Bundling Google Chrome and Toolbar???

Report · Aug 22, 2012

Has anyone noticed that the latest Flash update automatically installs Google Toolbar and Google Chrome? What a horrible business decision Adobe. Force installing software like you are Napster. I would fire the product manager that made that decision. As a CTO I will be informing my IT staff to set Flash to ignore updates from this point forward. QA staff cannot have additional items installed that are not part of the base browser installation. Ridiculous that Adobe snuck this crap in. All I can hope now is to find something that challenges Photoshop so I can move my design team away from Adobe software as well. Smart move trying to make pennies off of your high dollar customers.

Report · Aug 10, 2013

So, a simple internet search reveals that a ton of people are complaining about Adobe bundling Chrome/Google Toolbar and Adobe still refuses to change it? We are running into the same problem in our business. Unless you deselect the box for the Google Chrome and Toolbar install, it installs. We have users of all levels of computer knowledge and trying to get them to remember to DESELECT the UNWANTED software results in it being unintentionally installed. We are a law firm and having Google Chrome installed causes major problems with our legal practice management software in addition to the Outlook problems previously mentioned after Chrome is manually deinstalled. It is time consuming and an absolute outrage that we have to spend so much time manually deinstalling products and correcting residual technical issues when we never wanted the extra software in the first place. What is it going to take for Adobe to stop forcing products we don't want down our throats? I'm ready to take our business back to Nuance.

Report · Aug 10, 2013

At least you see the option to choose what bundled items you want to install!

The main reason for this thread is that many of us have had this payload installed with no way to opt out, it just goes from install update >click next >installing junkware. The only way to stop it is to cancel the installation, that is, if you have even noticed it is being installed.

Of course, Adobe completely deny this happens, and blames us clueless internet newbies of being wrong, even when we provide screenshots.

I used to provide IT services to a SME law firm, I know your pain.
I used to provide high level IT services to a FTSE 100 firm, adobe was outlawed because of its rubbish coding and the resource hogging nature of their software. That was across a 4000 user base. The only exception being marketing and legal who had to use CS and Acrobat. For reading pdf files, we used a 3rd party reader which never gave us the issues adobe's bloatware did. Flash was removed by script whenever it managed to find its way on to machines.

What adobe forgets is, some of us here have buying and decision making power out there in the business world.
You piss us off and we boycott your company wherever possible. We're not the muppets you seem to think we are.

Check please.......

Report · Aug 20, 2014

Ahem. Lookee here. A way to say "no, in the future, don't even think about it." If they can do it, so can you.

Report · Feb 24, 2015

This post started on Aug 22, 2012 today is Feb 24, 2015. I received an "update required" message, knowing all about this scam I watched as it started to install the update and McAfee a/v. It's been 2 years 6 months and 2 days and it's still happening, a search for "adobe flash installs additional programs without permission" yields 854,000 results, and "Bundling Google Chrome and Toolbar???" yields 340.000 results. Adobe has sunk to the same level (as far as respect goes) as once great sites like Cnet, brothersoft, softonic... to name a few. why won't adobe just die already.

Report · Feb 24, 2015

Well Sparky ... I agree with you wholeheartedly. However, the answer to "why won't adobe just die already" is very simple Business 101: They won't die because of "Supply and Demand" logic. Sad but very true. Many manufacturers / developers are more interested in the money than customer satisfaction.

Report · Feb 24, 2015

By that I mean that if you look at the majority (if not all) tablets, notebooks, towers, and desktops that were put out in the market place, McAfee and Adobe Flashplayer were installed in most of those systems. While it is free to us, those apps' licensing rights were originally purchased by those companies manufacturing those devices. That's how it was possible for Adobe to pass the Flashplayer and the Reader on as free apps to the general public; their dollar had been made.