I had only peripherally heard of Gamevance.com when someone asked my opinion of the company, so I took a took a closer look at the site. At first glance, it looked like a tournament-based skill gaming site, much like WorldWinner, but the first tell-tale sign that something was amiss was the “Uninstall Gamevance” link in the bottom of the page. The solely ad-supported site requires players to download Gamevance software that pummels you with advertising pop-ups.

The kicker for me – and the ultimate sign that the player needs to beware – was the fact that they actually sold ads within the text of their privacy policy:

If you’re selling ads in your Privacy Policy, heaven help those that download the actual Gamevance software. A quick scan on the net and you can clearly see complaints of malware and users trying to extricate the software from their systems.

Future Ads is the parent company that owns both Gamevance and ResultLinks, so you can understand the desire to cross-promote and use the ResultLinks technology on Gamevance.com. But you have to be wary of a management team that doesn’t understand the boundaries to which that technology should be used. It reminds me a lot of Gator (later renamed Claria to distance itself from its adware/spyware origins) all dressed up in games.

A lot of big brands are working with Future Ads, much like they did with Claria: American Express, EA, Blizzard, World of Warcraft, Pogo, Konami, Visa, ClubMom and GameFly. Regardless of the short-term results, association with the brand can only tarnish your brand in the long-run.