TargetAD is a tough little adware program. It was first noticed by antispyware programs in July of 2006. There is some debate about being able to remove it in light of licensing agreements, so many antispyware programs are sitting on their hands over this program.

TargetAD disguises itself on your computer as a Browser Helper Object (BHO). It causes Internet Explorer to open new browser windows for websites such as newerjob.com, a.keyrun.com, 51sgfy.com, and chcb.com.cn. Some of these sites are unintelligible, or are in a different language than English.

Once TargetAD gets on your computer, it connects with www.targetad.net and downloads updates for its central program and components. It’s interesting to see that many antispyware programs aren’t blocking this website, since it can be easily found on Google.

The website for TargetAD describes itself as “The Quality Discount Products as a Gift from the Gods!!” I believe this is hardly so, considering all the trouble you invoke by getting their so called BHO.

All this activity that TargetAD does costs a heavy sum from your virtual memory. It bogs down other programs. It sucks up valuable bandwidth from your Internet connection. The pop ups alone will drive you crazy.

With all this in mind, I find it hard to believe that other antispyware programs would even debate whether they should block TargetAD. You may lose use of the freeware you got that had this program bundled with it, thanks to the Licensing Agreement snafu. In the end, it’s worth it to lose one program out of hundreds like it.

Whatever you do, don’t try to manually remove TargetAD. Manual removal instructions do exist, but they may be in error. Even at that, some of the files associated with this program are very similar to legitimate file names. It sets up a false Microsoft Office folder and registry key. It would be all too easy to destroy the real program this way.

Instead, I recommend using ZookaWare PC Cleaner. We have the most up to date definitions files out there, and the most up to date fixes. Target TargetAD, and blow it to kingdom come!