180solutions has announced that it has acquired application development company Easy Message and released Zango Messenger. Zango Messenger is a simplified, lightweight multi-network client that includes support for AOL, Yahoo! and MSN.

Beyond offering a simple IM client, Zango acts as both an access key for users to get at promotional Web content, and as a conduit for targeted Web pages, which are opened on user machines daily. According to information from the company, average users will face two or three targeted

Being a new product, Zango Messenger has no track record, but past Zango products (such as the Zango Search Assistant) have been labeled as adware and spyware by tools designed to remove such products, including Microsoft's recently released AntiSpyware product.

180solutions has allegedly also had problems in this area with other members of the Consortium of Anti-Spyware Technology (COAST). Computer Associates left the group earlier this week saying "we are withdrawing from COAST because we believe the organization no longer has the ability to create a consensus for effective anti-spyware standards."

In its own defense, 180solutions has responded to criticism by saying that it changed previous, controversial practices in order to gain admission to COAST.
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