Claria, best known for Gator adware (that green colored cartoon alligator), which display pop-up ads on the computers of web surfers, has decided to quit and sell the adware business.

Gator is most frequently installed together with programs being offered free of charge, such as Go!Zilla, or Kazaa. Gator is usually installed without an uninstall routine making it difficult to remove.

Claria was a defendant in numerous lawsuits filed by The New York Times Co., Wells Fargo and other businesses, which complained that pop-up ads served obscured other advertising on their Web sites.

Claria will finally exit out of the adware business by the end of the second quarter of 2006.

Sources: Press Release | Yahoo! News | Wikipedia | ZDNet