Unexpected Malwarebytes "What's New" Pop-up in System Tray

[lmacri]

I saw the following "What's New" pop-up from my system tray today, even though my MB Premium v4.6.1 update was installed back on 25-Aug-2023 and the setting at Notifications | Marketing Preferences | Show Promotional Notifications From Malwarebytes is DISABLED.  Could this be a one-time glitch or is this a new behaviour that I should expect to see in the future?

According to https://addons.mozilla.org/en-US/firefox/addon/malwarebytes/versions/ a new MS Browser Guard for Firefox v2.6.10 was released on 05-Sep-2023 but I've opened and closed my Firefox browser a few times today and Tools | Add-ons and Themes | Extensions shows I'm still on v2.6.9 (updated 31-Aug-2023).  Note that it's not unusual for updates to this extension to lag 3 to 5 days behind the official release date posted in the version history.

mbst-grab-results.zip
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Dell Inspiron 5584 * 64-bit Win 10 Pro v22H2 build 19045.3324 * Microsoft Defender v4.18.23080.2006-1.1.23080.2005 * Malwarebytes Premium v4.6.1.280-1.0.2117 * Macrium Reflect Free v8.0.7279 * Firefox v117.0.0 * Malwarebytes Browser Guard for FF v2.6.9

[Malwarebytes]

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[Porthos]

15 minutes ago, lmacri said:

Could this be a one-time glitch or is this a new behaviour that I should expect to see in the future?

Yes, it is new

This is not marketing, it is not trying to sell you anything so that setting does not matter.

It is offering to tell you what is new from an update.

17 minutes ago, lmacri said:

a new MS Browser Guard for Firefox v2.6.10 was released on 05-Sep-2023 but I've opened and closed my Firefox browser a few times today and Tools | Add-ons and Themes | Extensions shows I'm still on v2.6.9 (updated 31-Aug-2023).  Note that it's not unusual for updates to this extension to lag 3 to 5 days behind the official release date posted in the version history.

It takes several days for Mozilla to approve the extension and install it. Currently, Chromumium browsers get it faster,

[lmacri]

49 minutes ago, lmacri said:

I saw the following "What's New" pop-up from my system tray today, even though my MB Premium v4.6.1 update was installed back on 25-Aug-2023 ...

29 minutes ago, Porthos said:

Yes, it is new...It is offering to tell you what is new from an update.

Hi Porthos:

If this is expected behaviour then a two week delay to tell me what's new with my last product update seems a bit excessive.

EDIT:

FYI, I  just received the update for the latest MB Browser Guard for Firefox v2.6.10 extension in my default Firefox browser.
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Dell Inspiron 5584 * 64-bit Win 10 Pro v22H2 build 19045.3324 * Microsoft Defender v4.18.23080.2006-1.1.23080.2005 * Malwarebytes Premium v4.6.1.280-1.0.2117 * Macrium Reflect Free v8.0.7279 * Firefox v117.0.0 * Malwarebytes Browser Guard for FF v2.6.10

Edited September 8, 2023 by lmacri
Added comment RE: today's MB Browser Guard for FF update

[Porthos]

5 minutes ago, lmacri said:

If this is expected behaviour then a two week delay to tell me what's new with my last product update seems a bit excessive.

I'm guessing It is metered out just like the updates themselves. Look at how long it takes to post a change log here on the forums.

Telemetry probably has something to do with it also, waiting until most of the users have the new version first.

Keep in mind, there has been a big staff reduction as well.

[Porthos]

Also, 4.6.2 was just released.

[dprout69]

I got it too.  Hey Malwarebytes... do you know why I keep this program installed on my computer?  Why I have a paid version?  Because I dont want unnecessary pop ups and Malwarebytes fits that bill until they dont any longer.  Maybe it was a mistake.  I certainly hope it was.  However you need to understand that my computer is not a billboard.  If Im blocking ads, marketing and other non essential nonsense then stuff like this certainly falls into that category.  Notify me if you find something.  Notify me if something needs attention, but otherwise leave me alone.  It's almost like the marketing department is in competition with actual IT at your business and they are constantly trying to find a new way around the protections put in place to leave the customers alone.

[lmacri]

1 hour ago, Porthos said:

Also, 4.6.2 was just released.

HI Porthos:

My last automatic update check was about 20 minutes ago and I'm still on Version 4.6.1.280-1.0.2117, and likely will be for quite some time unless I do a manual check for product updates at Settings | General | Application Updates | Check for Updates.

Are you saying that this "What's New" pop-up is supposed to appear when a product update is ready for download, even if my setting at General | Application Updates | Notify Me When A New Update Becomes Available is DISABLED?

Now I don't know if the "What's New" pop-up I saw this morning was two weeks too late or two days too early. 🙂

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Dell Inspiron 5584 * 64-bit Win 10 Pro v22H2 build 19045.3324 * Microsoft Defender v4.18.23080.2006-1.1.23080.2005 * Malwarebytes Premium v4.6.1.280-1.0.2117 * Macrium Reflect Free v8.0.7279 * Firefox v117.0.0 * Malwarebytes Browser Guard for FF v2.6.10

[Porthos]

I see it as this. It is just telling users what is new with the upgrade, a built-in change log. It is not selling or advertising anything.

Most users never open the program on any regular basis.

Those of you who have issues with the notifications would complain even if came up in the GUI itself.

[Porthos]

1 minute ago, lmacri said:

even if my setting at General | Application Updates | Notify Me When A New Update Becomes Available is DISABLED?

Most do not have it set that way.

 

[lmacri]

3 hours ago, Porthos said:

Most do not have it set that way.

Hi Porthos:

Well, some do have Settings | General | Application Updates | Notify Me When A New Update Becomes Available DISABLED and would like to have that setting respected.  I follow H4V0C's thread Malwarebytes 4.6 and already received an automated email notification today about the release of MB Premium v2.6.2.  I don't need or want to see a pop-up notification on my screen every time a product update is released as well.

I could have posted about this in the Comments and Suggestions board but didn't want to do that after my last suggestion <here> on 20-Aug-2023 was rejected out of hand by a staffer (somewhat flippantly, I felt) so if no one can tell me how to stop these "What's New" pop-ups without turning off all my notifications then I'll just have to live with it.
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Dell Inspiron 5584 * 64-bit Win 10 Pro v22H2 build 19045.3324 * Microsoft Defender v4.18.23080.2006-1.1.23080.2005 * Malwarebytes Premium v4.6.1.280-1.0.2117 * Macrium Reflect Free v8.0.7279 * Firefox v117.0.0 * Malwarebytes Browser Guard for FF v2.6.10

[Porthos]

34 minutes ago, lmacri said:

I could have posted about this in the Comments and Suggestions board but didn't want to do that after my last suggestion <here> on 20-Aug-2023 was rejected out of hand by a staffer (somewhat flippantly

The staff on the forums have no say in how the software is developed. They like the rest of us have to deal with the changes no matter how we think or want/wish.

37 minutes ago, lmacri said:

so if no one can tell me how to stop these "What's New" pop-ups without turning off all my notifications then I'll just have to live with it.

I doubt even turning off notifications will stop those as they are different from regular notifications.

[Badran]

I received this the other day as well. Was under the assumption that it was a marketing notification too.

Very strange that it would show it this late, when the last update came out around 3 weeks ago. Hopefully the update today has improved the notification logic.

[Porthos]

58 minutes ago, Badran said:

when the last update came out around 3 weeks ago

No, it just came out. Everyone does not get updated at the same time automatically.

 

[Badran]

So the notification appeared for the latest update that came out on the 8th?

I got the notification on the Wednesday prior to the update, unless the update came out in other regions at that point. I normally forget about how updates can be rolled out differently for users/regions.

Edited September 9, 2023 by Badran

[BillH99999]

No other software I use displays pop-ups to tell you what is new.  Why doesn't MB use a link on the About page so we can click on it if we want to know what the updates were.  That is what most software does (if they do it at all).  It if very annoying to get popups like this.  You should only be using them to notify us if something is malware of some kind and you blocked it, quarantined it, etc.

Edited September 10, 2023 by BillH99999