as the stopbadware post suggests, if the adware you bundle with is bad you are going to be held accountable for it's actions because you chose to bundle it so lets go through some steps that may help to avoid that...
- be up front about the presence of the adware, say right on your front page or on your download page (and not in a small font) that the software is ad supported... you should even go so far as to specify the adware provider so that people downloading your product know what they're getting... i know this will probably drive away customers because of the bad name adware has (often deservedly so) but if you don't tell them then it will be much worse for the long term viability of your product... better to have slow adoption than a big backlash...
- take personal responsibility for the quality of the adware you're bundling - make sure it's not buggy, make sure it doesn't contain spyware or take any other actions that would send personal information back to anyone, make sure it doesn't install silently/secretly, make sure it uninstalls cleanly, make sure it doesn't install anything unexpected or provide a platform for advertisers to install things secretly/silently through the ad windows themselves, make sure it doesn't interfer with what the user is trying to do by popping up lots of windows or playing with window z order or any other tricks to put their ads overtop of what the user is working on...
- make sure your contract with the adware company clearly specifies what kind of behaviour is acceptable from their adware so they can't play any kind of bait and switch game using an innocuous test version and an offensive upgrade, and make sure they can't change the terms of that contract unilaterally...
- research the company's history in order to get some idea of how likely they are to keep their word/not violate that contract, also to get an idea of what kind of ethics they've displayed in the past and how good they've been about fixing bugs and addressing concerns...
- keep up to date on issues relating to the adware in your bundle... for example if there's a bug, post information about it on your site and direct affected users to where ever they need to go to correct the problem...
- inform your users of the exact measures you go through to make sure the adware you're bundling with is safe for them to install...
i know that sounds like an aweful lot of work but guess what, there's no such thing as a free lunch and making the choice to bundle adware isn't a way to get free money...
i don't know how easy it will be to find an adware provider that meets these requirements, perhaps there aren't any yet but you know what? adware companies don't get any money unless people bundle their software so as much as you may need them they need you too so don't be afraid to put some pressure on them to get the terms you want, eventually an adware company will come along that's willing to do business on those terms if there's enough demand for it... they're businesses after all and they have to bend to market pressure or go out of business... it's just another form of voting with your wallet...
and what should you do if you still feel like you have no leverage over the adware company? do what many groups of 'little guys' have done before you - organize... find like-minded software developers who also need the help of an adware company but are uncomfortable with the typical adware's shenanigans and go after what you want as a united group... and i'm not just talking about folks who haven't signed up with an adware company yet; there are plenty of folks who came before who wish their current agreement with their adware partner was better than it is - these are people who are in the market for a new adware partner and so can be added to your collective voice...
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