These days, it’s common to see statistics about Internet usage bandied about like they were everyday, commonly accepted facts: X million Internet users conducted searches via Google last month, Y percentage of Internet users paid to download digital music this month, Z number of Internet users pay to access a subscription-based online service, etc., etc.
Where do these numbers come from? Some research firms actually ask Internet users what they’re doing, usually via online polls and sometimes by calling them on the telephone. Both methods have their downsides: the latter case requires respondents be reachable via phone (usually a landline), both require respondents be willing to participate, and both enable respondents to “self-filter” their answers—in other words, what those users are willing to say they do online may not always match up with what they actually do online.
In an attempt to get past these sampling and reporting viruses, market research firms like Comscore also rely on what they term “researchware:” software installed on users’ machines that reports back to Comscore about those users online activities. Among other things, Comscore’s software monitors users “clickstreams,” or the URLs they actually load and follow while using the Internet. Comscore currently claims more than 2 million Internet users have voluntarily installed its “researchware” and willingly agreed to have their Internet activity monitored in exchange for download accellerators, screen savers, and games bundled with it.
If the actions of Comscore’s “researchware” sound suspiciously like the actions of “spyware”—programs that monitor a user’s activity in hopes of collecting personal data like passwords and account numbers—then you wouldn’t be the first to notice. Furthermore, some industry watchers claim Comscore’s “researchware” can invasively install without obtaining a user’s clear consent, including using browser and security exploits to install Comscore software and installing via known spyware bundlers. Cases have also been documented where Comscore software installs with “very little mention of software or tracking” by way of companies like Sears.
For its part, Comscore defends its “researchware,” arguing it provides clear notice of its software’s functionality and data collection practices, obtains consent from users, and never collects or divulges personally identifiable information. “I believe that the relationship between a research participant and all reputable market research companies that adhere to these practices is important, and should be preserved,” wrote Comscore chairman and co-founder Gian Fulgoni in his company’s blog. “Market research tracking software[..]needs to be differentiated from ‘adware,’ ‘spyware,’ and ‘malware’ and should not be treated in the same way as these intrusive and potentially harmful applications. We must not let the purveyors of spyware—the rotten apples—give market researchers a bad name.”
