................ I don't actually think the app is pernicious or shady (it just duplicates functionality and charges for it).
good statement.
Please remember folks, that the attitudes displayed here (those who are all too happy to go jump on the witch-hunt bandwagon against this application) are the very reason there are not MORE Mac Apps.
Mackeeper is simply a piece of software which does certain things.. There are comparable packages which you can get for free and do the same for less (or free). BUT those other packages may (or may not) have a nice easy-to-use interface....
BUT, the folks who wrote that MacKeeper already know that MOST Mac people are gullible and have more money than good sense.. So why shouldn't they create an app which capitalises on that? Face it, you didn't buy your Mac because it's the cheapest thing on the market. So what if you buy a $40 app when you could've done the same for free?
Does it make them somehow evil for offering an app for sale? Let the market decide for itself, rather than participating in this fishbowl mentality driven by keyboard ninjas, whereby the "collective" has decided they're evil. That mindset holds about as much scientific intelligence as the theory of man-made global warming, it is stupidity in motion. Do NOT be driven by hype or opinion - please consider the actual facts before you form conclusions.
Would I buy MacKeeper??? no. But I also happen to write terminal scripts by the hour, so I've already got a half-dozen concoctions to keep my Mac clean, fast, and relatively like-new..
Would I accept the word of a Mac "Genius" who tells me "Apple doesn't recommend it, so you should remove it"??? **** no. Based on my own real-world experience with Apple "geniuses", i wouldn't trust them to the proper use of toilet paper. And I mean that sincerely. They are there to sell you new Macs, NOT to help you fix your old Mac. never forget that. The Apple store staff are HIGHLY trained salesmen.
Why are MacKeeper ads "everywhere"??
I really suspect that the recent up-surge of ads is due to the acquisition of the package earlier this year by Kromtech Alliance, and they're looking to get their investment back out of it.
The deeper answer to this is simple.. Google ads. They drop a cookie on your Mac, follow where you'e been, find what your interests are, and then advertise to you. it's stupidly simple. If you're unsure of how this works, just go to say Amazon, browse thru an area of products you'd otherwise not look at, then give a few minutes... soon, you'll start seeing ads targeted directly at those same product sales that you previously browsed on Amazon. It's a simple and effective process.. And the Kromtech/ZeoBits folks hired Google to do it for them. Thy're not spamming you anymore than Google is... If you see a boogie-man, congratulations--google has been behind the curtain spamming you for 5yrs..
They've got a 2 week trial version, so (IMHO) let the user see for himself if it's worthwhile. personally, I've got no need for it, as I write my own scripts and do my own HDD cleanup.. but that's not for everyone--some of my clients are fearful of 'freeware', so they'd rather have something like this than say onyx or another app... After all, they're Mac users, already gullible and willing to pay the Apple tax. what's a few bucks more??