Really IRRITATING advertising via ISP's RE-DIRECTS


  1. Posts : 5,941
    Linux CENTOS 7 / various Windows OS'es and servers
       #1

    Really IRRITATING advertising via ISP's RE-DIRECTS


    Hi there

    (Hi Mods - please move to Browsers - hit the ENTER against the wrong section).

    Companies must be getting ever more desperate to foist their hideous commercials on to online users at every conceivable opportunity - and some are getting better and better at managing to avoid "POP up and Ad blockers".

    The latest nasty to appear in droves (it's always been around but only in a very few cases) is the REDIRECT when a website can't be found. Companies are now jumping on to this type of advertising in DROVES.

    If for example you make a typo in a web site's address or attempt to visit a non existent website - instead of the HTTP 404 Not Found you used to get in most browsers you get a page from the ISP filled with rubbish commercials (plus of course the mention that the site is not found).

    The more insidious one's even have a list "suggesting you might like to visit these sites" -- and this is based not on the title of the site you are trying to visit or the topic you are researching but a list based purely on the Fee the advertisers have paid. (This technique is known as "RE-DIRECT").


    I was a bit suspicious of Google and others such as OPEN DNS offering Free DNS servers as it didn't seem a sustainable Business model -- now I see how they do it and I for one HATE it.

    Can we have our plain old HTTP 404 page not found back again please.

    I REALLY HATE online advertising -- if I WANT a product then I'll research and read reviews - but pages filled with commercials surrounded by maybe 3 sentences of proper TEXT -- No thanks.

    Reminds me last time I was back in Los Angeles and made the BIG mistake of trying to watch a Movie on ABC (Channel 7 KABC TV) TV -- seemed to me it was an incessant stream of commercials broken up by " Film Break" instead of the other way around --needless to say I gave up and enjoyed myself much better in the Hotel Bar watching a Mexican Soccer Match on Channel 34 (KMEX) where they didn't have have commercials during the two 45 minute playing periods.

    Anything to "Intercept these re-directs and just throw up the standard 404 Not found message"

    Anybody writing code for Adblocker type programs should be able to intercept the page coming in and "Re-direct the Re-direct" back to the 404 message (or one of your own) --doesn't sound too hard for people who can program this stuff -- anybody out there who can do it for us.

    PLEASE all you Progammers and coders out there rid us of this menace.


    Cheers
    jimbo
      My Computer


  2. Posts : 13,354
    Windows 7 Professional x64
       #2

    I understand you. However, we need to remember that so far, a significant portion of the internet is free. Google, Yahoo!, even SevenForums is free because of ads. Then people come out with ad blockers, and revenue decreases. They have 3 options: discontinue their products and shut down their servers, charge money for products and services that were once free (or beg for donations), or find a way to circumvent the ad blockers.

    Personally, I am grateful for all the ads. Albeit annoying, they make it so I don't have to pay to get support here on SF. They enable me to use Gmail instead of my ISP's web mail.
      My Computer


  3. Posts : 5,941
    Linux CENTOS 7 / various Windows OS'es and servers
    Thread Starter
       #3

    Jonathan_King said:
    I understand you. However, we need to remember that so far, a significant portion of the internet is free. Google, Yahoo!, even SevenForums is free because of ads. Then people come out with ad blockers, and revenue decreases. They have 3 options: discontinue their products and shut down their servers, charge money for products and services that were once free (or beg for donations), or find a way to circumvent the ad blockers.

    Personally, I am grateful for all the ads. Albeit annoying, they make it so I don't have to pay to get support here on SF. They enable me to use Gmail instead of my ISP's web mail.
    However the ISP IS charging you - usually you are paying a MONTHLY FEE. They never explained that they would either have to increase the charges or adopt the "Re-Direct" option. It just seems to have got "Sneaked in".

    I suppose being a Telco they can't willy nilly increase charges without going through some regulatory body so increasing revenue by "sneak tactics" is obviously in their view the best bet. "Softly Softly Catchee Monkey".

    Maybe they should reduce the "Bonuses" of their Directors -- If Pigs could fly .......

    Other services I *could* understand - but then they should explain this on "The conditions of Use".

    Cheers
    jimbo
      My Computer


  4. Posts : 13,354
    Windows 7 Professional x64
       #4

    jimbo45 said:
    Other services I *could* understand - but then they should explain this on "The conditions of Use".
    What do you mean?
      My Computer


  5. Posts : 7
    7 Home Premium x64
       #5

    jimbo45 said:
    However the ISP IS charging you - usually you are paying a MONTHLY FEE. They never explained that they would either have to increase the charges or adopt the "Re-Direct" option. It just seems to have got "Sneaked in".
    I'm with you on this one Jimbo, I've always been against magazines and newspapers adding in 40%, maybe more, additional content into their media which is purely advertisements. Take for example the New Scientist. It's by far one of the most expensive magazines for its size here in the UK yet once you reach the middle staples, the remainder of the magazine is job adverts, which they get revenue for, book reviews, which I'm sure they get revenue for, and classified adverts for the sci-tec industry.

    Virgin Media actually have a nice handy little 'opt out' check box if you ever get one of these re-directs - which are run by Yahoo - so you should check if your ISP has one too.
      My Computer


 

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