Comet Cursor was a software program written by Comet Systems. It allowed users of the

Microsoft Windows Windows is a Product lining, product line of Proprietary software, proprietary graphical user interface, graphical operating systems developed and marketed by Microsoft. It is grouped into families and subfamilies that cater to particular sec ...

operating system to change the appearance of their mouse cursor and to allow websites to use customized cursors for visitors. The product installed itself without user permission and is an early example of

spyware Spyware (a portmanteau for spying software) is any malware that aims to gather information about a person or organization and send it to another entity in a way that harms the user by violating their privacy, endangering their device's securit ...

History

Comet Systems was founded in 1997. Its most famous product, Comet Cursor, was released the same year for free. When installed, Comet Cursor changes a user's mouse cursor when they visit participating websites. Websites could use these cursors to display their own brands instead of standard icons. By 1999, there were 55,000 websites using the technology, including

Comedy Central Comedy Central is an American Cable television in the United States, cable television channel, channel owned by Paramount Global through its Paramount Media Networks, network division's Paramount Media Networks#MTV Entertainment Group, MTV Ente ...

Mattel Mattel, Inc. ( ) is an American multinational corporation, multinational toy manufacturing and entertainment company headquartered in El Segundo, California. Founded in Los Angeles by Harold Matson and the husband-and-wife duo of Ruth Handler, ...

, and

Warner Bros. Warner Bros. Entertainment Inc. (WBEI), commonly known as Warner Bros. (WB), is an American filmed entertainment studio headquartered at the Warner Bros. Studios complex in Burbank, California and the main namesake subsidiary of Warner Bro ...

Banner ad A web banner or banner ad is a Online Advertising, form of advertising on the World Wide Web delivered by an ad server. This form of online advertising entails embedding an advertisement into a web page. It is intended to attract web traffic, tra ...

s also used the technology. Comet reported 20 million users in 2001, when it integrated a

price comparison service A comparison shopping website, sometimes called a price comparison website, price analysis tool, comparison shopping agent, shopbot, aggregator or comparison shopping engine, is a vertical search engine that shoppers use to filter and compare pr ...

in the software. The company was criticized for secretly tracking users who installed the software, each of whom was given a unique serial number. In November 1999, the company started distributing its software as part of a package with several versions of

RealNetworks RealNetworks LLC is an American technology company and provider of Internet streaming media delivery software and services based in Seattle, Washington. The company also provides subscription-based online entertainment services and mobile enter ...

RealPlayer RealPlayer, formerly RealAudio Player, RealOne Player and RealPlayer G2, is a cross-platform media player (software), media player app, developed by RealNetworks. The media player is compatible with numerous container file formats of the multimed ...

multimedia software. That same month, the RealPlayer was accused of violating the privacy of its users and breaching its own privacy policy by collecting information about what software was installed alongside the RealPlayer. Compounding the issue of spyware, the software installed itself unknowingly on many users' computers. Microsoft's

Internet Explorer Internet Explorer (formerly Microsoft Internet Explorer and Windows Internet Explorer, commonly abbreviated as IE or MSIE) is a deprecation, retired series of graphical user interface, graphical web browsers developed by Microsoft that were u ...

browser allowed

ActiveX ActiveX is a deprecated software framework created by Microsoft that adapts its earlier Component Object Model (COM) and Object Linking and Embedding (OLE) technologies for content downloaded from a network, particularly from the World Wide W ...

controls, such as Comet Cursor, to install themselves with no user interaction and without asking permission, and users did not realize they had installed Comet Cursor with RealPlayer. For these reasons, Comet Cursor was cited as one of the 25 Worst Tech Products by ''

PC World ''PC World'' (stylized as PCWorld) is a global computer magazine published monthly by IDG. Since 2013, it has been an online-only publication. It offers advice on various aspects of PCs and related items, the Internet, and other personal tec ...

''. Although no longer distributed, the product has been blacklisted as spyware by some Internet watchdog companies such as

Lavasoft Adaware, previously known as Lavasoft, is a software development company that produces spyware and malware detection software, including Adaware. It operates as a subsidiary of Avanquest, a division of Claranova. Adaware's headquarters are i ...

and Symantec.

Microsoft Microsoft Corporation is an American multinational corporation and technology company, technology conglomerate headquartered in Redmond, Washington. Founded in 1975, the company became influential in the History of personal computers#The ear ...

recommends that users who experience problems with the application uninstall it. FindWhat.com purchased Comet in February 2004, and the Comet Cursor was phased out of their product line.

References

{{reflist Adware Spyware 1997 software