[carom]

From: "Spam" man wins gold

http://www.theage.com.au/news/breaki...037817825.html

According to the International Olympic Committee's website, Australia's gold medallist Dale Begg-Smith, runs an internet pop-up advertising company that he describes as the third largest of its type.

But the companies that he and brother Jason Begg-Smith are involved with are some of the most annoying aspects of the web.
Two main companies - called AdsCPM and CPM Media - make money by skimming a small percentage each time an ad scores a hit or is directed to a client's site.
Begg-Smith said the figures being bandied about his business - one report had him earning $40 million - were untrue.
At his post-race press conference overnight, Begg-Smith became irritated when more questions were asked about his business. According to Canadian press reports he said: "I don't know why we're talking about the company. I just won Olympic gold."

Web searches reveal that AdsCPM Network has been a supplier of pop-under and -up advertising to websites.
Although they are a source of annoyance to web surfers, pop ads are used by many mainstream websites and are perfectly above board.
But there is a dark side to the pop ad business.
Hidden programs that launch these ads are sometimes secreted - by third parties - in many website with "honeypot" offerings, such as pornography, free games, downloads and gambling.
Unsuspecting web surfers visiting these sites can unwittingly become infected with so-called adware which spawns annoying advertisement and which can be used to secretly track a user's web surfing habits.
Numerous computer security companies have warnings about AdsCPM and CPM Media which are held responsible for the Xzoomy.com search engine directory page and a site called FreeScratchandWin.com.
According to the Spyware Guide website, FreeScratchandWin.com opens pop ads "every few minutes", hijacks users' home- and search-page settings and can spy on users' web usage.
Another CPM website, 2nd-thought.com, initiates a so-called browser hijacker program that resets the user's home page and often redirect searches to porn sites.