- Zwinky is an application for the Windows operating system and is managed by the Mindspark Interactive Network, Inc, a property of InterActiveCorp (IAC). You generate an avatar using simple templates for social network profiles and to interact with others on supporting sites or in Zwinktopia, an online world. Zwinky is supported by adware and has promoted several movies and brands through games and selling specialized clothing for avatars. Zwinky has sometimes been criticized as malware or spyware because the software suite installs secondary programs that change the behavior of other applications and are difficult to uninstall. Despite protest from IAC, several spyware and malware sites have classified all or part of the suite as spyware.
- Zwinky began its beta development in June, 2006 and officially launched on December 5, 2006 with over 2 million users. In October, 2006, Zwinky and its attendant software suite fell under sharp criticism by spyware researchers Ben Edelman and Bill Pytlovany, who argued that by targeting children and emphasizing the entertaining nature of their product, IAC and Ask.com were misleading about the commercial nature of their software. It was also argued that by hooking its functions into secure software such as email clients and web browsers, Zwinky violated that software's terms of use. Originally popular on MySpace, the social avatars have spread to other networks and the virtual world Zwinktopia was launched April 29, 2007. In September, 2007, a virtual marketplace offering the purchase of virtual and real world merchandise was added to Zwinktopia, and starting February 5, 2008, stores began selling Zbuck giftcards for use in the online world.
- Zwinky and the accompanying software focuses on entertainment and provides custom, portable avatars for use on supporting websites. It also functions globally, integrating with instant messengers, web browsers and email clients to add social functionality such as smilies while also redirecting incorrect URLs and nonexistent web addresses to a web search site, which then returns search results from Zwinky's sponsors and other subsidiaries of IAC. Zwinky also updates globally, meaning that when changes are made to the Zwinky's appearance, its appearance will change on every site where it is in use.
- The program suite runs at startup and integrates with supported programs as you use them. Upon launching a web browser, Zwinky can be invoked by clicking the icon that appears above the search box. After creating an account, choose a name, gender and body parts, creating your Zwinky, which will be shown as a cartoon figure wearing a barrel. You then dress the Zwinky using a "paper-doll" interface to select clothing and features. Once created, a site that supports Zwinky allows you to sign in with your avatar and use it to interact on the site, while Zwinktopia allows you to sign in and play games, earn and spend Zbucks and interact with other avatars.
- While Zwinky and its accompanying software suite will not harm your computer, it may affect performance or interfere with the functioning of other programs. Some consider the program to be intrusive and characterize it as spyware or malware, and some spyware detection programs identity it as harmful.
