<s>
The	O
company	O
offers	O
products	O
Adaware	O
Antivirus	B-Application
,	O
Adaware	O
Protect	O
,	O
Adware	O
Safe	O
Browser	O
,	O
Adware	O
Privacy	O
,	O
Adware	O
AdBlock	O
,	O
Adware	O
PC	O
Cleaner	O
and	O
Adware	O
Drive	O
Manager	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Nicolas	O
Stark	O
and	O
Ann-Christine	O
Åkerlund	O
established	O
the	O
company	O
in	O
Germany	O
in	O
1999	O
with	O
its	O
flagship	O
Adaware	O
antivirus	B-Application
product	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
In	O
2011	O
,	O
Adware	O
was	O
acquired	O
by	O
the	O
Solaria	O
Fund	O
,	O
a	O
private	O
equity	O
fund	O
front	O
for	O
entrepreneurs	O
Daniel	O
Assouline	O
and	O
Michael	O
Dadoun	O
,	O
who	O
have	O
been	O
accused	O
of	O
selling	O
software	O
that	O
is	O
available	O
for	O
free	O
,	O
including	O
Adaware	O
antivirus	B-Application
prior	O
to	O
acquiring	O
the	O
company	O
itself	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
An	O
anti-spyware	O
and	O
anti-virus	B-Application
software	I-Application
program	O
,	O
Adaware	O
Antivirus	B-Application
,	O
according	O
to	O
its	O
developer	O
,	O
detects	O
and	O
removes	O
malware	O
,	O
spyware	O
and	O
adware	O
,	O
computer	O
viruses	O
,	O
dialers	O
,	O
Trojans	O
,	O
bots	O
,	O
rootkits	O
,	O
data	B-Application
miners	I-Application
,,	O
parasites	O
,	O
browser	O
hijackers	O
and	O
tracking	O
components	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Adaware	O
antivirus	B-Application
was	O
originally	O
developed	O
,	O
as	O
Ad-Aware	B-Application
,	O
in	O
1999	O
to	O
highlight	O
web	B-Protocol
beacons	I-Protocol
inside	O
of	O
Internet	B-Application
Explorer	I-Application
.	O
</s>
<s>
On	O
many	O
websites	O
,	O
users	O
would	O
see	O
a	O
tiny	O
pixelated	O
square	O
next	O
to	O
each	O
web	B-Protocol
beacon	I-Protocol
,	O
warning	O
the	O
user	O
that	O
the	O
computer	O
's	O
IP	O
address	O
and	O
other	O
non-essential	O
information	O
was	O
being	O
tracked	O
by	O
this	O
website	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Over	O
time	O
,	O
Ad-Aware	B-Application
added	O
the	O
ability	O
to	O
block	O
those	O
beacons	B-Protocol
,	O
or	O
ads	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Starting	O
with	O
Ad-Aware	B-Application
version	O
10	O
,	O
the	O
Bitdefender	B-Application
antivirus	B-Application
engine	O
was	O
used	O
instead	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
According	O
to	O
PC	O
World	O
Magazine	O
,	O
an	O
older	O
version	O
of	O
Ad-Aware	B-Application
,	O
the	O
Anniversary	O
Edition	O
,	O
could	O
locate	O
only	O
83.6	O
%	O
of	O
malware	O
in	O
a	O
comparative	O
test	O
carried	O
out	O
by	O
the	O
security	O
firm	O
AV-TEST	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Neil	O
J	O
.	O
Rubenking	O
at	O
PCMag	O
performed	O
a	O
lab	O
test	O
on	O
version	O
8.3	O
,	O
where	O
Ad-Aware	B-Application
scored	O
9.2	O
points	O
,	O
beating	O
the	O
previous	O
top	O
score	O
of	O
9.1	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
In	O
July	O
2013	O
,	O
Adaware	O
Antivirus	B-Application
Free	O
was	O
listed	O
as	O
having	O
been	O
downloaded	O
a	O
total	O
of	O
450	O
million	O
times	O
from	O
the	O
Lavasoft	O
site	O
,	O
including	O
over	O
387	O
million	O
times	O
from	O
Download.com	B-Application
.	O
</s>
<s>
According	O
to	O
OPSWAT	O
,	O
in	O
January	O
2015	O
,	O
Ad-Aware	B-Application
had	O
less	O
than	O
1%	O
of	O
market	O
share	O
globally	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Paid	O
versions	O
of	O
the	O
product	O
are	O
being	O
competed	O
from	O
low-cost	O
or	O
free	O
products	O
,	O
such	O
as	O
Microsoft	B-Application
Security	I-Application
Essentials	I-Application
.	O
</s>
<s>
Additionally	O
,	O
Danchev	O
has	O
reported	O
in	O
2013	O
that	O
Lavasoft	O
was	O
used	O
to	O
hide	O
hard-to-uninstall	O
programs	O
into	O
third-party	O
software	O
to	O
trick	O
the	O
users	O
in	O
installing	O
them	O
,	O
like	O
in	O
the	O
K-Lite	B-Application
Codec	I-Application
Pack	I-Application
,	O
and	O
the	O
Lavasoft	O
Web	O
Companion	O
changed	O
your	O
browser	O
without	O
the	O
user	O
's	O
permission	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
In	O
February	O
2015	O
,	O
it	O
was	O
reported	O
by	O
CERT	O
Coordination	O
Center	O
,	O
that	O
a	O
new	O
security	O
feature	O
in	O
Ad-Aware	B-Application
Web	O
Companion	O
was	O
implemented	O
with	O
Komodia	O
SSL	O
Digestor	O
,	O
one	O
of	O
Komodia	O
's	O
public	O
SDKs	O
,	O
the	O
company	O
behind	O
the	O
Superfish	O
security	O
incident	O
in	O
Lenovo	O
machines	O
.	O
</s>
