BonziBUDDY, sometimes spelled Bonzi Buddy, BonziBuddy, or BONZIBuddy, (misspelled Bonzai Buddy) was an on-screen "intelligent software agent" from BONZI Software, released in 1999 and discontinued in 2004. The official website stated it would help a person explore the Internet through various functions along with their own sidekick. It took the form of an animated purple gorilla that resided on a user's desktop and communicated through the employment of Microsoft Agent technology.

BonziBuddy received wide recognition as malware, predominantly as piece of adware, though claims of spyware capabilities have been completed against it.

Overview

The software used Microsoft Agent technology similar to Office Assistant, and originally sported Peedy, a green parrot character, before it became the purple ape. The software "interacts with users while they are online, providing shopping advice, jokes, and trivia."

At one point, the official website for the application said this about it:He will explore the Internet with you as your very own friend and sidekick! He can talk, walk, joke, browse, search, e-mail, and download like no other friend you've ever had! He even has the ability to compare prices on the products you love and help you save money! Best of all, he's FREE!

Criticism

In April 2007, PCWorld readers voted Bonzi Buddy 6th on a list of "the top 10 most annoying tech products". One reader is quoted as criticizing the program because it "kept popping up and obscuring things you needed to see."

One of the last newspapers to write about BonziBUDDY while it was still in distribution described it as spyware and a "scourge of the Internet". A further article found in 2006 on the BusinessWeek website described BonziBUDDY as "the unbelievably annoying spyware trojan horse".

Adware or spyware

A number of sources identify BonziBUDDY as spyware, a claim the company disputes. An article in Consumer Reports Web Watch labels BonziBUDDY as spyware, stating that it is a Backdoor Santa in that it collects information from users. Among the activities the program is said to engage in include constantly resetting the user's web browser homepage to bonzi.com without the user's permission, prompting and tracking various information about the user, and serving advertisements.

It was labeled as spyware by Consumer Reports in 2002.

The Spyware Removal Database at Safer Networking states "BonziBuddy is an Internet Explorer toolbar that may change your web browser settings, change your home page, and launch pop-up advertisements while tracking your web browsing habits."

Spyware Guide's entry on the program states that it is adware.

Anti-virus company Trend Micro classifies the software as adware in their spyware/grayware listings, but not malware.

Legal

BonziBUDDY Ape

There were two legal cases about the software.

Internetnews.com reported the settlement of a class action suit on May 27, 2003. Originally brought against Bonzi Software on December 4, 2002, the suit accused Bonzi of using its banner advertisements of deceptively imitating Windows computer alerts, alerting the user that their IP Address is being broadcast. In the settlement, Bonzi agreed to modify their ads so that they looked less like a Windows dialogue box and to make them more obviously advertisements.

On February 18, 2004, the Federal Trade Commission released a statement signifying that Bonzi Software, Inc. was ordered to pay $75,000 in fees, among other aspects, for violating the Children's Online Privacy Protection Act by collecting personal information from children under the age of 13 with BonziBUDDY.