Ah, the Windows install process. Long associated with repeated clicking of the “Next” button, it’s also home to one of the more shady practices to exist in modern software: the bundled application. Hapless users looking to get through the process as quickly as possible inevitably wind up installing some junk software that they don’t really want or need, only to scratch their heads when their browser is suddenly slowed down by a clunky new toolbar. Users may not like them, but many developers don’t want to scrap these bundled software packages entirely because they’re a steady source of income. OpenCandy, a startup that launched last year, may offer the solution by pairing up users with software they might actually want. And today it’s announcing that it’s been integrated with the latest version of PrimoPDF by Nitro PDF, the most popular freeware PDF creator.
We’ve written about OpenCandy before, when it made the revolutionary decision to ban germ-spreading handshakes from company board meetings, but until now we haven’t explored the company’s product. From the user’s perspective it’s quite simple: when you go to install an application that uses OpenCandy, you’ll be presented at some point during the install flow with an option to install a sponsored application. It may sound just like those unwanted app installs that we’ve seen for years, but it has a few key differences.
First, everything in OpenCandy is opt-in. While many apps default to the “install” option for these tag-along apps (which is why people accidentally install them), OpenCandy makes you click a checkbox make sure you really want the app. The company is also doing its best to only work with high quality applications — co-founder Chester Ng says that OpenCandy will only work with high quality publishers, and only suggest applications that it thinks people might want to actually use. Some apps that are currently being advertised through OpenCandy include doubleTwist and TuneUp— both apps we’ve covered before and don’t come with any nasty spyware.
OpenCandy also brings some intelligence to the install process. Rather than bundling the same applications every time, OpenCandy rotates the applications it advertises, effectively serving as an ad network. It also tries to apply some intelligence to the process, suggesting apps that are complimentary to what the user is installing instead of choosing one at random. And unlike some of the bundles that include these tag-along apps as part of the initial download even if you don’t want them, OpenCandy only downloads one of these apps after you’ve stated that you want it.
Finally, OpenCandy doesn’t collect any personally identifiable information. It does, however, collect some basic info (like whether or not the user decided to install the suggested application or if it wasn’t compatible with their computer). This helps them suggest better applications in the future, and Ng says that if an app is clearly underperforming (i.e. people don’t want it), OpenCandy will remove it from their list.
This is obviously a tricky area — some people object to the idea of upselling applications during the install process at all. But provided it is consistent about advertising high quality apps, I think OpenCandy may be a good compromise: developers will still get paid for including these ads in their installers, and users may just stumble across a new application they actually want.
“Users may not like them, but many developers don’t want to scrap these bundled software packages entirely because they’re a steady source of income. OpenCandy, a startup that launched last year, may offer the solution by pairing up users with software they might actually want. And today it’s announcing that it’s been integrated with the latest version of PrimoPDF by Nitro PDF, the most popular freeware PDF creator.”
Anyone else see the irony in this statement?
Have you asked Alanis Morrisette?
I hate it that utorrent recently added the Ask toolbar in their install upsell, checked by default. ccleaner has the yahoo toolbar checked. Flash for Internet Explorer has Google toolbar checked. What annoyance!
Amen Josh J!
The fact that these software publishers today must resort to opt-out (checked by default) bundles of generic software that users don’t want is exactly one of the problems we’re trying to solve with our opt-in, dynamic software recommendation platform.
Nice website.
Thanks.
Credit my co-founder Blake (are you sure you’re not him, “Glake”?
. Hmm….
I’ve been following the OpenCandy story since the beginning. Props to my bro and the rest of the OpenCandy team.
I can see the potential for some collaborative filtering/recommendations to suggest the right apps for the right people. This is basically the iPhone App Store for the Web, and could include ratings, reviews, and recommendations down the road.
I’d like a better way to track inactive apps and deinstall apps I don’t use or don’t like. I know Windows handles this but it would be nice to be able to think of all my OpenCandy downloads as a suite which I can configure as my needs change.
I just never want to see Google toolbar bundled with software again, some people like myself surprisingly don’t want Google on their browser but they seem very determined to get there!
The most important, valuable aspect of OpenCandy is that provides a channel for software creators (like us!) to generate revenue on our free products, allowing us to keep producing and developing great applications, without ever having to resort to bundling crappy toolbars or negatively affecting the user-experience in any way.
It’s been a pleasure working with the OpenCandy crew, especially Chester and Andrew (Dr Apps), and our experience with the platform has been fantastic.
Nice work guys!
I am currently in the W3i Application Network, an Application Network offering similar benefits as OpenCandy, increased distribution and monetization for applications. My experience is that this is a viable business model allowing publishers, like myself, to increase revenue promoting other useful applications. Users benefit by having quality applications, like my Jenkat games, available at no cost to them. The W3i Application Network uses an installation manager, InstallIQ, allowing the publisher more control over the user experience. We found branding the creatives through the install process to have positive effects as well as the ability of InstallIQ to recommend relevant applications. W3i is also able to offer significant payouts due to their scale. Our user base has grown considerably from negligible traffic to nearly 4 million users in August 2009 as a result of the W3i Application Network.
“Ah, the Windows install process. Long associated with repeated clicking of the “Next” button” => isn’t the user pain located here ? To me, it seems that open candy is adding a patch above a soon-to-die paradigm which is software installation. Isn’t the future to get rid of this user unfriendly installation system rather than putting more stuff into it ?
I have a problem believing others would actually want to potentially risk their shareware from getting tried simply to get something like nitro on their computer. People have to want the software and simply putting on their desktop doesn’t do anything – unless they are littering their computer with annoying pop-ups or changing default file associations – in which case I wouldn’t want either..
last month i began installing primopdf v4. i canceled at pane where installer said something i didn’t like (i now don’t recall what, but right now I’ll guess it was OC.)
primopdf installed anyway. i had saved primopdf v2 (2.2?), so I then installed v2. **
(eula/tos give different addresses for v2 vs v4 and when i dled v2, nitropdf was a different app, so i guess nitro has since bought the primo name)
today cleaning %temp%, i found OC leftovers, which prompted googling to this page.
** yes, later when i had time, i sysrestored back to before the first install (aborted v4).
PS, i check sites or ads for prices, but my decisions derive from actual info (reading comments and/or experience with similar products or services). IOW, I’m blind to online ads. and like ads, this OC would be wasted effort on me.
“Isn’t the future to get rid of this user unfriendly installation system rather than putting more stuff into it”
i always look for portable versions. easier to backup.