The number of sources define 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'. In April 2007, PCWorld readers voted Bonzi Buddy 6th on their list of '20 most annoying tech gadgets'. For example, Bonzi told jokes and sang songs, but to go beyond a few jokes and songs (about half a dozen) users were urged to purchase joke or song modules. But most functions in the free version were only samples or demos that would urge people to pay for modules to extend the functionality.

He will explore the Internet with you as your very own friend and sidekick! He can talk, walk, joke, browse, search, e-mail, and download like no other friend you've ever had! He even has the ability to compare prices on the products you love and help you save money! Best of all, he's FREE! The software 'interacts with users while they are online, providing shopping advice, jokes, and trivia.' Īt one point, the official website for the application said this about it: The software used Microsoft Agent technology similar to Office Assistant, and originally sported Peedy, a green parrot character, before it became the purple ape. This is because BonziBuddy's website has been inactive for several years, although there are remakes, and their connections to the adware providers have been lost, meaning that for the most part, BonziBuddy is now benign.īonziBuddy received wide recognition as malware, predominantly as a piece of adware, though claims of spyware capabilities have been made against it. However, Bonzi tended to do little except occasionally provide stale jokes and greet Joel. The Software became popular in late 2013 due to a livestream released by Joel, a member of the popular gaming group Vinesauce, who made a stream involving releasing Bonzi into a Windows XP Virtual Machine to cause chaos amongst a host of other viruses and adware. It first surfaced as a green talking parrot, before taking the form of an animated purple gorilla that resided on a user's desktop and communicated through the employment of Microsoft Agent technology. The official website stated it would help a person explore the Internet through various functions along with their own sidekick. BonziBUDDY promotional logo previously at īonziBUDDY, sometimes spelled Bonzi Buddy, BonziBuddy, or BONZIBuddy, (misspelled Bonzai Buddy) was an 'intelligent software agent' from BONZI Software, taking the form of a purple gorilla, that was released in 1999 and later discontinued in 2004.

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