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Adobe Flash - When you download and installed Flash for Opera or Firefox, it would trick you into installing Chrome as your default browser unless you noticed a

Adobe Flash - When you download and installed Flash for Opera or Firefox, it would trick you into installing Chrome as your default browser unless you noticed and unchecked a box: http://i.imgur.com/Uldw6X3.png http://i.imgur.com/Uldw6X3.png Java - When updating, Java on Windows would often trick you into installing Chrome as your default browser unless you noticed and unchecked a box Avast, AntiVir, etc - Nearly every free antivirus on Windows was paid by Google to install Chrome. The free antivirus would notify you there was a new version and if you clicked the UPDATE or CONTINUE button without noticing and unchecking the box, you'd wind up with Chrome installed and set as your default browser: http://i.imgur.com/hNZLbmL.jpg http://i.imgur.com/hNZLbmL.jpg The majority of the non-techies I know and had set up with Firefox have no idea how Chrome got on their machines and became their default browser. I'd wager a lot of Chrome's desktop userbase on Windows is due to shady bundleware arrangements. Chrome was still engaged in the above behavior the last time I checked.

k__ 10y ago
Growth hacking at large. Impressive :)
- MOARDONGZPLZ 10y ago
  No, it's not impressive. It's deceptive and a dark pattern.
  - Aldo_MX 10y ago
    Google's not at fault; Adobe, Oracle, and every other greedy software vendor are.
    - JohnTHaller 10y ago
      Google is knowingly paying for it.
      - Aldo_MX 10y ago
        So does Intel and many other "trusted" vendors, we all know about the power of default values. As I said, people shouldn't be upset at Google, installing Chrome was a significant improvement, or would you rather see IE8 still as the dominant browser? I blame Adobe, Oracle, etc. because they have the trust of the users and a piece of software considered essential by many people, yet they decide to use the shady practices that cheapskates use. If it weren't Chrome it would be the dreaded Ask Toolbar or something even worse, so it's not the fault of Google, quite the contrary, installing Chrome as a byproduct is possibly the least negative outcome.
        serge2k 10y ago
        > installing Chrome was a significant improvement Is it? Across the board they are entitled to make that decision for every user? it is absolutely as bad as any of the crapware vendors who do this. Google is just as bad as the ask toolbar people.
        Aldo_MX 10y ago
        > Is it? If you suggest the opposite, you don't do web development or live in the early 2000's. > Across the board they are entitled to make that decision for every user? Saying "every" is an exaggeration, since several users would opt-out. Installing a better (yes, better) browser to technically-impaired people who don't even know what a browser is looks like a good trade off to me. > it is absolutely as bad as any of the crapware vendors who do this. Google is just as bad as the ask toolbar people. Ask is a dying company doing questionable last ditch efforts. Google is a healthy company deliberately tweaking tech-impaired user's defaults, there is a difference whether you like it or not.
        JohnTHaller 10y ago
        Of course you should be blaming Google. They are a willing participant in deceptive bundleware. And it is specifically included in the download for Adobe Flash for Firefox/Opera Classic (aka, not IE's Flash which is different), so it is setup to steal users away from competitors. At least the last time I checked, and as demonstrated in my screenshot above.
  - happyslobro 10y ago
    Google is certainly not blameless here. If they had banned partners who's installers violated a reasonable set of terms, e.g. opt in instead of opt out, this would not be an issue. They would have gotten free installs until the bad installer was fixed and verified ;)
  - k__ 10y ago
    Oh don't get me wrong, I don't think this is good. I'm a developer and growth hacking is a mystery to me, I'm always impressed to see which "moves" are able to increase the user-base.
jcranmer 10y ago
Last time I checked was last week, and still at it. Oh, and the text for disabling the Google Chrome install-and-make-default was tiny... on a low-DPI screen.
sqeaky 10y ago
This seems like a big argument for centralized repos like Ubuntu's/Debian's Apt-get or the Apple app store. I was never aware this was even a problem because all my software came in through one or two trusted sources.
xorcist 10y ago
That's so funny. If you install Chrome, why would you want a (separate) Flash? Especially considering Chrome is currently on track to kill Flash by a click-to-start policy for the majority users. Much irony.
- JohnTHaller 10y ago
  Chrome tries to be snuck in via bundleware when users of other browsers like Firefox and Opera go to install or manually upgrade flash.
scholia 10y ago
Which is why I install Unchecky on friends' and relatives' machines. It automatically unchecks all those default boxes and avoids not just Chrome but whole heaps of crapware... https://unchecky.com/ https://unchecky.com/

k__ 10y ago

Growth hacking at large. Impressive :)

MOARDONGZPLZ 10y ago
No, it's not impressive. It's deceptive and a dark pattern.
- Aldo_MX 10y ago
  Google's not at fault; Adobe, Oracle, and every other greedy software vendor are.
  - JohnTHaller 10y ago
    Google is knowingly paying for it.
    - Aldo_MX 10y ago
      So does Intel and many other "trusted" vendors, we all know about the power of default values. As I said, people shouldn't be upset at Google, installing Chrome was a significant improvement, or would you rather see IE8 still as the dominant browser? I blame Adobe, Oracle, etc. because they have the trust of the users and a piece of software considered essential by many people, yet they decide to use the shady practices that cheapskates use. If it weren't Chrome it would be the dreaded Ask Toolbar or something even worse, so it's not the fault of Google, quite the contrary, installing Chrome as a byproduct is possibly the least negative outcome.
      - serge2k 10y ago
        > installing Chrome was a significant improvement Is it? Across the board they are entitled to make that decision for every user? it is absolutely as bad as any of the crapware vendors who do this. Google is just as bad as the ask toolbar people.
        Aldo_MX 10y ago
        > Is it? If you suggest the opposite, you don't do web development or live in the early 2000's. > Across the board they are entitled to make that decision for every user? Saying "every" is an exaggeration, since several users would opt-out. Installing a better (yes, better) browser to technically-impaired people who don't even know what a browser is looks like a good trade off to me. > it is absolutely as bad as any of the crapware vendors who do this. Google is just as bad as the ask toolbar people. Ask is a dying company doing questionable last ditch efforts. Google is a healthy company deliberately tweaking tech-impaired user's defaults, there is a difference whether you like it or not.
      - JohnTHaller 10y ago
        Of course you should be blaming Google. They are a willing participant in deceptive bundleware. And it is specifically included in the download for Adobe Flash for Firefox/Opera Classic (aka, not IE's Flash which is different), so it is setup to steal users away from competitors. At least the last time I checked, and as demonstrated in my screenshot above.
- happyslobro 10y ago
  Google is certainly not blameless here. If they had banned partners who's installers violated a reasonable set of terms, e.g. opt in instead of opt out, this would not be an issue. They would have gotten free installs until the bad installer was fixed and verified ;)
- k__ 10y ago
  Oh don't get me wrong, I don't think this is good. I'm a developer and growth hacking is a mystery to me, I'm always impressed to see which "moves" are able to increase the user-base.

jcranmer 10y ago

Last time I checked was last week, and still at it. Oh, and the text for disabling the Google Chrome install-and-make-default was tiny... on a low-DPI screen.

sqeaky 10y ago

This seems like a big argument for centralized repos like Ubuntu's/Debian's Apt-get or the Apple app store. I was never aware this was even a problem because all my software came in through one or two trusted sources.

xorcist 10y ago

That's so funny. If you install Chrome, why would you want a (separate) Flash? Especially considering Chrome is currently on track to kill Flash by a click-to-start policy for the majority users. Much irony.

JohnTHaller 10y ago
Chrome tries to be snuck in via bundleware when users of other browsers like Firefox and Opera go to install or manually upgrade flash.

scholia 10y ago

Which is why I install Unchecky on friends' and relatives' machines. It automatically unchecks all those default boxes and avoids not just Chrome but whole heaps of crapware... https://unchecky.com/ https://unchecky.com/