Now that Redwood City-based spyware company Claria has managed to infect 40 million PCs with software that turns them into advertising displays, the company is ready to clue publishers, as well as marketers, into information about how consumers surf, shop and buy. Claria's software has previously been known as GAIN and Gator and is one of the most pernicious spywares because it is so difficult to remove from infected machines.

According to MediaPost, Claria will report on how many pages consumers viewed before making a purchase, the length of sessions, and whether someone will comparison shop or be loyal to a given shopping site. They'll also tell marketers what conclusions can be drawn about consumers -- such as what you're shopping for or if you're a new parent.

Claria can also tell precisely which Web sites customers visited before buying and what percentage of people visited competitors.

A web search for Claria reveals deep consumer anger at Claria. "By far the widest spread form of adware. Claria is known by a number of names such as GAIN and Gator. Claria is the latest name change for a company that is very widely hated," says I Am Not a Geek, which offers specific removal instructions for Claria/GAIN/Gator.

In 2003, the company settled suits brought against it by the New York Post, The New York Times, Dow Jones and other media companies. The Washington Post, L.L. Bean and Extended Stay America also sued the company. Claria countersued L.L. Bean in 2004.

Claria was also in the news in February when their chief privacy officer D. Reed Freeman Jr. was appointed to the Dept. of Homeland Security's data privacy committee.