Adware purveyor WhenU raised $20 million in private equity through ABS Capital Partners, according to Red Herring. The firm said it would use the moneys to flesh out its marketing and distribution efforts, an effort it already had underway as part of its effort to distinguish itself from spyware companies.

The $20 million may be short of its initial funding ambitions. A little less than a year ago, WhenU publicly sought financing of about $50 million, most of which would have gone as a payout to company founders, with $20 million going to fund operations.

WhenU has been aggressively moving more toward the mainstream of advertising since it hired former About.com CEO Bill Day in September. These efforts have been noticed prominently since.

In October, ABS Capital Partners general partner Ralph Terkowitz joined WhenU's board of directors. Terkowitz was once the CEO of WashingtonPost.com and is a vice-chairman of TrustE, the non-profit group that blesses companies with privacy seals of approval.

WhenU has been a bit of a poster child for adware firms under siege by private litigation and state laws. Most famously, a Utah state law - no longer in force - was tailored specifically to stop WhenU from allowing one of its clients to use its adware system to competitively advertise against a Utah competitor.