Name and shame might become the name of the game for advertisers whose ads are served via surreptitious adware, according to a commissioner of the Federal Trade Commission (FTC), reports CNET. Speaking at an Anti-Spyware Coalition event this week, Jon Leibowitz said "maybe shaming a company on how they are spending money" might benefit consumers' privacy, he said. He would recommend publicly shaming advertisers to the other FTC commissioners if the adware problem doesn't decrease, he said.

The FTC would publicly announce and publish the names of companies that advertise via adware that surreptitiously installs itself on PCs - or via spyware - Leibowitz said.

Many attendees at the event agreed that outing such advertisers might work; however, Trevor Hughes, executive director of the Network Advertising Initiative, is quoted as saying it would be a "drastic action." He says some "well-intentioned advertisers…do not understand where their ads are appearing."