Geek News Central led me to this MSNBC article dealing with Spyware (or adware as they) would like it called since it sounds less-intrusive.

Read the part of the article about a company called "DirectRevenue" and then tell me they aren't trying to keep you from even knowing they exist. "...extremely covert in its naming practices,...referring to its use of multiple brands for its Web sites and software."

If you're not running Spybot or Ad-Aware then you need to get cracking.