Annoying Sales Popups from CCleaner - How to STOP!

[Ya Know]

Hello,

I have been using Ccleaner for many, many, many years...but this may be my last.

I am aware that another company owns CCleaner and they are pushing the envelop on the sales reach and taking away the pure spirit CCleaner once had regarding no ads, no BS.  That's something I am finding different these days, compared to the years of good cleaning I have enjoyed.  The pricing is gauging me, now too.  The slimy Cash Back scheme is VERY old co-opting scheme used by some of the worst marketers and tools I ever used.  So, that is a huge disappointment.  I am sure the Parent company who purchased CCleaner knew this, and doesn't give 2 cents of care about us, the original customer base.  If they do, then they will back off the aggressive sales tactics which I find flies in the face of what CCleaner was vs what it has become.

In a small effort I am trying to stop the SPAM from CCleaner itself.  BTW(there is ABOSOLUTY, no way I would pay for software that is pulling the old McAfee(Slimmy) sales style pop-ups, nagging screens we see in CCleaner.  Here: https://share.getcloudapp.com/wbu9E9Ad

 

We see here in settings - we do not have the option to stop 1st party ads, simply those from 3rd parties.

I get these annoying pop-ups all the time.  It sucks when I am using my computer, and these distractions overlay my work and pull my focus.  It won't be happening for much longer as I will delete this software and never look back again if I can't find a good answer to my question here within 3 days.  No real lose, other than I paid for pro for a couple years, hoping for the best.

For the best meaning - I thought by paying such a HIGH price - they would make enough to reduce the invasive BS on my computer from their "Cleaner".  Well, that's not what has happened.  If anything - I see more development $ spent on invading my system even more.  I don't know all the details, and really don't care.  All I know is CCleaner used to be $9 and worked like a charm, now it's $29-$100 and works like mud on a pig.

 

Here is my settings page:

https://share.getcloudapp.com/2NuENqmn

 

If anyone knows how to stop the stupid insanity of this "healthy app" - please let me know.  It's about to become a straggler.

 

Thank you!

 

Ya know?

 

 

[CSGalloway]

Go to Options -> Privacy and make sure no tick marks appear.

[Ya Know]

Thank you so much, CSGallowway.

Just like this screenshot shows?

https://share.getcloudapp.com/2NuENqmn

 

[CSGalloway]

Yes just like the image shows...

[Ya Know]

All cleared check boxes is what I have had set since the day I have had access to these setting in CCleaner.

I have always had the mindset to keep pop-ups off my computer and browsing experiences, too (I used other tools for that).

Looks like CCleaner and co. sells a browsing product.  After seeing what they have done with CCleaner - I wouldn't advise to install their browsing tool at all.  LOL

It's obvious a conflict of interest based on why we purchase and what we are forced to deal with, regarding the pop-ups and high prices.

The additions like the Health tool appear to be of a different breed as well.  Just re-skinned software (probably acquired software) shoved into CCleaner's menu.

Why do I say that?  Because, the idea of making it simple for simple-minded people who can't decide or be bothered with complex check boxes, are given no options and the behavior is so different from the original CCleaner.  Appears the development decision was about saving money/making way more..all the while saying it's more valuable now and charging an arm and a leg for it.  Hence pushing, pushing, pushing pop-ups and higher prices.  In fact, the value is near zero as the pop-ups and development decisions have been self-centered on their desires (For a few years now) and not in the best value/interests of customers', like you and I?  So there we have it.  Looks like CCleaner has been hi-jacked and the team is focused on profits over true value.

Seriously, never felt this bad about a product.  It sucks when you love a product, see it get acquired to burn through the customer list and milked.  I wanted to support it, but it's really feeling like another form of malware at this point.

[Dave CCleaner]

6 hours ago, Ya Know said:

I get these annoying pop-ups all the time.

Note that those are not ads.  The example you gave was of a loyalty discount offer in a renewal reminder related to your subscription because you are coming up to expiry at some point in the near future.  From a couple of months before expiry you'd be getting a reminder about every 2 weeks - although when there is a special limited-time promotional discount available you may get 3-4 in the space of a week.

If you are receiving renewal reminders more frequently than this, then (unless you are very close to your expiry date) the most common source of such overmessaging is if you have accidentally configured CCleaner to wipe the "I have already seen this message and I don't need to see it again" flag as a result of removing too many things from the cookie cleaning whitelist.  The fix for this is to go to Options > Cookies in the CCleaner console, right click in "Cookies to Keep", select Import and import the cookies.txt attached here - which should resolve that problem for you.

cookies.txt

If you are getting other notifications relating to CCleaner having found something to clean that you don't want to be notified about, that is configurable through Options > Smart Cleaning.

6 hours ago, CSGalloway said:

Go to Options -> Privacy and make sure no tick marks appear.

Those privacy settings relate to data processing rather than notifications, per se.  That said, a few times a year we may offer discounts on CCleaner Professional to free users (usually as 1-3 notifications per campaign, depending on how long it is running for), and those who uncheck that "See possible upgrades and offers for our other products by sharing app-usage data with us" will generally not see most of these.

6 hours ago, Ya Know said:

The pricing is gauging me

If you are in the US, Piriform has not changed the price for a 1 PC licence of CCleaner Professional from US$25 since it first went on sale ~10 years ago.  For users with multiple PCs, the CCleaner Professional Plus bundle for $40 was boosted to support up to 3 PCs back in May 2019.  We understand that not all of our users can afford CCleaner Professional, which is why we have an ongoing commitment to always offer a free version of CCleaner, along with our other performance and privacy tools.

[Ya Know]

4 hours ago, Dave CCleaner said:

Note that those are not ads.  The example you gave was of a loyalty discount offer in a renewal reminder related to your subscription because you are coming up to expiry at some point in the near future.  From a couple of months before expiry you'd be getting a reminder about every 2 weeks - although when there is a special limited-time promotional discount available you may get 3-4 in the space of a week.

If you are receiving renewal reminders more frequently than this, then (unless you are very close to your expiry date) the most common source of such overmessaging is if you have accidentally configured CCleaner to wipe the "I have already seen this message and I don't need to see it again" flag as a result of removing too many things from the cookie cleaning whitelist.  The fix for this is to go to Options > Cookies in the CCleaner console, right click in "Cookies to Keep", select Import and import the cookies.txt attached here - which should resolve that problem for you.

cookies.txt 134 B · 1 download

If you are getting other notifications relating to CCleaner having found something to clean that you don't want to be notified about, that is configurable through Options > Smart Cleaning.

Those privacy settings relate to data processing rather than notifications, per se.  That said, a few times a year we may offer discounts on CCleaner Professional to free users (usually as 1-3 notifications per campaign, depending on how long it is running for), and those who uncheck that "See possible upgrades and offers for our other products by sharing app-usage data with us" will generally not see most of these.

If you are in the US, Piriform has not changed the price for a 1 PC licence of CCleaner Professional from US$25 since it first went on sale ~10 years ago.  For users with multiple PCs, the CCleaner Professional Plus bundle for $40 was boosted to support up to 3 PCs back in May 2019.  We understand that not all of our users can afford CCleaner Professional, which is why we have an ongoing commitment to always offer a free version of CCleaner, along with our other performance and privacy tools.

Yet another malware type pop-up from this software.

https://share.getcloudapp.com/ApuR4B1R

It's annoying and the entire purpose of your software is to optimize my computer, not do whatever, whenever.  Not going to pay to be treated with Loyalty.  LOL

I am uninstalling it now.  Just letting you know, my loyalty and our relationship is over due to high pricing and software "loyalty" behavior.  Not my monkey, not my circus.

 

[spewak]

I am also experiencing these annoying popups. So far, no answer that works has been provided.

*EDIT*

I had to login to forum to be able to download the .txt file. All is well now. No more ANNOYING popups.

Edited April 7, 2021 by spewak

[Gardis]

Now it's tightening up, CCleaner.

We PAY for our pro licenses and have 155 PAID days left.

Still, your software has been like a pinball game for some time with lots of advertising - or rather SPAM.

This is neither acceptable nor serious when we pay for the service and have half the time left.

Stop, otherwise many of us will abandon CCleaner.

In some cases, even the pop-up box can not be closed and yesterday's advertising caused script errors.

[spewak]

The popup is still occurring. Cookies installed as per instructions but popup is back. I am with Gardis. If this continues into June (my renewal date), I will not be renewing. It's a situation that needs to get rectified.

[JARROD]

I have been asked to extend my license too.  Any I saw a $70 cashback, how does that work?  Why don't they just deduct the $70 straight from the renewal prioce?

[Dave CCleaner]

4 hours ago, JARROD said:

I have been asked to extend my license too

You will get occasional renewal reminders coming up to your expiry date with links to loyalty discounts and/or exclusive renewal offers. If there is a sale on, things get a little noisier for a couple of days.  The current cashback promotion for renewing customers ends today, so you won't hear back about this one after the "last chance" message.

4 hours ago, JARROD said:

Why don't they just deduct the [varies by currency] straight from the renewal price?

Our cashback offers let us give much bigger effective discounts that we normally be able to provide.  There are a couple of extra steps that you need to go through after the purchase, but we have tried to make the process and quick and straightforward as we can to get the rebate paid back to you. We have rebated over $1M to customers over our recent cashback campaigns - so we have the process down reasonably smoothly. 

The cashback is paid back as a rebate to the same method of payment that you use to place your order.  If you purchase the 2 year CCleaner Premium / Kamo bundle (for up to 5 computers), you will receive a code along with the purchase that you can use to process your claim through a web form.

You can find more information about how the cashback offer works by scrolling down to read more on the cashback webpage that you visited, and also on https://www.ccleaner.com/ccleaner/cashback/how and https://www.ccleaner.com/ccleaner/cashback/support. 

Some customers like the additional savings from the cashback, some prefer a straight discount.  If the cashback process does not appeal to you, you may receive some form of straight discount offer (albeit with a smaller discount rate) at some point in the future before your licence expires.

[JARROD]

17 hours ago, Dave CCleaner said:

You will get occasional renewal reminders coming up to your expiry date with links to loyalty discounts and/or exclusive renewal offers. If there is a sale on, things get a little noisier for a couple of days.  The current cashback promotion for renewing customers ends today, so you won't hear back about this one after the "last chance" message.

Our cashback offers let us give much bigger effective discounts that we normally be able to provide.  There are a couple of extra steps that you need to go through after the purchase, but we have tried to make the process and quick and straightforward as we can to get the rebate paid back to you. We have rebated over $1M to customers over our recent cashback campaigns - so we have the process down reasonably smoothly. 

The cashback is paid back as a rebate to the same method of payment that you use to place your order.  If you purchase the 2 year CCleaner Premium / Kamo bundle (for up to 5 computers), you will receive a code along with the purchase that you can use to process your claim through a web form.

You can find more information about how the cashback offer works by scrolling down to read more on the cashback webpage that you visited, and also on https://www.ccleaner.com/ccleaner/cashback/how and https://www.ccleaner.com/ccleaner/cashback/support. 

Some customers like the additional savings from the cashback, some prefer a straight discount.  If the cashback process does not appeal to you, you may receive some form of straight discount offer (albeit with a smaller discount rate) at some point in the future before your licence expires.

Honestly, it was really a tough trying to get in touch with your sales team.  It would have been nice to give easier navigation.  Also as a feedback, it is not easy to find the 24/7 Instant support I needed.

[BillieB0B]

On 08/06/2021 at 00:27, Dave CCleaner said:

cashback offers let us give much bigger effective discounts

There is absolutely no logic or common sense to making the extra work & expense for yourselves, and especially the PIA and assuming the additional financial burden for users. This is double talk, really saying nothing, and I find the lack of transparency deceptive at a minimum.

On 08/06/2021 at 18:25, JARROD said:

Some customers like the additional savings from the cashback, some prefer a straight discount. 

Some customers just move to one of the multitude of other maintenance and utility resources....I'd like the two year but I won't finance you and wait for my own money back. If you'd like to really explain this, I'd be interested in hearing it.

[Dave CCleaner]

8 hours ago, BillieB0B said:

There is absolutely no logic or common sense to making the extra work & expense for yourselves

As previously mentioned - some users like the additional savings that can be obtained from the cashback and some prefer the simplicity of a straight discount.  CCleaner does not collect or correlate information on its customers that would allow us to target offers based on predicted user preferences - so we offer both and let our customers decide which they want.  If a particular offer does not appeal to you, you are of course free to wait to see some future offer suits you better.

If you have received an offer recently relating to the renewal of your CCleaner Professional Plus subscription, you would notice that as well as the cashback offer on CCleaner Professional Premium, there are a couple of other options there on the offer page that you were directed to with instant (non-cashback) discounts - albeit with lesser degrees of savings. 

Cashback promotions generally only last for about a week.  A couple of weeks after the cashback offer ends, you may receive another renewal reminder with different discounting options (including on the 2 year CCleaner Professional Premium) and no cashback.

[EJToll]

I'm glad you have discounts and promotions. That's what email is for. I have unchecked every friggin box dealing with notifications and I still get promo announcement popups from CCleaner that take up close to a quarter of my 27" monitor.

HOW DO I STOP THEM??? I DON'T WANT THEM. I DON'T CARE ABOUT THE OFFERS. PUT THE OFFERS ON YOUR WEBSITE, SEND THEM AS EMAIL, BUT DO NOT INVADE MY OPERATING SYSTEM.

My time is valuable. I don't like to be interrupted from actual work to have to close the stupid, unwanted, uninvited popup.

If it's not possible to exclude this feature from CCleaner, I'll just find another application--which would be a shame since I've been using CCleaner since some of its earliest versions.

[Dave CCleaner]

@EJToll: What promotion did you get and when?  The last offer for free users ended over a week ago. As did the cashback offer for renewing customers.

If your licence has expired and you are getting periodic reminders of this then (but no longer require any of the CCleaner paid features such as Driver Updater, HealthCheck, scheduled cleaning, etc) then reverting to the free version of CCleaner will resolve this.  If your licence expires in the near future, then you may receive a reminder every 1-2 weeks, depending on how close to expiry you are.

Note that "members only" renewal pricing is not available to the general public and is not published on the CCleaner website.

[EJToll]

"Those  are not ads..." then what are they. They take up nearly a quarter of my 27-inch monitor and are unwanted. They are not a loyalty bonus or special deal ... you have our email for that. They are a blatant popup ad. Today, it popped up while I was in the middle of editing a video, and trying to make a precuse edit, which the popup screwed up.

I renew in November. If another popup displays before then, I'll just go with Iolo and not renew any of my Piriform applications -- I have four paid versions of four of them.

YOU HAVE NO INVITATION OR RIGHT TO INTRUDE ON MY DESKTOP. 

[Léon]

As a user of the free version I almost never see any ads. Strange!

[CSGalloway]

i use the free version and got a popup recently.  I too wish there wss a way to optout...

[Dave CCleaner]

On 24/09/2021 at 02:28, EJToll said:

They take up nearly a quarter of my 27-inch monitor

@EJToll: Usually folks with large monitors are complaining that the notifications are too small to read at high resolution (since they show up at a fixed pixel width and height).  What screen resolution are you working with?

[Bologna]

On 25/09/2021 at 11:50, Dave CCleaner said:

@EJToll: Usually folks with large monitors are complaining that the notifications are too small to read at high resolution (since they show up at a fixed pixel width and height).  What screen resolution are you working with?

Wow. I will be cancelling my Pro subscription because of this response. It's unbelievable how dense you continue to be when customers are complaining about intrusive popups that need to be removed entirely and you are more concerned about the size of the popup on the screen. I'm uninstalling and never looking back.

[johnduncan]

On 25/09/2021 at 12:50, Dave CCleaner said:

@EJToll: Usually folks with large monitors are complaining that the notifications are too small to read at high resolution (since they show up at a fixed pixel width and height).  What screen resolution are you working with?

I am assuming that you've been taught how to be better at your job by this point but your responses were astounding. I'm cancelling my subscription and deleting this obnoxious app. Saying "its not an ad" its just a solicitation for you to renew your subscription... that's an ad, you lunatic. I have installed your software on countless computers over the years but don't expect me to ever use your services again in the future. What a disappointment your company has become. 

[Dave CCleaner]

9 hours ago, johnduncan said:

its just a solicitation for you to renew your subscription ... that's an ad

Well not quite.  For customers who are not on autobilling it is quite reasonable to let them know in advance that they need to take some action to avoid having their service cut-off.   To ensure that customers on autobilling are not at any disadvantage (such as yourself, as your subscription for CCleaner Professional Plus was due to be billed to your credit card in about a month), we periodically make offers available to renew at a lower price.  For customers who forgot they they had a CCleaner subscription that they may not want to have billed for whatever reason, this also serves as an additional advance reminder to cancel prior to their upcoming billing date.

For customers who do not wish to receive so many service notifications, back in 2020 we added an option under Options > Privacy > Offers that reduces their frequency.  For example, the notification that you received this morning that the current offer was about to end would not have appeared for you, as a customer with automatic billing in place and a month still to go, if you had had that box unchecked.

[Léon]

Just stop with reminders: people can think for themselves.