good stuff, exactly what we try and warn people about only this time the guy submitted a program that did nothing but tell you that the program was not a program. Lets see how many awards it received!

http://successfulsoftware.net/2007/0...e-awards-scam/

Update: 7\20\11

Thanks to mjnc for pointing out a similar article from a software developer:

http://www.rawcomputing.co.uk/awards.html

FYI, when we see our editor's pick button posted when it was not given, we have it removed. We have done this dozens of times. Guess who likes to "borrow" these 5 star buttons? Rogue developers trying to trick you. That's why you don't see a lot of OUR editor's pick buttons out there.

[Adrynalyne]

Wow...

That's goes to show ya really gotta pay attention on those OTHER download sites. (Not that I download apps from anywhere else)

[matt.chugg]

Another point that is just as interesting is where all these software sites get their software, I only release my software on my site and here on majorgeeks, yet its on several download sites with 5 star ratings some of which list warez etc and some which are in languages I don't even understand!

Another idea for his 'experiment' (and an idea I had myself) could have been to make each download unique so the original source could be found and see where everything originated!

Just one more reason I stick to Major Geeks for all my software needs.

[Mada_Milty]

However, there is a couple of those sites I do like in addition to the authors: Softpedia and MajorGeeks. They provide something useful like verifying your software is virus/trojan free.

Gotta be nice to see that
(despite what people may think of Softpedia)

[Major Attitude]

Lol, Softpedia lies. A lot. Incorrect version numbers and more. I see stuff in our admin they post within minutes as malware free. Check Siteadvisor.com, you will be suprised how much is infected. Of course, I dont pay them much attention, half their site is widgets, screensavers and ebooks. They use the malware free button exactly the same way as awards, to drive traffic. Be afraid, its a scam. Theres no such thing as a malware free promise, to do so should send people a red flag.

[MickeyRoush]

Wow, I'm so fortunate to have access to a place like MG.

I don't go much of anywhere else to get freeware, etc.

[chipper_atmacneil]

Thanks for the warning. I don't download at many sites (the only other site I use is Download.com), because of the malware factor. I'm glad to see this to be able to identify untrustworthy download pages and warn others off.

[Major Attitude]

Download.com is about the same, just use caution. Their policy is to remove malware infected items if discovered, which can take days, sometimes weeks. Again, Siteadvisor will show you what they carry. Often, these are crap programs, screensavers, etc. Stuff we don't list because of the majority of crap.

Remember this article is pointing out perceptions. These websites have used the malware free claim just like the awards. The majority falls for it, so thats all that matters to them. The wise are better informed and don't visit these sites.

Note the butt kissing:
http://www.siteadvisor.com/sites/download.com

lots of red, bad downloads, but a green rating. 2.5 emails spams a week, guess thats ok too. Someone knows someone at SiteAdvisor\Mcafee

-------------------------------------------------------------

Lets see Softpedia:
http://www.siteadvisor.com/sites/softpedia.com

lots of red, bad downloads. They are testing the "Three" signup forms and have been for months, so no spam email report.

---------------------------------------------------------------

Our gaming site, Demonews once had a SINGLE bad file, we were flagged as red because of it. Apparently, you can't trust a big company like Mcafee either as their system is messed up. Took months for them to fix this:

http://www.siteadvisor.com/sites/demonews.com


----------------------------------------------------------

Majorgeeks, no comments needed. Clean, always has been.

http://www.siteadvisor.com/sites/majorgeeks.com

[chipper_atmacneil]

Originally Posted by Major Attitude

Download.com is about the same, just use caution. Their policy is to remove malware infected items if discovered, which can take days, sometimes weeks. Again, Siteadvisor will show you what they carry. Often, these are crap programs, screensavers, etc. Stuff we don't list because of the majority of crap.

Remember this article is pointing out perceptions. These websites have used the malware free claim just like the awards. The majority falls for it, so thats all that matters to them. The wise are better informed and don't visit these sites.

Note the butt kissing:
http://www.siteadvisor.com/sites/download.com

lots of red, bad downloads, but a green rating. 2.5 emails spams a week, guess thats ok too. Someone knows someone at SiteAdvisor\Mcafee

-------------------------------------------------------------

Lets see Softpedia:
http://www.siteadvisor.com/sites/softpedia.com

lots of red, bad downloads. They are testing the "Three" signup forms and have been for months, so no spam email report.

---------------------------------------------------------------

Our gaming site, Demonews once had a SINGLE bad file, we were flagged as red because of it. Apparently, you can't trust a big company like Mcafee either as their system is messed up. Took months for them to fix this:

http://www.siteadvisor.com/sites/demonews.com


----------------------------------------------------------

Majorgeeks, no comments needed. Clean, always has been.

http://www.siteadvisor.com/sites/majorgeeks.com

Thanks for the warning, I'll be more careful of how much faith I put into anything offered at Download.com.

[Tater]

This makes me happy to think of how many people I've had come to this site that continue to come here for help and downloads.

[ShockTroop]

Some sites you can just tell are sketchy. Sites like download.com and SoftPedia just look cluttered because of paid ads and other crap we don't need to see, along with product information that just plain old looks wrong. Pretty funny (but great) that someone actually decided to test them and point out to people what sites to avoid. About time someone shows those craptacular sites what's up.

[Bladesofhalo]

This is why I stick to MajorGeeks for all my software needs :D

[chipper_atmacneil]

I'll tell you something, MajorGeeks is the only download site I know that I've never encountered a problem with. I've used Download.com thinking that security is an issue wherever I go, but I didn't realize they'd publish anything, whether it was useful, garbage, or worse, malicious. Well, maybe not malicious, but I could tell a few stories of hairy times trying to get Spybot S&D and the kind of cretins who'd try to sucker callers into downloading their crap. When I started taking them here, sure enough, I stopped having that problem. I don't believe any download site is perfect, but I've never had a problem here. If Download.com does not weed out the trash from what they publish, I see no reason to go there or rely on anything they say.

[bigbazza]

I missed this thread until today. at the awards won. :D
I use MG for most of my downloads.
I use PCUtilities magazine (UK,USA and Australia) CD/DVD downloads on occasions. I have not had trouble with them.

Thanks for the reminders about other download sites. Bazza

[JakeD]

Good Stuff MA!!!

[auzziez]

very funny lolz!!!

MG is the best website to download website, it do help a newer like me a lot from u guys' comments and rating. to tell the truth,i am addicted to MG recently,i browse MG every day if there is any new cool software. i wanna say, MG,u r awesome!

[Bugballou]

MajorGeeks. Best site for downloading Windows programs by far. Throw in the formus and everything else there is to offer and it's the winner hands down. I do visit sourceforge on occasion, as well as some of the University web sites for downloads, but that is for other operating systems.
Thanks guys for all the hard work you do, and hope you will be here for a long time to come. Someday people will open their eyes to sites like dwnld.com and sftpda.com.

Bug