What is Ad-Aware Web Companion? Explanation and info

The Ad-Aware Web Companion is present on many computers, but very few users have intentionally installed the tool. We will tell you exactly what it is and whether you need the software at all.

What exactly is Ad-Aware Web Companion?

The Web Companion is an anti-spyware that is supposed to help you keep hijackers and adware away from your PC. However, the tool is not really recommendable.

• The Ad-Aware Web Companion from the company Lavasoft presents itself as the specialist when it comes to browser hijackers.

• Browser hijackers change the settings of your browsers and redirect your page views (especially the start page) and search queries to other websites in the background. The browser hijackers exploit security holes in the browser software to do this.
• The criminal processes run quietly and inconspicuously in the background. As a user, you are often unaware of them. If you notice occasional irregularities, it may be that you have already been caught.

• Ad-Aware Web Companion is supposed to fight the known browser hijackers and delete them from your computer. In addition, the Web Companion is also supposed to work preventively.

The dark side of software

The Ad-Aware Web Companion is completely free of charge. However, the tool funds itself in a way that is not appropriate for serious software in this day and age.

• Money is probably earned by the manufacturer, among other things, if you have the web search changed to Yahoo/Bing. You can change this option at any time in the main menu of the software.

• Many users are annoyed by the change of the start page and search engine, because although this change is announced and can be deactivated during the installation, it is often overlooked. In our test, we deselected this option during the installation, but our start page was still changed to Bing. In addition, some websites were saved as favourites. This leaves a bland aftertaste.

• In the past, Web Companion used Komodia’s controversial SSL interception technology – similar to what well-known manufacturers such as Lenovo did to monitor internet traffic even with encrypted connections.

• This approach was a long-controversial software trick to protect users from malware. After the problem became known, this was discontinued and, according to the manufacturer, replaced by a more secure solution.

• Summary: The manufacturer Lavasoft is known as a serious developer of anti-adware software. The Web Companion is free and does its job, but the way it is financed is simply no longer up to date. It resembles the methods of dubious software.