Even as Microsoft tries to popularize its Windows Store for PC apps, shown above, the market for Windows crapware remains alive and well.
A couple of stories have bubbled up recently about how lucrative the crapware business can be. It started with a post from TechCrunch about InstallMonetizer, a wrapper for Windows desktop software that presents ?offers? to users after installation. For instance, users might see an offer to install a third-party browser toolbar or some anti-virus software. If the user agrees, the original software developer gets paid.
The idea of crapware installers isn't new. What's interesting about this particular example?aside from its seemingly contradictory privacy policies?is that it's backed by $500,000 in venture capital and supported by startup accelerator Y Combinator. Vince Mundy, CEO of InstallMonetizer, told TechCrunch that the software is profitable, and that it doubles its number of bundled software installations every two or three months. It's good to be a crapware pusher.
The story on InstallMonetizer stoked an even more interesting story by Long Zheng, who develops the Twitter client MetroTwit for Windows. On his blog, Zheng talked about a few of the offers he's received over the years to wrap crapware installers around MetroTwit.
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