Author Topic: "Upgrade to paid version" nag screens  (Read 67375 times)

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true indian

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Re: "Upgrade to paid version" nag screens
« Reply #15 on: June 22, 2012, 04:23:09 PM »
Avira has better detection than Avast

It Had...but its no more... ;)

I have tested avast and avira with 1000 pieces of malware and so far avira lost the fight by 1%

Hellion

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Re: "Upgrade to paid version" nag screens
« Reply #16 on: June 22, 2012, 04:29:45 PM »
Wrong, I don't defend anything blindly, I haven't seen what is being talked about, that is why I ask.

Hi DavidR,

Then it must be region specific...

Quote
I don't know about this compare button you are on about, but you also don't have to click it, there is also nothing stopping you seeking another free anti-virus.

How is this a solution? Do you now any other companies that tell customers to go to their competitors?




Offline bob3160

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Re: "Upgrade to paid version" nag screens
« Reply #17 on: June 22, 2012, 04:39:28 PM »
Wrong, I don't defend anything blindly, I haven't seen what is being talked about, that is why I ask.

Hi DavidR,

Then it must be region specific...

Quote
I don't know about this compare button you are on about, but you also don't have to click it, there is also nothing stopping you seeking another free anti-virus.

How is this a solution? Do you now any other companies that tell customers to go to their competitors?
It may not be a solution and since David doesn't work for Avast, he's giving you an alternative.
If you prefer not to see any requests to upgrade, find something else that will make you happy.
I personally concentrate on protecting my computer and don't mind an occasional nudge to upgrade to the paid version.
(Something I haven't acted on in 9 years.)
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Online DavidR

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Re: "Upgrade to paid version" nag screens
« Reply #18 on: June 22, 2012, 04:56:38 PM »
@ Hellion

1. I don't know that is why I asked for more information. If it were region specific, then I would have expected it to be in regions where avast has a higher number of avast free users; so I would have thought the UK and USA would be right up there.

2. My question about the button may well have been to subtle, could you post a screenshot ?

3. If you are only getting a button that is hardly a nag to upgrade (the subject of this topic) and as I said you don't have to click it.

4. You yourself suggested you were considering it as an option "or switch to another product." My comment confirms that you are free to do what you like. I'm not trying to defend anything, the user is free to choose I'm not going to try and persuade him otherwise.
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quakeworld

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Re: "Upgrade to paid version" nag screens
« Reply #19 on: June 22, 2012, 05:30:56 PM »
One would think by the way some people yammer and complain about a friggin popup for a FREE product is life threatening. Jeez. It's  a popup which lasts a few seconds. Get over yourself. Adios and have fun using MSE.

Hellion

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Re: "Upgrade to paid version" nag screens
« Reply #20 on: June 22, 2012, 05:52:38 PM »


Quote
It may not be a solution and since David doesn't work for Avast, he's giving you an alternative.
If you prefer not to see any requests to upgrade, find something else that will make you happy.
I personally concentrate on protecting my computer and don't mind an occasional nudge to upgrade to the paid version.
(Something I haven't acted on in 9 years.)

I value protection greatly and I have been using and recommending avast long before i joined the forums, but these add-campaigns only started "recently".

Quote
@ Hellion

1. I don't know that is why I asked for more information. If it were region specific, then I would have expected it to be in regions where avast has a higher number of avast free users; so I would have thought the UK and USA would be right up there.

Hi DavidR,

I don't live anywhere near these regions, so I doubt its about location.

Quote
2. My question about the button may well have been to subtle, could you post a screenshot ?

I will try take one as soon as I see it.

Quote
3. If you are only getting a button that is hardly a nag to upgrade (the subject of this topic) and as I said you don't have to click it.

This is obvious, I merely commented here to say I agree with the OP.

Quote
4. You yourself suggested you were considering it as an option "or switch to another product." My comment confirms that you are free to do what you like. I'm not trying to defend anything, the user is free to choose I'm not going to try and persuade him otherwise.

That is true, but if users wanted to switch they would not complain on the forums, they would just switch. It's and idle threat to get a response.

Quote
One would think by the way some people yammer and complain about a friggin popup for a FREE product is life threatening. Jeez. It's  a popup which lasts a few seconds. Get over yourself. Adios and have fun using MSE.

Hi Quakeworld,

you response to this thread is neither constructive nor helpful.

Regards,
Hellion

PS. I do not believe there is a solution to this as it is not a problem only an annoyance.
As the forum helpers tirelessly repeat - the application is free and you are getting the best protection for free.

Offline Vlk

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Re: "Upgrade to paid version" nag screens
« Reply #21 on: June 22, 2012, 06:25:43 PM »
Hi Hellion,

We have made a decision to augment the virus update green "toaster" pop-ups with a button - a link to a page that compares the free and paid products, and allows the user to upgrade to avast Internet Security.

We thought that this was a relatively unobtrusive way to message the benefits of the premium product. If you feel otherwise - or actually feel offended by the new message, we apologize. But we need to run it for a while to assess what effects it will have.

Thanks for your understanding,
Vlk
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Online DavidR

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Re: "Upgrade to paid version" nag screens
« Reply #22 on: June 22, 2012, 06:38:43 PM »
I wouldn't have though it too obtrusive, certainly not an in your face pop-up, I still haven't seen this new auto update notification as yet and virus definitions are up to date 120622-0.

Still seeing the standard auto update toaster notification, see image.

For those who do have it and don't like it you can always disable the update notification pop-up (avastUI, Settings, Update Options, uncheck Show notification box after automatic update) or lower the pop-up duration for it (avastUI, Settings, Popups, Update popups and lower the duration, 0 doesn't disable).
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Offline George Yves

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Re: "Upgrade to paid version" nag screens
« Reply #23 on: June 22, 2012, 07:09:18 PM »
DavidR
I'm also getting update pop-ups with the advertisement. At the moment I can't make a screenshot but you can imagine what it looks like: double the pop-up's hight and add a field with the text ("You are using free protection. Do you need more?") and the button "Learn more...". And this "hippo" pops up with every database update.
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CharmCityCrab

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Re: "Upgrade to paid version" nag screens
« Reply #24 on: June 22, 2012, 07:10:42 PM »
Hi Hellion,

We have made a decision to augment the virus update green "toaster" pop-ups with a button - a link to a page that compares the free and paid products, and allows the user to upgrade to avast Internet Security.

We thought that this was a relatively unobtrusive way to message the benefits of the premium product. If you feel otherwise - or actually feel offended by the new message, we apologize. But we need to run it for a while to assess what effects it will have.

Thanks for your understanding,
Vlk

Do you recall the large thread when AVAST started running similar popup advertisements a few times a year for special promotions only, and the backlash that caused?  Of course people are not going to like a several times daily pop-up advertisement.  In fact, part of why we have anti-virus in the first place is to avoid getting infected with ad-ware that includes pop-up advertisements!  In a sense, AVAST has now itself become ad-ware, only nominally different from the fake antivirus companies that keep popping up ads to get you to pay for their product for full protection.  And, yes, pop-up ads are considered particularly intrusive- that's why many browsers now block web pop-ups by default- people can't stand them.

I appreciate that you guys are probably working hard and have good intent in your hearts, but I've moved on.  I didn't get a chance to fill out the uninstall survey because it require java to be installed, and I don't have it installed for security reasons, but consider this my feedback: Great product, but the advertisements were too much for me.

Remember, you now have a competitor who runs no advertisements whatsoever.  People do have alternatives.

Anyhow, no hard feelings.  I just hate to see a company who's product I enjoyed and respected go down this route.  I'll be fine with my new anti-virus from Microsoft, but I'd rather have stuck with AVAST, had it remained the old product it was when I installed, with minimal advertisements within the program itself and no pop-ups.  I think your user base is going to a dwindle with this approach- maybe a higher percentage will be paid versus free users, but you'll have a lot fewer users over all.
« Last Edit: June 22, 2012, 07:20:52 PM by CharmCityCrab »

Gargamel360

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Re: "Upgrade to paid version" nag screens
« Reply #25 on: June 22, 2012, 07:25:40 PM »
About the toaster ads....to me, I can live with it (while not liking it) .....as long as it does not progress to focus-stealing, always-on-top, etc.


@CharmCityCrab:  While I'm no big fan of in-product ads, the forum is only a barometer of the negative response....we are not privy to Avast!'s sales records, so the upgrade prompts are probably worth it....if all it did was run customers off, with no sales, the would never try it more than once.

And while you compare Avast! to MSE, Avast! does not have the luxury of MS's big money.....if you have MSE, Redmond already got paid anyway, because you are running Windows, they get all the profit they need from that.  Avast! has no such luxury. 

CharmCityCrab

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Re: "Upgrade to paid version" nag screens
« Reply #26 on: June 22, 2012, 07:59:50 PM »
About the toaster ads....to me, I can live with it (while not liking it) .....as long as it does not progress to focus-stealing, always-on-top, etc.


@CharmCityCrab:  While I'm no big fan of in-product ads, the forum is only a barometer of the negative response....we are not privy to Avast!'s sales records, so the upgrade prompts are probably worth it....if all it did was run customers off, with no sales, the would never try it more than once.

And while you compare Avast! to MSE, Avast! does not have the luxury of MS's big money.....if you have MSE, Redmond already got paid anyway, because you are running Windows, they get all the profit they need from that.  Avast! has no such luxury.

I don't begrudge AVAST attempting to become a more financially successful company.  I'm not sure that this tactic will work in the long-run, because I think they will lose a lot of the free users who recommend and install AVAST for friends and family who may eventually upgrade, in order to get a few existing users to upgrade now.  It's sort of selecting short term gain at the expense of long-term gain, it seems to me.  Even so, my business knowledge level is limited, and maybe I am wrong about that.

I also understand that MSE has, to some degree, an unfair advantage, because it is in a sense subsidized by Microsoft's sales of Windows and various bits of paid Microsoft software.

Having said all that, though, as an end-user, I really don't care what makes what company the most money or which company has an unfair advantage over another.  I care about the product I am using and how much it costs me.  Here we have two free anti-viruses, one of which has decided to behave like ad-ware and inundate me with irritating unwanted ads on a daily basis, and another that does not include any advertisements.  Of course, I am going to go with the ad-free one. 

No hard feelings toward AVAST, but their new way of doing things isn't one I would personally want to endure as a user unless there were no cost-free ad-free alternatives.  There is one, though, so I switched to it.
« Last Edit: June 22, 2012, 08:01:45 PM by CharmCityCrab »

Offline bob3160

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Re: "Upgrade to paid version" nag screens
« Reply #27 on: June 22, 2012, 08:12:20 PM »
Quote
No hard feelings toward AVAST, but their new way of doing things isn't one I would personally want to endure as a user unless there were no cost-free ad-free alternatives.
No hard feelings but maybe it's time to get realistic and realize that in today's economy, a free lunch is only available for those on welfare.

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CharmCityCrab

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Re: "Upgrade to paid version" nag screens
« Reply #28 on: June 22, 2012, 08:37:21 PM »
Quote
No hard feelings toward AVAST, but their new way of doing things isn't one I would personally want to endure as a user unless there were no cost-free ad-free alternatives.
No hard feelings but maybe it's time to get realistic and realize that in today's economy, a free lunch is only available for those on welfare.

Um, there is a free anti-virus program from a reputable company that doesn't include ads, so your analogy doesn't really hold up.  I am being realistic- in that right now I have a free anti-virus installed that displays no ads.  It's not a figment of my imagination.  I didn't go off in a huff and uninstall AVAST and then realize I had no choices that were more suited to what I was looking for.  I knew what I was doing and what was out there, and picked the anti-virus that was right for me. 

A few years ago, I dumped Norton for AVAST, because I felt AVAST better suited my needs (i.e. cost savings), and now AVAST has changed so that it no longer suits my needs (i.e. changed to include too many ads), so I switched to MSE would is both free cost wise and free of advertisements.
« Last Edit: June 22, 2012, 08:40:55 PM by CharmCityCrab »

compmanio36

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Re: "Upgrade to paid version" nag screens
« Reply #29 on: June 22, 2012, 09:20:02 PM »
I'm glad you posted in this thread VLK (I really wanted feedback from Avast staff, not just the cult following on these forums)....if you are looking for feedback on this test of the ads, there it is.  I do understand you need to advertise the full version, but putting a big box on every virus database update will be causing me no end of headache for the friends and family I support.  I guarantee I will be getting calls "Why isn't Avast working?  It says I don't have enough protection?"....as an IT guy, I know my protection hasn't changed, but the average user doesn't have a clue.  It seems like Avast is trying to scare the technical layman into purchasing the full version....and just annoying those of us that know better.  I run AdBlock on Firefox so I don't see ads there, and I make sure by running Avast I keep malware off my system so I don't see ads all over the place still.  When I get ads with every VPS it kinda makes me ask, what's the point?  I really don't want to switch as I have had great results with Avast up to this point but this precedent seems to be getting more and more intrusive with the in your face ads to switch to the paid version; myself and others here seem to think that's unacceptable.  I wouldn't put up with it from anything else on my PC, and certainly not my AV program.