>>
>> It was a "HotBar" program. It's removed now. :)
>>

Several programs are out there nowadays that offer to skin your taskbar and/or Internet Explo[d|r]er windows, but what they generally don't mention up front is that they also serve up popup ads. I've been burned by these too.

>
> Please note that many "spyware" programs call the server, without being so obvious. Two example are Go!Zilla and GetRight.
>

To be fair, GetRight did at one point contain some ad-generating software, but those have since been removed. According to "GetRight's 'No Adware/Spyware/Extras' Statement" ( http://getright.com/statement.html ) the product currently "contains absolutely no extra advertising add-ons or advertising systems [and] no extra programs tagging along in its installer."

~ Cheers ~