Shoutbox

Let me first say that I totally agree with your reply.

As for the last thing: a system performing awfully because 'something' is installed, doesn't automatically mean that something is spyware though. It can of course be that... but a system can perform awfully with only installed adware too, or even with an installed program which doesn't even have any connection to adware or anything like that.

(Even Messenger and other MS products make my system crunch sometimes)

The sponsor program, as with almost all adware, calls home sometimes just as it is stated in the EULA. But of course not with personal info. It simply calls home to know what ad must be shown as the ads aren't hard coded within adware. To make sure you don't see the same ads too much, and to try and give you more ads which you might be interested in and less ads you might not be interested in it does of course send some info to the server-program like the stuff you searched for (but to make it clear: all this is anonymously, no personal info is send). This is basicly what every piece of adware does, even what Messenger itself does!!

What the sponsor also does is checking/polling if you or another program didn't accidently damaged it (to a certain extent of course), etc...

Now this phoning home and checking can indeed take some resources from certain low (or already prone to slow down) systems, but is by no means the definition of spyware.

To put it simply, spyware is stuff which, without your approval and behind your back, sends stuff to some remote address. Because of this, spyware also tries to make sure you can't detect it.

The sponsor program is very easly detectable and it even has a clear and perfectly working (if not damaged by a third party) uninstaller. I don't see spyware doing that...