uTorrent Announces Plans for Special 'Sponsored Torrents'
uTorrent is introducing sponsored content to give revenue a boost.
Filesharing client uTorrent has quietly announced plans to change the way it pulls in revenue. TorrentFreak reports that the company last week revealed plans to introduce sponsored content into users' torrent lists. Specifically, users will soon start seeing a featured torrent at the top of their torrents list. uTorrent says this spot will be used to offer a variety of different types of content and that the site is working towards "bringing [users] offers that are relevant to [them]."
"You are all very familiar with how we have paid the bills so far. These new changes mark our next step towards finding that difficult balance between keeping our lights on and providing a positive user experience," uTorrent said in an announcement.
"This new build will display a featured torrent at the top of your torrent list. This featured torrent space will be used to offer a variety of different types of content. We are working towards bringing you offers that are relevant to you. This means films, games, music, software...basically anything that you will find interesting. We may not get it right on the first try but we will continue to improve our efforts based on your feedback."
TorrentFreak reports that these sponsored torrents promoting content from advertisers will also be used for important updates and to promote artists. What you see will vary depending on your location (determined via your IP). The sponsored torrents cannot be switched off but users will be able to 'click away' individual ads.
It's thought BitTorrent's main motivation for the change is increasing revenue, though TF cites a source that puts annual revenue at somewhere between $15 and $20 million.
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Jane McEntegart is a writer, editor, and marketing communications professional with 17 years of experience in the technology industry. She has written about a wide range of technology topics, including smartphones, tablets, and game consoles. Her articles have been published in Tom's Guide, Tom's Hardware, MobileSyrup, and Edge Up.
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booyaah Would be funny to see an ad:Reply
'Download MS Office 2013'
* looks down at active torrents *
Currently Seeding MS Office 2013
'oops'
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danwat1234 So what is the latest version of utorrent without sponsored torrents and without the banner ads? 3.1.2?Reply
I suspect most people who get annoyed at this will just revert back to an older version and disable update checking. -
mrmaia That's why I stick to Bittorrent. Their ads are almost unnoticeable.Reply
Now will any content be downloaded to your computer without permission? -
mrpijey paulimuruTorrent uninstalled...Agreed, µTorrent isn't very "µ" anymore with its bloatware and buggy junk. I can't even use their new versions since it drops the speeds to about 0.01% of the original speed. Completely useless.Reply
Anyone got any recommendations for a new slim, fast and bloatware-free client? -
paulimur mrpijeyAgreed, µTorrent isn't very "µ" anymore with its bloatware and buggy junk. I can't even use their new versions since it drops the speeds to about 0.01% of the original speed. Completely useless.Anyone got any recommendations for a new slim, fast and bloatware-free client?Reply
I am trying out deluge - so far so good. -
cwolf78 I have not experienced any problems with uTorrent. The only annoying thing is how often it updates if you have beta updates enabled. Otherwise I haven't noticed any performance fall-offs or bugs.Reply -
inerax Wonder if they are going to see a current proxy ip.... get some good ads that are not for me.Reply