You should not assume that all software that contains advertising is spyware. Legitimate advertising-supported software may also show adverts on your computer, and in some cases even gather personal information about you, however the difference is that it is does this with your informed consent. The typical bargain with legitimate advertising-supported software goes like this: in return for you accepting advertising and some agreed collection of information about you, you get some useful software in return.
Spyware is different. Spyware gather at least some personal information about the user of the computer (hence the name SPYware). This usually includes information about your surfing habits, such as web sites visited, but in extreme cases has been known to include highly confidential information such as passwords - even passwords to Internet bank accounts!
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