Adware can trigger pop-up ads that fit the nature of the content being viewed by a user.
According to a complaint filed in the District Court for the Western District of Washington by Avenue Media last month, the company, based on the Caribbean island of Curacao, discovered that the traffic for its Internet Optimizer browser had halved from two million hits per day to one million hits per day. The software had been earning the firm around $20,000 to $25,000 per day.
The firm investigated, and, according to the complaint, discovered that when subscribers downloaded DirectRevenue's rival browser, known variously as "abetterinternet", "direct-revenue", "BI", "Twaintek" and "Thinstall", their computers were instructed to uninstall the Internet Optimizer software.
Avenue Media has asked the court to grant an injunction and damages of over $100,000.