uTorrent Makes Advertisement Unremovable in Latest Release

[Ernesto]

With roughly 150 million monthly users uTorrent has a massive user base. This means that when drastic changes are implemented, they are bound to disappoint quite a few people.

One of the biggest backlashes in recent history happened two years ago when BitTorrent Inc. announced its plan to make uTorrent ad-supported. This announcement led to a small user revolt.

The people complaining were mostly annoyed that there was be no option to disable the ads. Luckily for them, BitTorrent Inc. listened to the feedback and quickly decided that users would indeed get a chance to opt-out.

At the time BitTorrent Inc. CEO Eric Klinker said that the backlash made it clear that users should be given the choice.

“We’ve long contemplated an opt-out mechanism for the new offers and advertisements we will be experimenting with. Given all that’s been said here, we’ve decided to release the initial version with an opt-out mechanism, and we will provide them with ways to do so,” said BitTorrent CEO Eric Klinker.

From that moment uTorrent’s ads became optional, but turned on by default. Still, the company managed to generate billions of ad impressions per month. Five billion to be precise, according to information released last year.

The optional advertisements were a situation most users could live with, but right before the weekend uTorrent pushed through an unexpected and unannounced change. The latest stable beta, version 3.4.2, no longer gives users the opportunity to opt out from the banner ad in the lower left corner.

uTorrent with ads, there is no option to disable the bottom left ad

As can be seen below, the option “show plus information” has been removed from the context menu. In addition the advanced setting “gui.show_plus_upsell,” which had the same functionality, has disappeared as well.

uTorrent stable 3.4.1 vs. 3.4.2

At this point it’s unclear why BitTorrent Inc. removed the opt-out. The change is not documented in the release notes, but several users were quick to pick it up and began asking questions.

The uTorrent development team hasn’t responded to the comments yet. Some users are nonetheless quick to draw their conclusions, much like two years ago.

“Just like the coming of the video killing the radio star, ads will kill uTorrent’s popularity,” one user comments in the forums.

While there is no longer an option to hide the uTorrent Plus house ad, people can prevent other ads from showing up there by going into the advanced settings. Setting offers.left_rail_offer_enabled to false should restrict the ads to the uTorrent Plus upsell.

There is no denying that the advertisements, in addition to the toolbars and other software that’s bundled with uTorrent, generate the majority of the revenue for BitTorrent Inc. Perhaps this latest change is an attempt to increase the revenue coming from the banner ads, which eventually goes to paying the company’s bills.

Whether this will be a wise decision in the long run remains to be seen.

source

[NIK]

Thank God for that. Now there can be no question at all that uTorrent should no longer be recommended to anyone, ever. God-damn corporate fucks.

[ The problem we now have is that there is no truly great client-for-newbies-to-moderate-users out there right now. ]

[ShadyJay]

Tixati is awesome. No bloatware and other Bs to steal our bandwidth.

check it out Tixati

[snilloc]

Thank God for that. Now there can be no question at all that uTorrent should no longer be recommended to anyone, ever. God-damn corporate fucks.

[ The problem we now have is that there is no truly great client-for-newbies-to-moderate-users out there right now. ]

So what are the realistic alternatives?

I for one am guilty of starting with uTorrent and sticking with it but with everyone saying how bad it is am willing to try anything (thats free). My main problem is that I don't have a problem it's easy to use hasn't so far (since 2006) let me down. I just don't look at the adds. Get in do what I need to do and get out.

I don't want to get left behind but don't know what to try.

[bob5695]

what's wrong with using 2.2.1?

[Wildcard]

what's wrong with using 2.2.1?

+1 (or 2.0.4 which I still use)

[NIK]

Tixati is awesome. No bloatware and other Bs to steal our bandwidth.

Tixati is what I use. I don't think I'd recommend it to newbies though--too much information and too much power--I suspect they would find it overwhelming.

So what are the realistic alternatives?

For newbies through intermediates, the only plausible candidates appear to be:
http://deluge-torrent.org/
http://www.binarynotions.com/halite-bittorrent-client/
http://www.qbittorrent.org/

I'll post back in a week or two with a specific recommendation (need to give them all decent tries first). EDIT: After a quick first look: I think it very likely Halite will end up in third place. EDIT2: Fuck, I have to admit, at the end of the first day of testing, they ALL appear unworthy.

For advanced users: http://www.tixati.com/

My main problem is that I don't have a problem it's easy to use hasn't so far (since 2006) let me down. I just don't look at the adds. Get in do what I need to do and get out.

If you're happy with anything, stick with it. Don't feel compelled to ditch something that works for you just because I (or anyone) tells you it's crap. But, equally, when it stops working for you, don't hang on to it just because it used to be great.

what's wrong with using 2.2.1?

+1 (or 2.0.4 which I still use)

As above--if you have something which meets your requirements, stick with it.

Personally I do find the lack of the filelist when opening magnet links a minor-but-continual annoyance whereas I've come to love Tixati's open dialog, with the categories, and easy pre-download renaming of files & folders; and the extra information it provides. I also find it's RSS support far superior to uTorrent's (not that I use RSS much but still). I guess I'm also rather put off by what uTorrent has degenerated to and I'm tired of trying to help people use it when they all want to use the latest versions even though they're crap.

[RobertX]

On my GNU/Linux box, I use Transmission. It's also for Macintosh computers too.

I liked Deluge for Windows because it's cross-platform and lightweight, just like Transmission.

[snilloc]

So could I run Tixati and uTorrent side by side at the same time on the same torrents to see which is best for me?

Also people keep saying that 2.2.1 is the best, how could I go back to 2.2.1?

[asterastrip]

µTorrent 2.2.1 changelog

Last builds

-- 2011-05-04: Version 2.2.1 (build 25249)
- promo
-- 2011-04-13: Version 2.2.1 (build 25203)
- Pioneer One episode 3 promo
-- 2011-03-30: Version 2.2.1 (build 25154)
- Change: added 'captive' promo
-- 2011-03-22: Version 2.2.1 (build 25130)
- Change: show red status icon if tracker goes down on private torrents regardless
- Fix: fixed an issue with the structure of the udp tracker announce packets

build 25130 is the last version with actual changes according to utorrent forums.
This is the one is use, works like a charm for me.

Can be downloaded here http://www.filehippo.com/download_utorrent/9519/