Windows Phone Thoughts: RealNetworks: Rethinking Aggressive Marketing Tactics?

RealNetworks is apparently feeling the pressure from Windows Media Player. After years of alienating customers with aggressive marketing tactics, they're now trying to play nice in an attempt to regain some market share and consumer good will. According to a Wired article, "RealNetworks hasn't been doing itself any favors with its affinity for pop-up ads, icon installations throughout users' computers and aggressive (and sometimes misleading) pitches for subscription products, analysts say. Instead of developing user-friendly products, RealNetworks has been focused on getting as much money as possible from users with each registration.

By most accounts, the player itself isn't a bad product. The latest version, Real Player 10, supports every major media format and more than 50 portable media devices, including the iPod. It also includes an integrated online music store, called Rhapsody. The registration process could be easier, however.

"I think they are shooting themselves in the foot in terms of the registration process," said design expert Jakob Nielsen. "You click on 'free' and you see costs. That's a very classic thing called bait and switch. Bait and switch really annoys people."

Real Networks representatives say that their newest software is "kinder, friendlier, easier", and they've also attempted to update their download page to make it easier for people to find what they want.

I've had RealPlayer installed on my system several times over the last few years, and I've always ended up removing it. The last time was several months ago, when I tried to install RealPlayer so I could watch a clip on the BBC news site. 30 minutes later, I was still working through the registration process and reading the reams of fine print to see if I was agreeing to things that I'd later regret. When I finally got through, I found seemingly unremovable icons in several places on my desktop, and I spent another 30 minutes wiping it from my system and chopping off all of the tentacles. :evil: At this point, they'd have to pay me (and not a small amount) to install their player, no matter how hard they've tried to make amends. What do you think?