The Spyware Removal Database at Safer Networking (makers of Spybot – Search & Destroy) states "BonziBUDDY is an Internet Explorer toolbar that may change your web browser settings, change your home page, and launch pop-up advertisements while tracking your web browsing habits." The activities the program is said to engage in include constantly resetting the user's web browser homepage to without the user's permission, prompting and tracking various information about the user, and serving advertisements. In 2002 an article in Consumer Reports Web Watch labelled BonziBUDDY as spyware, stating that it contains a backdoor trojan in that it collects information from users. Adware or spywareĪ number of sources identify BonziBUDDY as spyware, a claim the company disputes.
Another article found in 2006 on the BusinessWeek website described BonziBUDDY as "the unbelievably annoying spyware Trojan horse". One of the last newspapers to write about BonziBUDDY while it was still in distribution described it as spyware and a "scourge of the Internet". One reader was quoted as criticizing the program because it "kept popping up and obscuring things you needed to see". In April 2007, PC World readers voted BonziBUDDY the 6th on a list named: "The 20 Most Annoying Tech Products". The version of BonziBUDDY linked on this site has been stripped of any spyware it may have once contained. On 2016, the Bonzi website ( bonzi.link) went back and its now being downloadable compressed file. Bonzi web page remained open after the discontinuation of BonziBUDDY, but was later discontinued at the end of 2008. BonziBUDDY was discontinued in 2004 after the company behind it faced lawsuits regarding the software and was ordered to pay fines.
Some versions of the software were described as spyware and called a virus. It is often referred to in some software as Adult Male #2. The voice was called Sydney and taken from an old Lernout & Hauspie Microsoft Speech API 4.0 package. The program also used a text to speech voice to interact with the user. Later versions of BonziBUDDY featured its own character: Bonzi, the purple gorilla.
The software used Microsoft Agent technology similar to Office Assistant, and originally sported Peedy, a green parrot and one of the characters available with Microsoft Agent.
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