Own Dates

Posted by Lisa Blanc on March 2, 2016

What is Own Dates?

Own Dates is advertised as an application that enables you to browse dating websites from your desktop. However, you might want to remove it because it only promotes these websites in an annoying fashion and this will be the center of our discussion throughout this article. Our malware researchers have classified it as adware because apart from displaying commercial advertisements it does not do anything else. And it displays them in an intrusive way which involves modifying your web browser’s settings and automatically generating pop-ups right on your PC’s desktop. In addition, it was configured to collect information about you for no apparent reason other than to just collecting because it can. In short, this application is no good, but we want to provide you with as much information about it as possible to prove our point. test test test

Where does Own Dates come from?

Own Dates comes from the same developers that created BabyMegs, and these two programs are related to several other adware-type programs called BeautyMost and ShiftVideos. Own Dates and BabyMegs are identical clones while BeautyMost and ShiftVideos only function in a similar fashion, but our researchers suggest that all four of them might have come from the same developers. Unfortunately, it is nearly impossible to pinpoint the company or the group of programmers that have created these applications, but since they choose to stay in the shadows, we cannot help but think that the applications are malicious.

Our research indicates that this infection is currently being disseminated using several methods. One of them is hosting this program’s installer on Owndates.com. However, this installer contains additional third-party software by default, and our researchers say that the list of additional programs includes System Healer and Search Know. The other method is using other malware to either install it secretly or promote it in the search results such as in the case of browser hijackers. All in all, it is obvious that this adware comes from unreliable programmers that use deceptive methods to distribute it. So that we have background information about this program, let us continue to Own Dates’s functionality.

How does Own Dates work?

This and applications similar to it are somewhat unique because they are more intrusive than regular adware which is limited to rendering coupons, banners, and pop-ups whenever you browse the Internet. This particular program has its own graphical user interface, a window that is randomly opened to promote a certain website. In the case of Own Dates, it is mostly Matchseniors.com, but it can promote other dating websites as well. However, after downloading this application from its website it will redirect you to an online gambling site, but this is the only case when that website is promoted. In addition to the ad-displaying graphical user interface window, this adware will perform another malicious function. It will modify Internet Explorer to open the same promoted websites, and you cannot turn off this function, so it will continually annoy you with its redirections.

In addition to rendering intrusive advertisements for the purpose of generating advertising revenue, this application will also collect information about your browsing habits. We do not understand the reason for doing so since this application does not seem to tailor its ads as they are not region-specific and only promote several dating websites that target American Internet surfers.

How do I remove Own Dates?

Upon installation, this adware drops files to C:\Program Files (x86)\Own Dates and creates several registry keys, but all you have to do is uninstall this adware via Control Panel, and everything will be removed. So now you know everything there is to know about this adware. So if you want to remove it, please use the instructions we have provided at the bottom of this article. If you want to prevent similar applications from infecting your PC in the future, then please consider investing in an anti-malware program that can stop malware dead in its tracks.