The New York AG's office has entered into separate settlement agreements with these companies finding that they had engaged in deceptive business practices by using adware without consumer consent.  The AG had filed suit against DirectRevenue LLC earlier, and DirectRevenue evidently provided the adware service to these companies.  One exerpt from the settlement agreements:

Direct Revenue installed adware programs onto millions of computers worldwide that delivered to users surfing the Internet a steady stream of advertisements for Direct Revenue's clients, such as Priceline. In selecting which ads to show, Direct Revenue programs also monitored the websites visited by users, along with data typed into web forms. Direct Revenue installed its adware programs on consumers' computers without adequate notice or the consent of consumers. Furthermore, Direct Revenue software was difficult to remove and also surreptitiously installed other programs and updates onto desktops already running its adware.

The Priceline Agreement goes on to state that the AG "finds that, by using Direct Revenue's adware programs to advertise its products and services on the Internet, Priceline has engaged in deceptive business practices in violation of New York General Business Law Section 349 and Executive Law Section 63(12)."   The gist of the complaints is that consumers had downloaded Direct Revenue adware without full notice and consent and continued to receive ads through that software advertising the services of these companies.

Adware is defined in the agreements as: "any downloadable software program that displays advertisements to a computer user, including, but not limited to, programs that display pop-up or pop-under advertisements, redirect website or search requests, install toolbars onto Internet browsers or electronic mail clients, or highlight particular keywords or phrases for Internet users as they surf the web."

New York's "follow the money " approach is this case has long been advocated by online consumer rights organizations such as the Center for Democracy and Technology, which praised the settlements.