AvastUI.exe trying to access internet?

[beyondo]

I'm running Zone Alarm in addition to Avast! (which I'm trying as a McAfee replacement),
and found that I need to disable WebShield to still be able to browse if I block AvastSvc.exe
from accessing the internet.  Ok, so I get this part.

Next, I manually updated both the Avast! program and virus patterns, giving one time web
access to the updater program.  (I have auto-updates set to 30 days or 43200 seconds.)

My question is, now I see that AvastUI.exe is trying to access the internet when I start it.
Why is it trying to access the internet?  Some update I missed?  Or another service that I need to disable?

[Hermite15]

on the free version avastUI is connecting to tens of servers to display web content...in the UI (restricted so far to the AIS ad...). These connections have nothing to do with updates.