product update pop up ads

[arejfour]

For the last three days I've been getting pop up ads wanting me to update to the paid version of CC-I'm not interested. I had this problem a few months ago and after complaints from many users the ads stopped. Now they're back again. How can we get them turned off again? Very annoying

[Andavari]

Unfortunately I think they will now display those every now and then in an attempt to get people to upgrade, I don't think they'll stop doing it over a few forum complaints either.

[Dave CCleaner]

To continue to offer a free product to millions of users, we need some people to pay for the Pro version.  CCleaner runs discount/offer campaigns from time to time - usually about every 3 months.  Offer usually runs for 7-10 days, during which time a user may receive 2-3 messages, after which time it all goes fairly quiet again aside from new release notifications.  Some users on older versions see repeats more often than they should when the campaign is running - although that was fixed in v5.54.

[Mr Brunes]

I strongly agree with this.

My mother has been a free CCleaner user for years and recently has started to receive intermittent prompts to upgrade to a newer version.

When she does, the link to the free version is buried at the bottom of the page, and when you do select it, the next page is full of ads with huge green arrows everywhere saying "click here" which of course installs all kinds of s/w that she doesn't need and which confuses her. The CC download free link is lost in the page.

Then when it downloads, it has additional s/w (Avast AV) ticked by default.

IME these types of vexatious social engineering attempts to trick folks into clicking links that they don't want is completely unprofessional for a company with the reputation of Piriform, and certainly not warranted for an existing user's simple upgrade process. Other apps don't do this for a version upgrade process, so why is Piriform different?

I'm on the point of uninstalling it as it causes my mother anxiety. I completely understand to need to promote paid-for versions, but I'd hope that marketing and developers might reflect on how diverse their user base is, and how what may seem for them to be obvious and regular navigation hoops to jump, are not at all obvious to some users, with a simple misstep causing unnecessary worry, which surely is the whole point of an app like CCleaner!

 

[Dave CCleaner]

On the (slightly different to the OP) topic of the free updates that you mention, this is something that we've already started tinkering with to strike a better balance with the user experience on the landing page so that we let free users know that there is also a paid option with extra stuff (including automatic updates) but without losing too many of them who find navigating their way to the free download (at https://www.ccleaner.com/ccleaner/download/standard) is too hard and give up.

There's a few moving parts to the whole thing, and it is a work in progress, but expect improvements over the coming months.

[Mr Brunes]

Thanks for the reply - I'm glad to hear that the update experience is being worked on!  The page you refer to is fine, it's the one leading up to it (can't find it now) that looks like a free app download site that is misleading.

It would be good to have a built-in app updater for relatively minor updates and keep the web page for major (feature) ones.

[lolness]

CCleaner has been one of the most reliable and essential pieces of software on my PCs for over 10 years. Recommended to basically every person who asks.

I updated today after not doing so for a while and didn't like what I saw. So I rolled back a few versions from there and didn't like what I saw then either. So now ccleaner is uninstalled until I either find which was the last version before you started misbehaving, or an alternative program.

Big shame you guys absorbed the toxic, anti-consumer "app" paradigms where you refuse to behave like a guest should. Being a polite guest doesn't involve being irritating, making me waste time fixing your bad behavior, doing things without permission or telling me what to do. Every adult should know basic ettiquette, there's no excuse including "but we want more money."

 

 

[Andavari]

12 hours ago, lolness said:

until I either find which was the last version before you started misbehaving

 

Some of us myself included have been using v5.40.6411 (available on FileHippo). I'll use that 18 month old version until Windows 10 will undoubtedly deem it "incompatible" making it impossible to use, and then from there incrementally make my way up until Windows barks again at some point about an old version. When I encounter a "newer" version that I'm not accustomed to using and that I can't stomach, then... ...well it's obvious what I'll be doing. I'm glad on the old XP system I still have that it could careless what old version I'm using.

[AZMoosie]

The recent nags about the 50% sale are abnoxious.  I get that you need to advertise but his sort of nag goes way too far.  Most considerate vendors will provide a 'Do not display this message again' sort of check box.  You do not.

I have used the free CCleaner for at least 10 years and discovered it was a great product, saving me lots of time over the manual procedures I created to do the same thing.  I even purchased a copy a number of years ago to help support the cause.  But I have 6 machines in use in my home and was not about to buy a copy for each of them, therefore I continue to use the free version.  I don't have multiple accounts on our machines, at least no additioanl accounts that are used often or extensively, so I don't need the upgrade.

I put up with you offloading the routine updates to FileHippo although I find them very annoying.  The dumb decision to push (force) Avast was a big mistake; reprimand the person who suggested that move.  We, your long-time users, put up with those moves because we trusted you to continue to provide a quality, useful product.  However tha nags are an irritant that may push many of us away, away for good.  There are other quality (purchased) products on my systems that offer to do what CCleaner does but, to date, I have not used them, preferring instead to stay with CCleaner which I have trusted for over a decade, and have installed on dozens of client machines as well as for my family and friends.

[Dave CCleaner]

28 minutes ago, AZMoosie said:

The recent nags about the 50% sale are abnoxious.  I get that you need to advertise but his sort of nag goes way too far.  Most considerate vendors will provide a 'Do not display this message again' sort of check box.  You do not.

I have used the free CCleaner for at least 10 years and discovered it was a great product, saving me lots of time over the manual procedures I created to do the same thing.  I even purchased a copy a number of years ago to help support the cause.  But I have 6 machines in use in my home and was not about to buy a copy for each of them, therefore I continue to use the free version.  I don't have multiple accounts on our machines, at least no additioanl accounts that are used often or extensively, so I don't need the upgrade.

I put up with you offloading the routine updates to FileHippo although I find them very annoying.  The dumb decision to push (force) Avast was a big mistake; reprimand the person who suggested that move.  We, your long-time users, put up with those moves because we trusted you to continue to provide a quality, useful product.  However tha nags are an irritant that may push many of us away, away for good.  There are other quality (purchased) products on my systems that offer to do what CCleaner does but, to date, I have not used them, preferring instead to stay with CCleaner which I have trusted for over a decade, and have installed on dozens of client machines as well as for my family and friends.

Firstly - thanks for your longstanding support of the CCleaner product!

With regard to the upgrade popups - what CCleaner version number are you using? As per the recent post here the occasional discount promotions are only set to display a couple of times per event.  Although some users may see more if they are on versions prior to 5.54, for users on 5.54 and above any problems with overdisplay of messages tend to be down to users blocking the setting of the "I've already seen this so no need to show it to me again" flag. 

Naturally it is not in our interests to overmessage users - if someone has said "no" to an offer, then as you might expect, asking the same thing multiple times in a row has massively decreasing returns. So we are interested to hear from anyone experiencing this who can provide additional details so we can isolate how it might have happened.

CCleaner has had third party offers in the free installer since late 2010. As tedious as it may be to "no thanks" Chrome every 6 months and "no thanks" a third party AV/Security offer every 3 months it helps subsidise keeping CCleaner free for millions of users.  It may seem a little cheeky of me to mention it in this context, so apologies in advance, but <obligatory plug> paying customers do get the automatic updates - which avoid the need to navigate through the download site and also bypasses the offers in the installer altogether ... and as you have 6 machines, you may interest you that Pro Plus, which covers 3 machines per licence, is also on 50% off at the moment https://www.ccleaner.com/ccleaner/summer-sale. </obligatory plug>

 

[nukecad]

Nice to see the explanation of 6 month and 3 month offer dates for the different types of offer.

That is exactly the sort of information we 'helping' users have been missing to be able to offer focused help.

[bardaghdavid]

I'm paying for the Professional version, and my subscription is coming due. I don't mind being reminded once a day, maybe even twice a day. But, I'm getting that large pop-up several times every day. I plan on re-subscribing, NEXT month, before the due date, so I really don't need these intrusive, annoying pop-ups, multiple times per day.

I love CCleaner Pro...I think it's a marvelous tool and does what I need it to do. However, this continuous barrage of reminders is more likely to make someone annoyed enough that they DON'T re-subscribe.

Please re-think this idea, and, hopefully, reduce the number of pop-ups each day to a more reasonable number.

 

[Dave CCleaner]

29 minutes ago, bardaghdavid said:

I'm paying for the Professional version, and my subscription is coming due. I don't mind being reminded once a day, maybe even twice a day. But, I'm getting that large pop-up several times every day. I plan on re-subscribing, NEXT month, before the due date, so I really don't need these intrusive, annoying pop-ups, multiple times per day.

I love CCleaner Pro...I think it's a marvelous tool and does what I need it to do. However, this continuous barrage of reminders is more likely to make someone annoyed enough that they DON'T re-subscribe.

Please re-think this idea, and, hopefully, reduce the number of pop-ups each day to a more reasonable number.

As per my response re the "please buy" message for free users above, we don't want to overmessage users.  As you say, if someone has said "not now" to a renewal reminder then "are we there yet"ing them like a small child on a road trip is not going get anyone there any faster. The exact schedule varies - right around the expiry date you might get 2 or 3 pokes in a week, or if there is a limited-time hot offer on for new users that we want to make sure existing customers can get a piece of too. But if you're still a few weeks out then should only be once a week or fortnight.

Nothing is set to show several times a week (let alone several times a day) so please be assured that this is unintended behaviour. Where users are experiencing this, it has been generally due to:

• Using an old CCleaner version.  There was an issue for some users with overdisplay of messages that was fixed in version 5.54.
• Users blocking the setting of the "I've already seen this so no need to show it to me again" flag. 
• Users who reboot their PCs multiple times per day.

Are you on CCleaner 5.54 or above? If not, please see if an update solves your problem. If you are on CC5.54 or higher can you check Options > Cookies and either screenshot or right-click and Export the "Cookies to Keep" collection please?

[Eje]

These popups now coming on paid versions on 2 computer more intensive. Still have license until September. Anyway to stop it with sending a mail?

[Dave CCleaner]

2 hours ago, Eje said:

Still have license until September

For paying customers approaching their renewal date there are periodic offers to renew/upgrade at a special price.  It would have got a little noisier yesterday and today since the current "2 years for the price of one" offer is ending in a few hours.  If you "no thanks"ed the last chance message today then you should not hear anything again for a while.