I cannot see the problem to be honest, I mean it is mountains out of a mole hill
One pop up two or three times a year for a free product that does not cost you a penny to use. What is the problem.. I really need someone to tell me why it is such a heinous crime
The "problem" is that, as a
first impression, the frequency of these ads is not "a few times a year".
It might be "a few times a year", or maybe not. But after presenting this ad for the first time a few days ago (as a "Summer Offer"), Avast is already sending a second ad.
Users reading the forum (and this topic in particular) might accept this "test". Other millions might not welcome it. One every week is not one per month or 4 per year. The "tolerance" to ads is a very personal matter.
In addition, having MSE available "for free" is still a factor. The fact that MS receives its income from something else is not a factor for the user to change to use MSE or not. It *is* indeed a factor for Avast Software, but not for the user. (*Other* details/quality might be a factor for the user, but not the source for income of MS.)
what if, when this happens again (assuming it will) or for future sales offers, you put the offer within the update pop-up?
Although
Gargamel1360 also mentions some "pros" for the idea, it has also "cons". Separate colors in separate unobtrusive pop ups are "clear". Mixing the main purpose of the messages might be taken as "not being clear", or "trying to be somehow surreptitious" or alike.
I personally think that a clear NON intrusive separate "offer-ONLY" pop up (as it is now) is better than a "mixed" pop up, harder to understand or read (or more confusing), specially for international users.
But, as already mentioned, the set of several colors for each type of tray notifications might need to be improved ( for Avast 7.0? ).
I also would like for the programmers to concentrate on "real security" functions, and as little as possible on "special offer pop ups inside regular update pup ups" (the looks for different screen resolutions, sizes, fonts, colors, languages...).