> the ad the article is talking about is hardcoded and always shows up to windows users

NoScript has a checkbox to disable displaying the page on updates.

That doesn't change the fact that the ad is always displayed to any windows users that visit the website.

Even if this page was never shown during install/updates, it would still be an issue.

Is it really too much to ask that the author of a security/privacy related application not try to push malware?

Exactly. I find it bizarre that so many here seem to see this as no big issue. An application touting itself as something to keep you safe on the web uses its website to advertise malware, and the author of this application goes to great lengths to make its ad for this malware as difficult to block as possible - even for users who've gone to trouble of protecting themselves (ie. by installing an adblocker). Why anyone would want to downplay this or continue to use an application from someone who does this is beyond me.

As another user pointed out lower in this submission. The software isn't exactly malware, and does do what it says on the box.

If that's the case, this isn't really an issue to me. It's just an ad for software that I have no need for.

The software reportedly tells you there are problems with your computer when none actually exist. That's shady at best and fraudulent at worst.

Depends on what your definition of a problem is. Even a fresh Windows install is going to have deletable temp files.

Really the worst thing you can say about that app is that it's overpriced. It's doing nothing that ccleaner doesn't do for free.

It's still enabled by default.