Microsoft has announced that starting July 1st it will block adware programs by default.


According to Michael Johnson, a member of the Microsoft Malware Protection Center, Microsoft has re-evaluated its criteria for classifying applications as adware. Johnson said Thursday in a blog post: “If the program shows advertisements within its own borders it will not be assessed any further.” But programs that display ads promoting goods and services inside other programs—for example, browsers—will be evaluated as possible unwanted adware.



Recommended methods for closing the ad include an “X” or the word “close” in a corner; the program name can be specified through phrases like “Ads by ...”, “... ads”, “Powered by ...”, “This ad served by ...”, or “This ad is from ...”.

“Using abbreviations or company logos alone are not considered clear enough,” Johnson said. “Also, only using ‘Ads not by this site’ does not meet our criteria, because the user does not know which program created the ad.”

“We are very excited by all of these changes,” Johnson said. “We believe that it will make it easy for software developers to utilize advertising while at the same time empowering users to control their experience.”