This CNET Article gives more details on the increasingly antagonistic approach to marketing that is developing online.

One of the biggest issues I see with these applications that “enhance” the browsing experience (thereby offering new ways to advertise) is how the consumer actually gets the application in the first place. If the application is unknowingly downloaded as spy-ware along with a wanted application and then is very hard to get off a user’s hard drive, is it really ethical to support such applications? The fact that Gator is happy being known as “hijackware” says something about their feelings towards consumers I think.