Avast Pro Ranked #11???

[Martoch]

Just noticed that on this site, Avast Pro (I'm aware that it's not the latest version) is ranked #11 for Antivirus software.
http://anti-virus-software-review.toptenreviews.com/avast-review.html
Look on the left side of the page for "Anti-Virus Software Reviews 2005
Listed in order of rating"

#1     BitDefender
#2     PC-cillin
#3     AVG Anti-Virus
#4    McAfee VirusScan
#5    F-Secure Anti-Virus
#6    Norton AntiVirus
#7    F-Prot for Windows
#8    eTrust EZ Antivirus
#9    ESET Nod32
#10    Panda Anti-Virus
#11    AVAST! Pro

Is the latest version THAT much better than the one reviewed and ranked #11?

Comments?

[alanrf]

The review to which you have pointed us is for the 4.1 release.  We have moved through 4.5 and now to 4.6.   

I think I would have a little more faith in this review if each section contained a bit more than two sentences worth of information.  I do not think I would base any decision I had to make on the obvious thoroughness of this review. 

Would you buy car insurance with this level of professionalism? 

I am far from being an "evangelist" of Avast, and I think that the script blocking issue (especially beyond IE) is worthy of discussion  but I would have to consider the difference in rating between AVG and Avast contentious to say the least.     

I've been (in the industry) reading this kind of review now for several decades.  Pretty tables and analysis pathetically short on information do not a good review make.
 

[RejZoR]

Oh,i have seen this so called review. It's useless now and it was useless before when avast! 4.1 was tested. Forget about this site.

Use www.av-comparatives.org instead. This site is trustworthy.

[Vlk]

Martoch, this is the way some people earn money. If you carefully scrutinize the "Buy Now" links for the top 5 rated products, you'll see that they all have an Affiliate ID. Which means that the author is getting like 20% commision for each transaction realized via this link.

This is how it works in detail. The author sends an email to 15 AV companies, asking them to become an affiliate partner. Some of them respond, some don't. Then he stitches up a web site with more or less junk info (but "easy to read"! , comparing the various products on the market, but paying special attention to placing those that he has affiliation for on top places. Last, he starts a modest campaign (typically on Google) to get as much visitors on his site as possible.

Lovely isn't it?

BTW this guy is not confined to AV's - see the main page http://www.toptenreviews.com

Cheers
Vlk

[DavidR]

This seems like a rehash of their flawed 2004 reviews, whilst it mentioned the Virus Bulletin 100% awards for some other AVs no mention was made about avast's VB100 awards.

There is no date as to when the review took place, other than we see that used an old version of avast (so it is not recent) and there is nothing about how the tests were conducted.

These forums are over flowing with dissatisfied ex users of the supposed top ten contenders who are now happy avast users.

[szc]

Martoch, this is the way some people earn money. If you carefully scrutinize the "Buy Now" links for the top 5 rated products, you'll see that they all have an Affiliate ID. Which means that the author is getting like 20% commision for each transaction realized via this link.

This is how it works in detail. The author sends an email to 15 AV companies, asking them to become an affiliate partner. Some of them respond, some don't. Then he stitches up a web site with more or less junk info (but "easy to read"! , comparing the various products on the market, but paying special attention to placing those that he has affiliation for on top places. Last, he starts a modest campaign (typically on Google) to get as much visitors on his site as possible.

Lovely isn't it?

BTW this guy is not confined to AV's - see the main page http://www.toptenreviews.com

Cheers
Vlk

Vlk my friend - is there any way to stop those people doing that ? I mean that's outrageous !!! That way, they earn money badmouthing good products like avast! is. They ruin great reputation you and we are trying to build. Isn't there any law that classifieds web sites like that like something that's not quite legal ?

We can pretend that there is no affect on anyone, but just take a look at that guy that started this thread... he (like many others) was very interested in those results. When they get scared enough, it is quite obvious that they are just grasping for straws since they don't know what to do... naturally, they turn to the first 3 top places in that list, and they decide to buy one of those 3 products. Guy who "made" "GREAT" review, collects some money, guys like Martoch gets fished, and Alwil gets ripped off, plus it's name is stained with ugly 11th place... therefore, no one is happy except "great reviewer", guy uses all kinds of tricks to get himself some money...

Cheers !

[Lisandro]

I read this thread... have to stop... then Vlk posted.
I was just about to make a question: "Who's paying for this review?" 
Ok, marketing dirty game 

[RejZoR]

I have no doubt about BitDefender,in version 8 it's a really capable piece of software,but i doubt AVG can beat big ones like F-Secure,NOD32 or Panda.
It just doesn't look right.

[Martoch]

Thanks for the info and great links...it did seem quite fishy to me, that's why I put a ? after my titile, not a !
 

Oh, don't worry about me getting "fished"...hehe...I'm a moderator on another computer forum.  I was just curious about how those kinds of sites work.
 

[Lisandro]

I'm a moderator on another computer forum.  I was just curious about how those kinds of sites work.

What was your impression about avast forum and users' behavior?
I think we can't expect another thing as we're very experienced in avast use... 

[vienna75]

hi friends!

use avast + ewido and your pc will be clean!


happy surfin'   

[Newton]

I don't know about you, but in my case when I decide to buy a new car or to choose an antivirus software, my final decision is based upon MY own criterias and evaluation, and not upon some external opinion that can be biased by numerous factors.

If you absolutely don't know about the brand new cars available before choosing, then try them all at the dealers and find out yourself. Same if you want to know about a certain product or what a software should do. So take the time to install as many evaluation programs as possible. That's exactly what I did a few months ago when I had to change my antivirus software.

And based on what I experienced, I found out that Avast was the best way to go.

See my personal review about it if you want.

 

[scaa]

For me , the opinion of the users is more important than what reviews , by who I do not know, say about avast. The posts in this forum are enough proof of avast.
Those who believe in marketing reviews and go by them are most welcome to rank avast no 11.
I read it as DOUBLE NUMBER ONE

[housi]

use avast + ewido and your pc will be clean!

Yes, so do I since months, and I'm happy with.