Ads and scareware are a complete disgrace as part of a security software

[tzon89]

I am uninstalling Norton because I am tired of un-mutable notifications that prompt me to buy more services as if something is wrong with my system. I have (had) both Norton Premium and Norton Utilities and both programs tell me that I need to buy more. Norton Security wants extra money (around $50) to remove privacy trackers and Utilities wants an additional $50 to update drivers. None of these notifications can be turned off. Norton, according to definition, is clearly classified as adware/scareware. This is a disgrace for a company that once used to be the number one security solution.

[bjm]

@tzon89

I am uninstalling Norton because I am tired of un-mutable notifications that prompt me to buy more services as if something is wrong with my system. I have (had) both Norton Premium and Norton Utilities and both programs tell me that I need to buy more. Norton Security wants extra money (around $50) to remove privacy trackers and Utilities wants an additional $50 to update drivers. None of these notifications can be turned off. Norton, according to definition, is clearly classified as adware/scareware. This is a disgrace for a company that once used to be the number one security solution.

Hello @tzon89

A lot of longtime users share that frustration with modern security suites. What you’re describing is less about malware behavior in the technical sense and more about aggressive upselling and “security marketing” built into the product experience.

Your reaction is not unusual. Over the last several years, many security vendors — not just Norton — have shifted from “quiet protection” toward subscription ecosystems that continuously market adjacent services inside the product UI.

Norton uses upselling primarily as a revenue strategy to move existing customers into higher-priced subscription tiers and add-on services. This practice, often criticized as behaving like “adware” or “scareware,” is deeply integrated into the software’s interface and scanning tools.

Why Norton Continues to Upsell

• Monetization of Existing Users: Norton views its installed software as a direct marketing platform to sell high-margin add-ons like Norton Utilities Ultimate, Driver Updater, or LifeLock identity protection.
• Strategic Feature Placement: Features like “Smart Scan” are designed to identify non-critical “performance issues” (such as tracking cookies or temporary files) and label them as “risks” to create a sense of urgency, prompting users to purchase a fix.
• Product Bundling and Mergers: Following mergers with other security brands like Avast and AVG, Norton has integrated technologies from these firms into its main product, often requiring additional fees to unlock them fully.
• Automatic Renewal Focus: The software frequently prompts users to enable or verify billing information to ensure continuous annual renewals, which are often billed at a higher standard rate than introductory offers.

Norton itself is still considered a legitimate antivirus vendor by the security industry. Its malware detection engine and reputation databases are real and widely used. The criticism is usually aimed at the business model and user experience rather than the core antivirus engine.

Norton shows ads after a Smart Scan because the feature is designed not just for security, but as an upselling tool for additional paid services. While it checks for malware, it also scans for “performance issues” like broken registry keys or tracking cookies, which it then offers to fix if you purchase or subscribe to add-ons like Norton Utilities Ultimate or Driver Updater.

• Performance “Risks”: Smart Scan often labels non-critical items (like temporary browser files) as “issues” to create a sense of urgency, prompting you to “View Solution,” which opens an advertisement for a Norton cleanup tool.
• Default Behavior: Smart Scan is the default scan presented in the main interface, making it the primary way Norton markets additional features to current subscribers.
• Marketing Integration: These notifications are often “baked into” the product and may appear even if you have already disabled standard marketing notifications.

• Instead of using the “Smart Scan” button, use the Quick Scan or Full Scan options under the Scans tile. These traditional scans focus on security threats without the performance upselling at the end.

FAQ: Smart Scan
Learn more about Norton scans
Configure scan settings for Norton scans

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AI sourced content may make mistakes

[tzon89]

I see that there are more frustrated users.

Another very annoying thing that I noticed when I uninstalled it, was that it asked me for the reason, and the ads (upselling) were included in the reasons. That wasn’t a general question, as “I don’t like it” or “I find it difficult to use”, which suggests that the ads were a specific thing designed to be a tolerable problem. So, the company is trying to find the sweet spot between how many users are going to leave because of this behavior vs. how much more upselling they are going to make, quite a disrespectful action for the customers.

It seems that security for Windows is a shrinking business, partly due to Microsoft Defender I assume, but these business practices really make me wonder…

[xjoex]

Just my opinion and 2 cents worth.

Microsoft Defender is a useful tool and can be used when no other options are available. It is however much less powerful and capable than Norton, Bitdefender, Kaspersky and other pay for products.

There are many tests run by independent labs that show results for many different security products and Norton ranks high while Microsoft Defender much lower.

As for all the upsell I receive little to none with Norton options on to prevent notifications. I also rarely run smart scan and avoid the Norton home page in the UI. As a result I can say even though I am not happy with the upsell I have managed to block and ignore.

Does not mean Norton is clean from all this and I wish they would stop their predatory marketing practices. But as I pay about $20 yearly for the product I can live with it.

[globus5000]

så hvis du vil ha svaret så skal du bare sige til og du må få det men det er helt op til dig fordi jeg vil godt give det til dig du skal bare spørge men du tror nok ikke på svaret

[tzon89]

I see that in the last five years, Windows Defender scores similar results with other well-established antivirus providers in tests made by AV-Comparatives and AV-Test .org.

Also, I found out that via group policy, you can increase the default sensitivity of Defender to: 1) moderate, 2) High, 3) High+ and 4) zero tolerance.

I believe these higher options will make the PC extremely secure, considering also that Microsoft retrieves malware samples from all Windows PCs and not just their customer base.

I don’t see why I should continue paying for Norton, especially for their new ways of treating customers.