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March 04, 2005
Yahoo! Toolbar Plea
I wasn't going to post about this, and in any case I intend to keep it really short.
Current bundled (though installers are not embedded - yet) distribution of Yahoo! Toolbar at Flash Player Download Center (for Win/IE users - yet) is simply unacceptable.
Tricking users to download 3rd party software with a volatile license suits to evil companies. This looks very bad on Macromedia and will damage the future of Flash because it's damaging the creditibility of Macromedia as a decent company, even as you read this.
I love Macromedia, that's the reason the above may not sound polite but very straightforward. It's a mistake, no excuses needed, please fix it Macromedia, by making the download opt-in ASAP.
As a final note, I _know_ that Macromedia has no ill intentions and is a great company.
Update: Please see my comments for clarifications.
March 4, 2005 in Flash | Permalink
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Sign the petition :
http://www.petitionspot.com/petitions/badmacromedia
Posted by: bob mould at Mar 4, 2005 9:38:14 PM
I intentionally didn't link to any sites in my post, but probably it won't hurt posting some here for background info:
http://www.rhjr.net/blog/2005/02/flash-player-yahoo-toolbar-bad.html
http://developers.slashdot.org/article.pl?sid=05/03/03/2343207
http://www.markme.com/jd/archives/007172.cfm
http://www.turdhead.com/index.php?p=50
http://www.turdhead.com/index.php?p=53
http://whatdoiknow.org/archives/002091.shtml
http://www.leifwells.com/index.cfm?mode=entry&entry=6E37A582-92AE-9D67-A5262413FB16071F
http://www.markme.com/jd/archives/007174.cfm
http://www.sti-media.com/blog/archives/000107.html
http://www.hyperology.com/?p=90
http://www.lordalex.org/2005/03/rising-pist-mist-over-macromedia-flash.php
http://www.bit-101.com/blog/archives/000116.html
Posted by: Burak KALAYCI at Mar 4, 2005 10:53:42 PM
Yeah, I think some folks obviously want this frenzy to go away as much as we do.
The only possible rational reasoning for this I can imagine... could it have something to do with a covert api being tested? Perfaps for IM and/or search integration for the player. Ha... Not trying to get any other rumors started but hey the mentioned something along those lines way back didnt they?
Posted by: TCS at Mar 5, 2005 2:23:52 AM
are you crazy? "make the download opt-in asap" how much more opt-in could you want? It gives you the choice of "Get Flash Player 7 with Yahoo! Toolbar FREE." or "Get Flash Player 7 only FREE." Sure it selects the installer with yahoo automatically, but if you can't click the other box before hitting submit then I say enjoy the yahoo toolbar.
Posted by: Ryan Guill at Mar 5, 2005 2:27:18 AM
Let me make my point a bit more clear. There are 2 separate issues here:
1- MM offers Yahoo! toolbar download on player download page.
While some might argue, and indeed the license for Yahoo! Toolbar states that it can be changed without a notice and you'll be bound to it, it's not 'spyware'. Yahoo! is a great company. Since Google is increasingly becoming the next evil company, I feel we should support Yahoo! more (until it's their turn to become evil :) ). Still, some people might not like this because their clients are competitors to Yahoo! etc... This is a strategic decision on MMs part. I don't find offering a sponsored download necessarily wrong.
2- The download is offered as default (opt-out).
Now this is bad and unacceptable. MM seems tricking people to download 3rd party software. The choice should have been 'opt-in' meaning that you need to act to get the extra software.
If you claim that there's no trick there and the choice is clear and people make informed decisions, then make the download 'opt-in', you won't lose a single download, and on top of it you'll avoid bad publicity.
At the least, you can force people to decide on what to download by offering no default choice.
I posted this blog entry because I thought I owed it to MM to tell the truth before it's too late. My business depends on Flash and Macromedia but this is so obviously wrong and MM seemed acting real slow - I had to post it.
(If MM wants me to remove this post, I'll gladly do so. Because after Macromedians read this post, the post will have no further purpose to serve).
Best regards,
Burak
Posted by: Burak KALAYCI at Mar 5, 2005 3:05:02 AM
One more link:
http://www.sti-media.com/blog/archives/000109.html
And some good news: MM is working on some alternate designs for the page to reduce confusion.
Best regards,
Burak
Posted by: Burak KALAYCI at Mar 6, 2005 7:21:59 AM
Two more links (to Steve Webster's posts):
http://dynamicflash.com/2005/03/yahoo-toolbar-now-bundled-with-macromedia-flash-player/
http://dynamicflash.com/2005/03/flash-player-yahoo-toolbar-faq/
Another point I haven't stressed enough here is this: Because the way Yahoo! Toolbar is distributed, it's perceived as a spyware. So it's not doing any good to Yahoo! either.
Best regards,
Burak
Posted by: Burak KALAYCI at Mar 6, 2005 3:56:00 PM
Macromedia announced that the WeatherBug is removed from Shockwave Player (Director Player). Yahoo! Toolbar is still included in the player. (Flash developers are lucky that there's no bundled software with the Flash player installer). While the result seems not ideal, it's a positive step which will make Director developers happy.
Posted by: Burak KALAYCI at Mar 10, 2005 10:58:58 PM
Check the page with IE:
http://www.macromedia.com/shockwave/download/download.cgi?P1_Prod_Version=ShockwaveFlash
w00t! Still opt-out but much more clear! I guess that's all that can be done (will post about this - see the next post). Thanks Macromedia for listening to the community!
Posted by: Burak KALAYCI at Mar 11, 2005 2:15:27 AM
Macromedia? THIS IS NOT GOOD! The yahoo toolbar download is completely unnecessary, and in my opinion very distracting. Macromedia Flash has come a very long way and I hate to see it take a turn in the wrong direction this late in the game. Please here my plea and remove this ASAP.
Flash development is on the rise. It may one day take over the internet as we know it, as broadband increases and the demand for rich interactive internet content increases. However, a flash plug-in is required for download either for an update or an older/independent web browser. The last thing Macromedia Flash needs is to lose some of it’s outstanding credibility with the quick buck. The move is wrong. It’s not good for Macromedia and most certainly not good for Flash. It’s hard enough to convince people to download the “latest version of flash” and if bombarded with browser toolbar add-ons and advertisements it’s not going to workout.
What is a toolbar? To me: a waste of valuable browser window space, an ad campaign, and internet clutter.
CNET’s GREAT REVIEWS?:
Anti spyware? The added antispyware detector remover is great for after the fact but, if one is really concerned, as well they should be, then this shouldn't be the only product they rely on.
Once the toolbar is installed, you'll need to either sign in to your Yahoo account or register for one--a minor inconvenience. (so we have a person downloading the latest flash player and they don’t see the check box and now they have to Get a yahoo account so they can find a way to take the dam thing off.)
Posted by: Sam at Mar 29, 2005 12:49:41 AM
