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Adblock Plus “typo correction” feature adds affiliate IDs to links

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Re: Adblock Plus “typo correction” feature adds affiliate IDs to links

#71

Post by [deleted] »

citricsquid wrote: post #62
bad_user wrote: post #45

I cannot verify the claims, but I'll state the reasons once again about why I'm not using ad blockers: 1) free websites and web services need revenue and as long as the ads are tasteful, I don't mind them 2) I actually want websites to annoy me with lots of stupid ads, as I want to stop using such websites, because I want to reward publishers that don't do that Ad blockers are trying to fix a symptom of the disease a…

Plus a huge number of people that adblock have been doing it for years and are basing the continued usage on the assumption that adverts now are similar to the adverts in 2006 - 2009. I use a lot of different websites with advertisements and I can't think of the last time I've seen an advertisement that auto-played sound or caused lag, whereas in 2008 it was a daily occurrence. The value that advertisements provide (…

[deleted]

Re: Adblock Plus “typo correction” feature adds affiliate IDs to links

#72

Post by dbcooper »

chalst wrote: post #29
sdfjkl wrote: post #3

So what's a good alternative (Firefox)? I'm using GlimmerBlocker, but due to being a proxy, it can't filter HTTPS pages. Adblock Edge looks like a decrapified fork of Adblock Plus.

The easiest to audit is to change /etc/hosts to send malware sites to 127.0.0.1. I use Dan Pollock's hosts file, which is well-commented: http://someonewhocares.org/hosts/ I keep a Git repository with the contents that I update from time to time - this makes it easier to do diffs against past versions: https://github.com/chalst/pollockhostsfork

If you want a smaller HOSTS file (useful with Windows) that only targets advertisement and tracking servers, I've found HP Hosts' ad_servers.asp list to be good.

http://hosts-file.net/ad_servers.asp

Re: Adblock Plus “typo correction” feature adds affiliate IDs to links

#73

Post by edwintorok »

Tobu wrote: post #67

I can't find any reference to Amazon in the source code. The source code is over there (GPL): https://hg.adblockplus.org/adblockplus/ The article seems to say this is related to the typo feature, but https://hg.adblockplus.org/adblockplus/file/tip/defaults/typ... has never changed since the introduction of the feature in 2012-11.

typoRules.js downloads http://urlfixer.org/download/rules.json?version=2, which contains (among others):

"domainReferrals":{"amazon.co.uk":"tag=uf07d-21","amazon.com":"tag=uf024-20","amazon.de":"tag=uf0e6-21","amazon.es":"tag=uf07-21","amazon.fr":"tag=uf02b-21","amazon.it":"tag=uf08d-21","ozon.ru":"partner=urlfixer"},

Re: Adblock Plus “typo correction” feature adds affiliate IDs to links

#74

Post by tommis »

There is NO proof or evidence of tampering with amazon refs.

Still a lot of people are reporting the extension or looking for alternatives in this thread.

Seriously: Not everything you read on the web is true. This smells like a smear campaign, nothing more - until real evidence or proof is shown of the claims.

Re: Adblock Plus “typo correction” feature adds affiliate IDs to links

#75

Post by mtrimpe »

citricsquid wrote: post #62
bad_user wrote: post #45

I cannot verify the claims, but I'll state the reasons once again about why I'm not using ad blockers: 1) free websites and web services need revenue and as long as the ads are tasteful, I don't mind them 2) I actually want websites to annoy me with lots of stupid ads, as I want to stop using such websites, because I want to reward publishers that don't do that Ad blockers are trying to fix a symptom of the disease a…

Plus a huge number of people that adblock have been doing it for years and are basing the continued usage on the assumption that adverts now are similar to the adverts in 2006 - 2009. I use a lot of different websites with advertisements and I can't think of the last time I've seen an advertisement that auto-played sound or caused lag, whereas in 2008 it was a daily occurrence. The value that advertisements provide (…

I started blocking ads less than a year ago because of YouTube's pre-roll advertisements, since I'm perfectly capable of filtering out text based ads but a format that requires me to watch the ad to be able to view the content without letting me pay them is a deal-breaker for me.

Is it really that hard to let me pay a monthly fee to turn ads off?

Google is serving the vast majority of ads online and they already have the infrastructure in place to channel part of that fee to the content creators including knowing whom I visit and when.

Re: Adblock Plus “typo correction” feature adds affiliate IDs to links

#76

Post by acheron »

citricsquid wrote: post #64
zeckalpha wrote: post #57

Earlier quoted context omitted.

How do ad blockers affect revenue? Don't they still fetch the ads but just limit the presentation of the ads? So it would be indistinguishable from someone who just does not click on the ads?

1. No they don't 2. Even if they did this would be very unreasonable, either you view adverts and the publisher gets paid or you don't view adverts and the publisher doesn't get paid. If you're triggering the pay-out criteria without actually doing whatever is required (view, click, interact) it's just moving the financial hit to the advertiser, which is still unreasonable.

Not my problem. The entire point of HTML is that the server sends files and I have a client that decides how to interpret them. I may be using a browser that is set to display larger fonts for my poor eyesight, or I may be using a mobile browser that decides to use different CSS, or I may be using Lynx that doesn't show images, or I may be using a browser that displays some images and not others based on a blacklist. It's not up to the server to determine.

Re: Adblock Plus “typo correction” feature adds affiliate IDs to links

#77

Post by maxmcd »

criley2 wrote: post #69
bad_user wrote: post #45

I cannot verify the claims, but I'll state the reasons once again about why I'm not using ad blockers: 1) free websites and web services need revenue and as long as the ads are tasteful, I don't mind them 2) I actually want websites to annoy me with lots of stupid ads, as I want to stop using such websites, because I want to reward publishers that don't do that Ad blockers are trying to fix a symptom of the disease a…

As if I need every single website hooked into Google Ads, all of them reminding me that I'm single, trying to sell me clothes, trying to sell me dating websites, trying to predict what I want in life. It's invasive, and quite frankly, it's disturbing and creepy that the same advertisements follow me regardless of website. I feel like the guy in Pachebel's Rant, finding Canon in D across modern music, except what I'm…

You can opt-out of retargeting. Seems that would solve your problem.

Re: Adblock Plus “typo correction” feature adds affiliate IDs to links

#78

Post by Tobu »

edwintorok wrote: post #73
Tobu wrote: post #67

I can't find any reference to Amazon in the source code. The source code is over there (GPL): https://hg.adblockplus.org/adblockplus/ The article seems to say this is related to the typo feature, but https://hg.adblockplus.org/adblockplus/file/tip/defaults/typ... has never changed since the introduction of the feature in 2012-11.

typoRules.js downloads http://urlfixer.org/download/rules.json?version=2 , which contains (among others): "domainReferrals":{"amazon.co.uk":"tag=uf07d-21","amazon.com":"tag=uf024-20","amazon.de":"tag=uf0e6-21","amazon.es":"tag=uf07-21","amazon.fr":"tag=uf02b-21","amazon.it":"tag=uf08d-21","ozon.ru":"partner=urlfixer"},

Okay. It seems that if I enable the typo feature (which is disabled by default, I've just checked in a clean profile) and go to amazon.comm, I get redirected to http://amazon.com/?tag=uf024-20

ABP notifies me of the redirection, and I can accept or blacklist it.

Re: Adblock Plus “typo correction” feature adds affiliate IDs to links

#79

Post by hesselink »

philhippus wrote: post #65
hesselink wrote: post #37

I have Adblock Plus installed, but comparing an Amazon affiliate link in Firefox with Adblock Plus, with one in Chrome (no Adblock Plus) shows no difference.

There are several points at which the link can be changed from when it loads to after it is clicked. Did you compare every scenario?

I compared before clicking, and the final page I ended up on at Amazon's site. Both were the same.

Re: Adblock Plus “typo correction” feature adds affiliate IDs to links

#80

Post by shaggy »

gasull wrote: post #59
sdfjkl wrote: post #3

So what's a good alternative (Firefox)? I'm using GlimmerBlocker, but due to being a proxy, it can't filter HTTPS pages. Adblock Edge looks like a decrapified fork of Adblock Plus.

Firefox addons for privacy and security with usable settings: - AdBlock Edge. Filter subscriptions: EasyList, EasyPrivacy, Disable Malware, Fanboy's Annoyance List, Prebake - NoScript. Use "allow scripts globally" or otherwise most websites won't work. It will still protect against know attacks. - Cookie Monster. Then set global/default preference to saving cookies for session only. - FireGloves. Uncheck "disable plu…

Is there some mistake in your NoScript item? Installing the plug-in and then using "allow scripts globally" is the equivalent of never installing the plug-in. It provides almost no value at all when run that way.
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