The other day I reinstalled a machine: A VIA chipset motherboard. I had to get the Video, audio and other drivers. I went to VIATechnologies, which then shuttled me to VIA Arena – where the drivers were held.
What I was surprised to see was the site was littered with Ads. We’re not talking about a Google Ad on the side. Ad after ad after ad.
I selected a link I thought was a VIA driver detection program. It turned out to be a 3rd party program that wanted me to PAY to download. I went back and finally noticed the ‘(SPONSOR)’ note.
I went back to the page and tried to find my drivers. It wasn’t that easy: Actually took me a few different tries. I eventually found the drivers which I installed.
I understand if a company decides to put an invasive ad on the the site. Maybe a Google ad on the bottom or a sponsored link exchange. However 22 ads encompasing the company’s website?
What’s worse is that I fell for a sponsor program. What would a non-IT person do? Most likely they would buy the software because they think VIA requires them to have it. Then VIA gets a portion of that sale which means you are giving VIA more money.
VIA needs to re-think their site. Like I said, I don’t mind ads. However, turning the whole page into one big ad is annoying and, in a way, deceptive. I know for sure I won’t be looking toward VIA motherboards if I have to build a new system for someone.