Author Topic: Offer pop-ups  (Read 77589 times)

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Offline lakrsrool

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Re: Offer pop-ups
« Reply #15 on: March 07, 2015, 09:33:35 PM »
If you don't like the ads pop-ups..........buy the paid version.

For those of who are the "pay up" people of which I referred to in both of my previous posts, I have a sincere question.

First I'm assuming that you like Avast as I have for all these years (obviously this would be true for anyone that has been a customer for over 20 years like myself, wouldn't you agree?) and as a person who likes Avast very much as others do who are perhaps long-time Avast users as well who contribute to this board and who as Avast supporters would clearly want Avast to thrive as an entity hence would want what is best for the success of Avast, RIGHT?

So assuming the above to be true, my question is: Wouldn't it make sense for you and others that hold this same opinion as you have expressed be interested in what is best for Avast to potentially retain the largest customer base possible ?  (since as you know this is the ultimate goal of any business concern just as it is with Avast)

.... and the reason I ask this question is because to a large extent this is exactly what I feel I'm addressing in my posts, that is the very best way for Avast to maintain the largest customer base possible.....

So with this in mind, rather than contributing a banal cliche as you have to "pay up", how about alternatively offering a level of constructive input?

All you have contributed is to suggest I "pay up" which is an answer I think you and everyone else already know is an alternative anyone has to address the aggravation of too many ads popping up on a daily basis.

But it does absolutely NOTHING as far as solving the problem for those for whatever reason (either they do not have the funds or are not interested in what is provided in the paid versions) that are simply not interested in what is provided to them in the paid versions or modules of Avast.

Did you consider the fact that some people may not be interested in say the "Grime Fighter" or perhaps are not interested in the "Internet Security" option or any of the other modules or additions available?

So if these people are not interested then why should they be subject to POPUPS all the time in this case for an advertised FREE AV program.

I've already had over 5 POPUPS today proposing offers from the "Grime Fighter" to "Current Sales" being offered.

I don't know about you but I think I as well as other users are very well informed about what our options are and frankly do not need 5+ POPUPS as I've gotten so far today to remind us of what we already know.

But then if you like the idea of subjecting users to POPUPS to this extent in an attempt to apparently convince users to pay for options they would have already implemented if they were interested in them in the first place then be my quest.  I frankly do not think it is very user friendly and to be perfectly honest in my view is not likely to contribute very well to a sustained user base if and when users and potential future users continue to pass the word around how annoying Avast is becoming.

I can tell you as a 20+ user I DO see these types of grumblings in discussion groups all over the web going on regarding AV comparisons and the fact is Avast is fast creating a name for itself of late as an AV application that is in this respect fast becoming a significant annoyance type of application to its users.  You'll see this covered in many AV comparisons done more and more and I can tell you the direction Avast is going will not help the bottom-line in my view and in so doing will only harm the overall effectiveness of the AV application going forward if there is continued attrition of the user base as a result of this activity.

But that's OK, you just keep offering your jejune comments that people just need to "pay up", that will really help.
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Offline lakrsrool

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Re: Offer pop-ups
« Reply #16 on: March 07, 2015, 09:53:20 PM »
If you don't like the ads pop-ups..........buy the paid version.
That's not (or shouldn't be) the reason upgrade to the paid version. You upgrade, if you want/need all those extra features paid versions offers.

BINGO!!!

Why would a person want to pay for something they either cannot afford or do not want or simply do not need just to avoid POPUPS!!??!!

As a user going back 15+ years I can remember a time when the impression was that the primary objective of Avast was to provide computer users reliable protection using local files as well as when surfing the web for those who needed the protection but could not afford it.  (well of course actually way back in those early years Avast was a purely FREE AV application, nothing of any kind to purchase at all. And I understand that when a business grows where they might reach a stage when more complicated options can be provided to the user and at some point will need to survive on more than just "donations" but in my view this does not mean that a "balance" cannot be sustained as far as providing users with a less aggressive and more friendly way to promote their paid versions either.)

What I am proposing for Avast is to try and improve on what they are doing, but others just want to provide trite cliche's like this to "pay" for something they are not interested in to avoid an annoyance.

I don't see how that kind of answer helps at all.

Personally I do care about Avast as a 15+ year user and not only have been recommending Avast in the past to everyone I know through the years but would also like to continue to use it myself going forward.  I would add that I have most likely brought literally hundreds of users to Avast especially in the very early years when Avast was first starting out and not well known, and have continued to do so up until recently. But in all honesty, I cannot continue to recommend Avast as I have in the past or at least I will give people a "heads up" as to the current advertising practices.  And I can tell you this DOES make a difference in peoples minds on what to choose for their AV program!!!

So as far as the future is for me using Avast, to be honest, if I'm going to be getting 5+ POPUPS a day with these annoying ads that I'm already aware of long ago and as I've said before if I have to actually observe a "STORE" TAB with a "shopping cart" icon displayed once I would have to upgrade above version 2014, well that's really over-the-top and I have to say far beyond what I've experienced before using Avast or what I'm aware is available currently as an alternative to Avast hence I'll be looking elsewhere at some point myself,  that is of course if Avast continues on this aggressive marketing path to bring in revenue at the cost of their current users.

Bottom line: If Avast has absolutely no interest in retaining as many current users as possible (and I would add more users in the future if the prospective users learn this type of practice has stopped) then that's the choice of Avast.

I have just been offering up alternatives that I feel will in the long-term benefit the success of Avast.  The powers that be may disagree and perhaps I'm wrong, but I can say one thing for sure.  People I talk to that have been considering Avast but are not yet convinced to switch will and have discussed these very annoying recent practices of Avast and it has very much negatively impacted their decisions to go in the direction of Avast as far as a choice for an AV program.  That in all honesty has been my experience, whether others in this forum or Avast personnel chooses to believe it or not.

Fact is, I would be interested to know how many people are actually abandoning Avast because of these annoying advertising tactics that are being used recently.  I know there are a number of people who have elected to use another AV program and I wouldn't at all be surprised if the advertising tactics used recently are the major reason.  I would add for all those users who dismiss the idea, keep in mind the efficacy of Avast as a successful AV application is dependent upon the size of its user base and if this suffers then so does the efficacy of Avast so you who dismiss this topic as not relevant or relatively unimportant could very well ultimately be impacted yourselves in time.  Those in charge of Avast may very well be so ill-advised regarding their marketing approaches as to bring about at some level if not the demise of Avast but can clearly do irreparable damage as a result of drawing faulty conclusions on how to market their product. 

Again as I've said before, I've been offering "fair minded" concrete and well intended alternatives that I personally feel could very well benefit Avast in the long-term which should be what WE ALL WANT, RIGHT?  I think it behooves each of us as "loyal" customers of Avast to offer up our best ideas on the topic so that Avast can continue to grow and be as successful as possible going forward.  Can we agree on that at least?
« Last Edit: March 25, 2015, 08:16:40 AM by lakrsrool »
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Re: Offer pop-ups
« Reply #17 on: March 08, 2015, 03:19:52 AM »
dude seriously.... do you realize you have spent more time writing your responses right now then would ever be consumed by the current avast ads in multiple lifetimes?  Get over it and move on.

Offline midnight

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Re: Offer pop-ups
« Reply #18 on: March 08, 2015, 03:39:24 AM »
If you don't like the ads pop-ups..........buy the paid version.
That's not (or shouldn't be) the reason upgrade to the paid version. You upgrade, if you want/need all those extra features paid versions offers.

BINGO!!!

Why would a person want to pay for something they either cannot afford or do not want or simply do not need just to avoid POPUPS!!??!!

As a user going back 20+ years I can remember a time when the impression was that the primary objective of Avast was to provide computer users reliable protection using local files as well as when surfing the web for those who needed the protection but could not afford it.  (well of course actually way back in those early years Avast was a purely FREE AV application, nothing of any kind to purchase at all. And I understand that when a business grows where they might reach a stage when more complicated options can be provided to the user and at some point will need to survive on more than just "donations" but in my view this does not mean that a "balance" cannot be sustained as far as providing users with a less aggressive and more friendly way to promote their paid versions either.)

What I am proposing for Avast is to try and improve on what they are doing, but others just want to provide trite cliche's like this to "pay" for something they are not interested in to avoid an annoyance.

I don't see how that kind of answer helps at all.

Personally I do care about Avast as a 20+ year user and not only have been recommending Avast in the past to everyone I know through the years but would also like to continue to use it myself going forward.  I would add that I have most likely brought literally hundreds of users to Avast especially in the very early years when Avast was first starting out and not well known, and have continued to do so up until recently. But in all honesty, I cannot continue to recommend Avast as I have in the past or at least I will give people a "heads up" as to the current advertising practices.  And I can tell you this DOES make a difference in peoples minds on what to choose for their AV program!!!

So as far as the future is for me using Avast, to be honest, if I'm going to be getting 5+ POPUPS a day with these annoying ads that I'm already aware of long ago and as I've said before if I have to actually observe a "STORE" TAB with a "shopping cart" icon displayed once I would have to upgrade above version 2014, well that's really over-the-top and I have to say far beyond what I've experienced before using Avast or what I'm aware is available currently as an alternative to Avast hence I'll be looking elsewhere at some point myself,  that is of course if Avast continues on this aggressive marketing path to bring in revenue at the cost of their current users.

Bottom line: If Avast has absolutely no interest in retaining as many current users as possible (and I would add more users in the future if the prospective users learn this type of practice has stopped) then that's the choice of Avast.

I have just been offering up alternatives that I feel will in the long-term benefit the success of Avast.  The powers that be may disagree and perhaps I'm wrong, but I can say one thing for sure.  People I talk to that have been considering Avast but are not yet convinced to switch will and have discussed these very annoying recent practices of Avast and it has very much negatively impacted their decisions to go in the direction of Avast as far as a choice for an AV program.  That in all honesty has been my experience, whether others in this forum or Avast personnel chooses to believe it or not.

Fact is, I would be interested to know how many people are actually abandoning Avast because of these annoying advertising tactics that are being used recently.  I know there are a number of people who have elected to use another AV program and I wouldn't at all be surprised if the advertising tactics used recently are the major reason.  I would add for all those users who dismiss the idea, keep in mind the efficacy of Avast as a successful AV application is dependent upon the size of its user base and if this suffers then so does the efficacy of Avast so you who dismiss this topic as not relevant or relatively unimportant could very well ultimately be impacted yourselves in time.  Those in charge of Avast may very well be so ill-advised regarding their marketing approaches as to bring about at some level if not the demise of Avast but can clearly do irreparable damage as a result of drawing faulty conclusions on how to market their product. 

Again as I've said before, I've been offering "fair minded" concrete and well intended alternatives that I personally feel could very well benefit Avast in the long-term which should be what WE ALL WANT, RIGHT?  I think it behooves each of us as "loyal" customers of Avast to offer up our best ideas on the topic so that Avast can continue to grow and be as successful as possible going forward.  Can we agree on that at least?

I use the free version and the ad pop-ups don,t bother me.
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Offline lakrsrool

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Re: Offer pop-ups
« Reply #19 on: March 08, 2015, 03:44:08 AM »

I use the free version and the ad pop-ups don,t bother me.

I'm happy for you.  ;D

So the question at hand here is whether or not you believe that this aggressive way of marketing their products will in fact benefit them or potentially hurt the bottom line?

Of course if most feel like you the answer is of course NO PROBLEM!!!  8)
« Last Edit: March 08, 2015, 05:09:24 AM by lakrsrool »
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Offline lakrsrool

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Re: Offer pop-ups
« Reply #20 on: March 08, 2015, 03:52:57 AM »
dude seriously.... do you realize you have spent more time writing your responses right now then would ever be consumed by the current avast ads in multiple lifetimes?  Get over it and move on.

It doesn't take me that long, and I have plenty of time.  Thanks for your concern however.  ;)

So I'm going to have to assume that you apparently have no interest on whether or not a marketing approach like this is beneficial or not in regards to "user retention".  OK, might as well just roll with it  8) and zip up  :-X is apparently your motto, GOT IT!!!  :D

In my case as a 20+ YEAR Avast user, I frankly DO CARE whether this marketing approach is beneficial or not.  One would think a supporter of Avast such as yourself would as well. Oh well....  ::)

ADDENDUM: Btw, I've replied to your [BUG] 10.2.2214 - Scan GUI Stuck thread

Oh and let me add one more thing and that is that your actually still missing the point regarding this topic.  Clearly, "time" is not the issue here at all, it's the "annoyance" factor that is at issue here and I  would add that it's a question whether or not this approach is a "smart move" by Avast in regards to "user retention", but then I thought I've already made that abundantly clear.  (but that's OK, I'm always happy to clarify).
« Last Edit: March 08, 2015, 04:09:23 AM by lakrsrool »
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Re: Offer pop-ups
« Reply #21 on: March 08, 2015, 05:40:13 AM »
To be honest, I see more of an annoyance with cluttering up a forum with nonsense that no one is reading... no one (including me).  People come here to seek help with problems.  If you feel responding with posts that take you 15 minutes to create is worth the "less than a minute" of annoyance and hostile, violent aggression that avast is thrusting upon you then knock yourself out, however, at the end of the day... you wont win... avast will advertise and there is nothing you can do about it... so your effort is pointless.  Good luck though  :)

Offline bob3160

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Re: Offer pop-ups
« Reply #22 on: March 08, 2015, 04:27:05 PM »
@lakrsrool
As a long time user, I'm curious what version of avast! you used 20 years ago? What OS was it installed on ???
Thanks. :)
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Offline lakrsrool

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Re: Offer pop-ups
« Reply #23 on: March 08, 2015, 05:49:13 PM »
@lakrsrool
As a long time user, I'm curious what version of avast! you used 20 years ago? What OS was it installed on ???
Thanks. :)

To be honest, I can't recall exactly when it was but I'm pretty certain it has been at least 15 years ago of which I had originally posted but then I started thinking it was perhaps even closer to 20 years ago or more and changed my posts to reflect that.

I wouldn't be able to recall the version of Avast, but it was sometime between around 1994-1997 if I recall correctly when I switched from Norton to Avast (had previously used McAffee prior to Norton.  The OS was WIN95, two or three years before I switched to WIN98.

The desktop I was using then had a hard drive failure long ago (still lasted over 12 years for me) so a lot of that data is lost and I've been through two desktops since that time so I would not be able to tell you the version of Avast at that time.  I tried booting up my old Compaq Presario that I had migrated what I could off of the broken drive off of the PC Clone desktop I was using when I first used Avast back then but was unable to find any information on what your asking.  I'm not certain but I think I recall something about the product being under the name of Alwil or something like that back then.

Sorry I can't be of more help.

Bottom line: I would say it's been 15 years and likely a few more, point being I've been a very long time supporter of Avast.  Whether  it be 15 or 20 years this has nothing to do with the message I'm trying to get across to Avast if you think about it.

With that in mind, I'm figuring your going to defend the current marketing practices on the basis Avast has the right to do so and argue as well what can I expect from a FREE application.

I'm not debating whether Avast has the right, of course they do.  And I recognize that I can't expect that much for a FREE application.  This is why I've suggested alternatives like allowing long time users (10-15 years) have an option to disable ads or alternatively to use "learning" code that reduces the number of POPUP ads.  I personally think this would go a longer way toward "customer retention".  Your free to disagree of course.

As I've said before, through the years I've continually recommended Avast to all my friends and extended family.  Because of this I frankly am getting tired of apologizing for Avast when my friends and/or family are starting to complain more and more about the ads.  You see many of my friends and family don't really like the approach Avast is using any more than I do.  I will say if I didn't have to answer to all the people through the years that I've recommended Avast to then maybe it wouldn't bother me that much.  But as I've pointed out (or perhaps I didn't), whenever I was taking computer classes I would inform instructors and classmates at the time about Avast because I was so pleased with Avast and the fact was at that time instructors and students in computer science were just not aware of Avast back then since it was so new on the scene.  So I've been loyal to Avast for a long time (I'm inclined to believe you might question that so I'm including this information for you now) and I can refer you to a very large number of people who use Avast now because I had referred them to Avast and of course these people passed along the same "word of mouth" as well.

My concern now is that I have seen AV comparison on the web in recent years and it is pointed out in regards to Avast recent advertising methods and I assure you this is used AGAINST Avast.  So for those people who do not want to see POPUPS every day advertising upgrades or add-ons all the time will simply go with another AV application.  This is why I personally question this advertising tactic and have suggested alternatives.

My approach would provide advertising for "newer" users for many years potentially yet at the same time REWARD the longer term users hence in my book my approach is CLEARLY A WIN / WIN SITUATION as opposed to the approach used now.

Again, I'm sure you will probably disagree and that's fine.  We all have our own opinions.

In my opinion my approach is better for Avast and let it be clear that as a long time user I most certainly do want Avast to continue to grow as a company as I'm sure you do for nothing more than this would mean Avast is succeeding and serves us loyal users well.

I'm certainly NOT trying to undermined or sabotage Avast (which I'm thinking is possibly something that has crossed you mind, you see I'm a psychologist hence can get a feel where people might be coming from).   I'm with you and as Avast supporters perhaps you might want to offer reasons why I am wrong in my opinion.  As I've said I welcome alternative ideas.  Rather than trying to defend Avast by undermining what I have posted, I welcome any ideas you have that might be a better approach than suggestions I've made.  Or perhaps your opinion is that Avast is doing exactly what it should and that users need to be reminded on virtually a daily basis sometimes several times a day of the alternatives they have to add paid services to what they already have of which they most certainly are already aware after just a few days of ads provided to them.

So with that in mind you tell me where I am wrong when I posted the following (again I welcome your opinion as long as the objective is not personal):

Quote from: lakrsrool
I have suggested TWO alternatives to practices currently in place by Avast (I'm sure there are many other as well that people can conjure up):

1.) After a period of years (say 5, 10 for example) the POPUPS will for the most part stop or at the very least occur at a bare minimum.

2.) After a period of time the software "learns" a users predilection toward adding paid modules and in so "learning" the propensity of a specific user the frequency of popups that occur would lower in number which I would add would be similar in nature as to how SPAM is dealt with in email programs of which as we all know software learns what is desired as well as what is not desired by the user.

This in turn would act to REWARD THE LONG TIME USER and would provide the opportunity for a much larger user base that would in turn provide a pathway to a far greater number of people recommending the product to others and in my view result in growing the user base to a far greater extent in the long run.  To be sure, from a novice in regards to marketing it would seem to me that THIS IS A CRITICAL POINT to consider as far as growing any business.

These are in my view clearly COMMON SENSE measures that would go a long way to prevent user attrition due to "irritants" caused by excessive and to be sure "superfluous advertising" of already well known products once the user has been made readily aware of what is available to them and at the same time would provide the "newer" user the necessary information to make a decision on whether to acquire additional paid products that remain available.

The premise here is that at some stage a user has ultimately been made enough aware of all the possible alternatives available to them so that at that point any consequences from any further advertising techniques can only serve to do no more than produce an irritate that can only lead to the one possible outcome of which would be the eventual loss of the customer.

« Last Edit: March 25, 2015, 08:18:49 AM by lakrsrool »
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Offline bob3160

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Re: Offer pop-ups
« Reply #24 on: March 08, 2015, 06:03:29 PM »
Too much to read  ;)
"The premise here is that at some stage a user has ultimately been made enough aware of all the possible alternatives available to them so that at that point any consequences from any further advertising techniques can only serve to do no more than produce an irritate that can only lead to the one possible outcome of which would be the eventual loss of the customer."
Since avast is not a 501c3 Corp. Its primary responsibility to it's investors is to earn revenue.
You may not like the ads so simply ignore them, that's what I do. I use Avast because to me it offers excellent protection
and options. As long as that doesn't change, the rest, at this point, is still easily overlooked.
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Offline schmidthouse

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Re: Offer pop-ups
« Reply #25 on: March 08, 2015, 06:16:17 PM »
Agreed Bob
"Since avast is not a 501c3 Corp. Its primary responsibility to it's investors is to earn revenue"

That's the reality!
When the advertising/ popups Whatever cost the company revenue, rather then earn revenue, their marketing strategy will change.
Most all users of the Free version have no problem with advertising as the "growing numbers" of users have proven.

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Re: Offer pop-ups
« Reply #26 on: March 08, 2015, 09:39:15 PM »
I'll throw in my 2 cents.

I used to recommend Avast to everyone (and that's a lot of people).  Over the years, I have probably recommended it to thousands of businesses and individuals.

I started getting quite a few complaints regarding the intrusive marketing.

Because of the complaints regarding popups, I no longer recommend it to anyone.  I recommend a competing product that does include intrusive marketing (which I won't mention here, because this is not the place).

I use Avast myself, because I think the product is good, but because of the popups, I may be switching to a competitor.

The popups aren't a total deal-breaker for me, but there are many free alternatives out there, and Avast's detection rates have been slipping, and their false-positives have been increasing.  Plus, the amount of bloat in Avast has increased dramatically.

I'm guessing on my next computer, I will not be installing Avast, but I hope they eliminate all intrusive marketing, remove all bloat, improve detection rates, and reduce false-positive rates.  If they accomplish all those things, I will continue to be a customer and will start recommending Avast to everyone again.

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Re: Offer pop-ups
« Reply #27 on: March 08, 2015, 10:25:49 PM »
I'll throw in my 2 cents.

I used to recommend Avast to everyone (and that's a lot of people).  Over the years, I have probably recommended it to thousands of businesses and individuals.

I started getting quite a few complaints regarding the intrusive marketing.

Because of the complaints regarding popups, I no longer recommend it to anyone.  I recommend a competing product that does include intrusive marketing (which I won't mention here, because this is not the place).

I use Avast myself, because I think the product is good, but because of the popups, I may be switching to a competitor.

The popups aren't a total deal-breaker for me, but there are many free alternatives out there, and Avast's detection rates have been slipping, and their false-positives have been increasing.  Plus, the amount of bloat in Avast has increased dramatically.

I'm guessing on my next computer, I will not be installing Avast, but I hope they eliminate all intrusive marketing, remove all bloat, improve detection rates, and reduce false-positive rates.  If they accomplish all those things, I will continue to be a customer and will start recommending Avast to everyone again.
Would you also like them to send you some money for having the privilege of having you as a customer ???
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Offline midnight

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Re: Offer pop-ups
« Reply #28 on: March 08, 2015, 10:56:26 PM »
Would you also like them to send you some money for having the privilege of having you as a customer ???

 ;D lol
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Offline lakrsrool

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Re: Offer pop-ups
« Reply #29 on: March 09, 2015, 01:46:59 AM »
Too much to read  ;)
"The premise here is that at some stage a user has ultimately been made enough aware of all the possible alternatives available to them so that at that point any consequences from any further advertising techniques can only serve to do no more than produce an irritate that can only lead to the one possible outcome of which would be the eventual loss of the customer."
Since avast is not a 501c3 Corp. Its primary responsibility to it's investors is to earn revenue.
You may not like the ads so simply ignore them, that's what I do. I use Avast because to me it offers excellent protection
and options. As long as that doesn't change, the rest, at this point, is still easily overlooked.

Your summation of my premise is close enough, thank you for posting this quoted overview of my premise so succinctly.

I think we can reasonably agree that at some point even the most uninformed users will be fully aware of what their alternatives might be in regards to paid options available to them.  So we should be able to then agree that any further reminders do very little if anything toward convincing these users to pursue alternative options thus at the point their exists not further opportunity to provide additional meaningful information about any alternative options that are available to them in the way of ads.  As of that point the upside for these users in regards to procuring paid customers is virtually non-existent and the only result remaining is that it could be a potential irritant to those who's proclivities are inimical to ads in the first place.

So now the question is whether my premise is accurate?

I'm assuming that at some level we can all agree that the premise is accurate to some degree and as to what extent it is accurate is not nearly as critical as the fact that no matter what business model is used it remains true that there is virtually no advantage for any company losing even just one customer.  And if an approach can be established that generates as much revenue as possible and at the same time maintains customer retention at an optimum level as well regardless of current revenue flow then this approach would surely be the best to take.

Can we all agree on that?

If we can all agree on the above premise then the question remains, why lose those customers based on an ill-conceived marketing approach?  Keeping in mind those customers will still supply a potential revenue stream through "word of mouth" because of the fact they are content customer regardless of whether they produce a direct revenue stream.  I would add that these customers may very be more inclined to acquire a paid version of Avast at which time the reasons they did not before no longer exist.  For example, perhaps at a later time they are better able to afford to pay, or perhaps they purchase a more expensive computer or perhaps they have more vital records all of which they may as a result be more inclined to purchase paid options at that time.

So what Avast loses by discounting those who leave because of the "ad irritant factor" not only the advantage of positive "word of mouth" but at some point a direct revenue generator if and when they may at some point be more inclined to buy.  All of these factor represent the potential for "future growth" that is discarded by not taking the approach I've outlined as an alternative to the direction Avast is currently on now.

What I suggest would not only provide potential revenue from the "newer" customers by if need be keeping the method of advertising as it current stands now and at the same time REWARD the longer-term users who for whatever reason as of that time have clearly elected to stay with the FREE version for the time being.  Hence you have the same potential revenue stream for "newer" users and at the same time retain the older users and along with the retain their potential revenue stream at some point in the future as opposed to losing them altogether to a competitor.  Why discard a larger number of users providing the advantages of "word of mouth" as a result of a larger number of satisfied customers regardless whether revenue is currently generated from this group.

WHAT I'M PROPOSING IS A WIN / WIN SITUATION as opposed to a part win and part lose situation.

The fact is what I am offering DOES HAVE TO DO WITH THE GENERATION OF REVENUE that you suggest is the primary goal of a business concern including of course Avast.

So in conclusion to my message to Avast: What I've purposed as previously posted should be something that every user would be able to reasonably support not only because this path produces an optimum number of satisfied users but it also intuitively produces an inherent optimum revenue stream as well as a result of the very nature of this alternative plan.

Again a WIN / WIN SITUATION!!!!

One other point as to your comment regarding your point that the "primary responsibility to it's investors is to earn revenue".  Yes this would be unconditionally true for a publicly traded company.  But the fact is Avast is NOT a publicly traded company so it is actually the prerogative of the private owner(s) as to the degree of revenue stream that is produces in contrast to whatever other factors the private ownership might consider important as well.  That said, if your referring to private investors then you do have a valid point to some extent i.e. Summit Partners for example.  So to the extent that private investors have a say in the companies guidelines used to run the business you are correct, but that is a much more restrained and limited influence than would be the case with publicly held shares of a company as you probably know. So the fact that the company is still not publicly traded and thus remains in private hands there is as I've pointed out a much greater self-prescribed lead-way as far as the manner in which the company is run in regards to a concern involving profit margins and revenue stream.  So your premise for Avast is not entirely accurate in that the private ownership could very well place a degree of value to whatever extent they are inclined to do so on aspects of what the company provides the public in services beyond that of purely just taking into account revenue stream.  I would suggest to you that this has to some extent been the case with Avast going back in time as far as focusing possibly more on "services rendered" as contrasted to the bottom line on a financial sheet but has admittedly morphed into having much more focus on the profit margins and revenue stream in recent years and I would suggest for reasons I'll touch on later of which may be of interest to some.  And again management goals are much more so the prerogative of a privately owned company so there's no inherent problem with whatever approach a privately held company elects to take from the business end so to what extent we as customers want to consider what is important may or may not happen to contrast to that of what the goals might be of a privately held company, point being the privately help companies goals can vary to a much larger degree than a publicly owned company and in that sense agreement is much more possible with the possible range of goals that customers might tend to have.  All that said, it is my understanding and interesting to note that Avast had actually considered going public at some point in the past. That is on December 20, 2011 Avast Software filed for an IPO of the company with the SEC for an initial offering of $200 million in common shares. This was later revised to a much more specific IPO offer of the company at some point in early 2012 (perhaps January) to be listed on the NASDAQ exchange under the symbol AVST.US (if I recall correctly) with a then agreed upon initial share price established at between $9.00 and $11.00 offering 9,000,000 initially with the intention of generating an offer amount of $113,850,000.00 and there was to be 84,600,000 share outstanding with a lockup period of 180 days.  But as it turned out Avast ultimately withdrew the IPO offer as of 7/25/2012 thus abandoning their plans to go public for whatever reason.  I'm not privy to the reasons these plans were abandoned but the fact that going public did not come to fruition leaves us with a privately held company that has total prerogative to the methods used to run the company either in financial terms or any other terms for that matter. (for the sake of full disclosure I can provide resources for most of what I've posted here, however some of this is solely from memory and may not be able to be reproduced by me, nevertheless probably can be by others with similar knowledge).  I bring this up to provide a backdrop as to why I feel Avast is going in the direction it currently is, point being I feel Avast in the past had placed more importance in providing unfettered protection to users regardless of the ability to produce revenue as opposed to the position the company holds today.  It all comes down to where priorities are placed and I feel that an ultimate goal for this company is to eventually go public hence the focus has been growing more pronounced in the area of revenue generation.  Of course as I've said repeatedly my opinion disagrees with the method used to produce the current desired goals but that as already been covered ad nauseum so I won't go there again as anyone reading my posts know where I stand on this specific topic.  All of this is simply to explain why I feel Avast is adopting the current approach the company has been taking in recent years.  In my view a lot of this new business approach has to do with the CEO of the Avast Software Company in the name of Mr. Vincent Steckler who has been at the helm of Avast Software B.V since 2009.  It is my personal opinion that Vincent Steckler still continues to have an overriding desire to definitely go public with the company at some point and because of this we have the increasingly much greater focus on the profit/loss and revenue stream aspects of the company as contrasted to years prior to when he took over as CEO of the current Avast Software company.  It is also totally public record that ten years before Vincent Steckler became the CEO of Avast he had been directly involved in a lawsuit filed against him by the Securities and Exchange Commission for adding and abetting in both concealment and intentional fraudulent activity while he was employed as an executive at Legato Systems, Inc, which as I said occurred approximately 10 years before to when he took the helm at Avast. For the record, Legato Systems was a privately held company at that time in the business of computer storage for the most part that has since been taken over by EMC (a stock I have extensive interests in) in around 2003, about 5 years after Legato Systems was embroiled along with Steckler in the civil suite mentioned here. Steckler was alleged to be specifically involved in issuing false and misleading financial statements in its quarterly report filed with the Commission that was in turn provided to the investing public at that time back in around 1999. For purposed of full disclosure, over 5 years later the case drew to a close in late 2005 as a final judgment in the case ultimately imposed a $35,000 civil monetary penalty ruling against Steckler, to which Steckler consented without admitting or denying the allegations in the Commission’s complaint.  We can only speculate as to the any goals there may or may have not been in regards to the privately held company Legato Systems going public hence doing so entirely based on conjecture therefore of little empirical value, but is something people can consider to the extent they may feel relevance exists in this regard.  I do not bring any of this up to deride anyone including in particular Steckler, but the fact remains all of this is a matter of public record and is available to anyone who seeks the information for themselves.  My point is that from my perspective these kinds of typically aggressive business practices reflect upon the manner in which the direction Avast has now been taken in recent years.  Be it wise practices or not the fact remains that the goals of Avast have changed in recent years and I contend these changes have originated from the time Vincent Steckler has taken over as CEO of Avast.  All of this said some of which is clearly personal opinion on my part, we can certainly agree to attribute nothing other than purely good intentions in regards to the path now taken by the management of Avast as far as improving the companies standing in the technology sector that their business comprises.  But again, "good intentions" do not necessarily translate to correct intentions as to achieving the current goals prescribed by the current management.  I still contend that a more flexible and more tolerant path can in fact actually act in a way to improve the opportunity and chances of attaining the prescribed goals discussed here as reflected in the alternatives I've prescribed myself that are in my view a better approach than the current one being devised by the present management in charge of Avast.  If the ultimate goal of bringing in a larger revenue stream together with greater profit margins can be achieved equally or perhaps even more so using my approach then there is no reason on earth not to consider adopting this alternative approach I'm suggesting will do exactly that.  I contend that the goal to produce increased revenue streams and better profit margins can be and would be produced by adopting the approach that inherently provides increased customer retention that in turn inherently contributes to the ultimate goal I think exists for the company to eventually go public assuming of course this is still a goal and in turn is the likely impetus behind the changes we've observed in the recent management of Avast.  Of course some of what I've discussed remains well within the realm of conjecture on my part, but it is anchored in the actual recent decisions made by management of Avast for now the past 7 years going back to 2009 when an IPO was initially planned but later abandoned.  It doesn't take much creative thought to conclude that this goal still exists and as such clearly reflects the changes we've we see as customers of Avast during these past few years.

I know there is a lot to read and will be ignored by most if not all, but my opinions are there for anyone who's interested.  The ability to express our opinions is anchored solidly in our freedom of speech and expression we all hold so dearly and as such I personally value greatly as I'm sure all do as well.  I have not ill-intent of any kind other than to express my personal views and I can assure all who may think my intentions are something other than what is best for Avast as a "loyal" customer for so many years all I can say is that I assure you to reach any other conclusion is wrong.  I have been highly and actively recommending Avast to family/friends as well as computer classmates and instructors as  well every opportunity I've had ever since I returned to college to start my second career in computer science after 15 years in psychology as a counselor prior to that.  So I am certain that I have turned people in the direction of Avast going way back to the very early years of Avast at at time when Avast was virtually unknown by Information Science students and instructors alike.  It was my experience that most if not all never heard of Avast back then and as such instructors were recommending other AV programs at the time.  I not only made the instructors aware of Avast but the entire department back then and I know that at some point I was able to actually turn many instructors in the direction of Avast and away from the AV programs they were recommending at the time.  So between family and friends as well as extensive contact with large numbers of Computer Science students and instructors I'm certain I influenced literally many hundreds of people to go with Avast through the years.

My issue now is that so many of my friends and family and of others as well are now increasingly complaining to me regarding the direction Avast has gone in their advertising methods.  I'm increasingly becoming frustrated by this and as such can basically no longer unconditionally recommend Avast to others but rather will to be "fair" disclose the current practices so that potential customers of Avast are aware beforehand and in so doing I won't have to worry about the backlash with any new converts to Avast that I may be recommending because I do now offer alternatives that do not use these same methods of advertising in all fairness to potential new users.  I don't like doing this, but feel it's only right under the circumstances.  And I would add that the day Avast so chooses to take a more moderate approach to their advertising methods I'll be happy to not only abandon any thoughts of going elsewhere myself but will be more than pleased to return to my recommending Avast in more enthusiastically as I had in past years before the direction Avast has been going.  So I'm certainly NOT a protagonist against Avast in any way but rather would like to see Avast redirect themselves in a manner in which I firmly believe will in the end be in their best interest.  What is best for Avast is mutually best for all of us users of Avast and should clearly be the goals we all want for Avast.
« Last Edit: March 09, 2015, 01:53:21 AM by lakrsrool »
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