Bellevue-based Zango, the online ad distributor whose business tactics have been under attack for years, has acquired comparison shopping service SmartShopper for $9 million, according to unnamed sources in TechCrunch.

Smart Shopper apparently was once owned by HotBar, the New York company that Zango acquired in June 2006.

Formerly known as 180 Solutions, Zango has landed in hot water for installing its ad-serving software without computer users' knowledge and making the uninstall process difficult to navigate. Zango has attempted to clean up its distribution network in recent years, though some critics continue to slam the company.

I have a call in to the company to check the accuracy of TechCrunch's report.

UPDATE: Zango spokesman Steve Stratz confirmed the acquisition, saying that the deal closed Oct. 2. He declined to comment on the purchase price, but did say that SmartShopper employs about a dozen people in Tel Aviv. With the acquisition, Zango will employ more than 50 people in Tel Aviv.

Stratz said that SmartShopper is different from online shopping comparison sites (PriceGrabber, Shopzilla, Mpire, Bountii, etc.) because it requires a software download and is integrated in the browser. That allows online shoppers to receive product results as they move from site to site or conduct searches related to shopping terms. That compares to the online services, which require users to actively find the site and type in the product they are looking for. Stratz compared the SmartShopper idea to metasearch, allowing users to get product results from numerous Web sites including the price comparison services. It also allows advertisers to direct highly-targeted advertisements to shoppers based on their browsing activity.

SmartShopper has been integrated into Zango's offering through a product called ShopperReports. It will also continue to be distributed as a standalone product, Stratz said.