Adware
1457·updated May 9, 2026A software package that automatically plays, displays or downloads advertising material to a computer after the software is installed on it or while the application is being used Scope Note: In most cases, this is done without any notification to the user or without the user’s consent. The term adware may also refer to software that displays advertisements, whether or not it does so with the user’s consent; such programs display advertisements as an alternative to shareware registration fees. These are classified as adware in the sense of advertising supported software, but not as spyware. Adware in this form does not operate surreptitiously or mislead the user, and it provides the user with a specific service.
Attested in
No recorded attestations. They are written when an MWE tagging stage is completed, stamped with the pack version and the document’s digest.
Classifications
Entity Type
Sensitivity
Information Class
Variants
- plural
- Adwares
- possessive
- Adware's
- pluralpossessive
- Adwares'
Framework definitions
- §1
- A software package that automatically plays, displays or downloads advertising material to a computer after the software is installed on it or while the application is being used Scope Note: In most cases, this is done without any notification to the user or without the user’s consent. The term adware may also refer to software that displays advertisements, whether or not it does so with the user’s consent; such programs display advertisements as an alternative to shareware registration fees. These are classified as adware in the sense of advertising supported software, but not as spyware. Adware in this form does not operate surreptitiously or mislead the user, and it provides the user with a specific service.
- §1 · legacy_primary
- A software package that automatically plays, displays or downloads advertising material to a computer after the software is installed on it or while the application is being used Scope Note: In most cases, this is done without any notification to the user or without the user’s consent. The term adware may also refer to software that displays advertisements, whether or not it does so with the user’s consent; such programs display advertisements as an alternative to shareware registration fees. These are classified as adware in the sense of advertising supported software, but not as spyware. Adware in this form does not operate surreptitiously or mislead the user, and it provides the user with a specific service.DR-088 backfill from the noun definition column