QUESTION :
The latest version of Digsby now puts an ad at the bottom of the chat window. I would find this tolerable if it would not animate! I hate animated ads so much I turned off gif animation entirely, both in Firefox and IE. What can I do about digsby?
ANSWER :
Uncheck the checkbox. You will need build 86 to do this.
Go to Tools – Preferences – Conversations
-uncheck box “Support Digsby development by showing an ad in the IM window.”
If you don’t want ads, a better solution might be to drop Digsby. I used it for a while, and it has some nice features, but ever since its inception, Digsby has been loaded with adware. The installer bombards you with offers to install adware and trial software, and the program itself ran distributed computing on users’ processors (which the developers profit from). The developers have a bad track record, and this is just another step in their ongoing tactics of deceiving users and filling their product with unexpected adware.
If you want some alternatives, I would highly recommend Pidgin. It’s free, open source software, without any advertising. It can do most of what Digsby can do, and plugins can add functionality. Another option is Trillian, which has some similar features to Digsby. It’s also free, though not open-source.