The Google-backed firm that offers analysis of websites and software says users should steer clear of RealPlayer 10.5 and 11, but Real disputes their analysis.

The site says that Real needs to more conspicuous about its intentions to install the message center application in RealPlayer 10.5, and the Rhapsody Player Engine in RealPlayer 11. It recommends that users install neither version until the issues are fixed.

The message center is something that consumers have apparently complained heavily about, and has actually been made optional in RealPlayer 11. Calling it "advertising software," StopBadware says that the company fails to fully disclose its intentions.

However, in an interview with BetaNews, Real corporate communications head Bill Hankes called the description a stretch of the truth. The only things it "advertises" are updates to Real software and applications: no third-party advertisements appear.

"That's incorrect. In RealPlayer 11, you can decline the message center," he said. "Earlier versions were criticized by customers who said the message center was intrusive, so in this version we made it optional."

A second charge by StopBadware was that RealPlayer 11 fails to uninstall all functionality if the user chooses to remove the software. What remains is the Rhapsody Player Engine, which allows for the playback of files encapsulated in Real's DRM scheme.

Hankes described this issue as more of an oversight on Real's part. "We actually learned about the issue from this report," he said, saying that the characterization of Real deceptively installing software "was a bit harsh." It would be fixed in a future update.

The Rhapsody Player Engine can function on its own, however. Hankes gave the example of the Rhapsody Web site, where the application is installed on the user's computer to play files off the site.

"The user would see the download as an ActiveX control," he told BetaNews.