Tech question out of curiosity...
Asked by
seazen (
6123
)
January 31st, 2011
Is it my imagination or have simple links to websites all been changed to something called redirectingat.com – and only then go to the website.
What is that?
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21 Answers
sounds like some sort of mal/spyware issue on your end….
No, any links from Fluther go through that site, if you look quickly even the link to my blog shows that redirecting thing.
It’s hard to spot sometimes but I have seen it very often. It’s more visible on big sites that take long to load.
Wierd, maybe it is some sort of addware that norton didn’t pick up if nobody else is getting it.
Never seen it before but sounds like a new marketing ploy. Something that counts click-thrus to advertised merchandise on a heavily trafficked site like a news“paper” and pays the news publisher for the seller.
Icky but not much different in invasiveness than rubiconproject. And probably only on really big sites where the small percentage of click-thrus is still sizable money.
from their whois info I found this, which tells you how they work.
redirectingat.com
Registrant:
Skimbit Ltd
27 Paul St
London, EC2A 4JU
United Kingdom
see also rubiconproject.com [details on on wikipedia]
Registrant:
the Rubicon Project
2013 S. Westgate Ave.
Los Angeles, California 90025
United States
Similar technology.
Used by NY Times, WS Journal, Washington Pest
———-
slows down and interferes with your reading as it tracks what you read i order to target ads tailored to your interests based on what you choose to read.
@anartist Huh. I guess the only thing to do would be to ask @augustlan if Fluther is hooked up tot he service officially or not.
@XOIIO Why would fluther?
It has no adsd to click through to.
Everytime I click on someone’s link here – it goes through something called redirecting.com
@anartist I mean Fluther could be getting money from the service, or it could actually speed up the connection.
@seazen I don’t see it, say when I hit the wikipedia link above. But that opens in a separate window. Does that matter?
@XOIIO what could fluther be getting money for? It sends no one to an online vendor. Its patrons have pseudonyms. Unless the service was equating IP addresses with names and with interests, which, theoretically could do, I don’t see what fluther could make money on here.
—speed up te connection, no way! Routing through another site would only slow it down.
@anartist Wierd. I can’t get to that page, and clicking on it leads through redirectingat
@anartist When I clicked on the “wikipedia” link – it went through “redirectingat.com”
Maybe it’s a local thing – like the ads – you know – cuz I’m in the ME.
@seazen Wondered that at first until I saw that redirectingto.com was a marketing tool. Why would ME governments or Israel’s in particular care about a marketing tool, especially one geared toward American or Euro products? redirectingto is london-based,. rubiconproject is us-based [california] Cloudfront.net is also US based and owned by a marketing/copyright protection firm called MarkMonitor which is also on the edge of the inet marketing field and a bit sharp of practice, but is affiliated with Amazon.com [see below whois info].
Domain Name: cloudfront.net——what makes it weird and icky is MarkMonitor does not acknowledge www.cloudFront.net on its site nor does Amazon.com.
Given the different flavors we all see, maybe our ISPs use these services.
———————————————————
cloudfront.net whois info:
Domain Management
MarkMonitor Brand Protection™
AntiFraud Solutions
Corporate Consulting Services
Visit MarkMonitor at www.markmonitor.com
Contact us at 1 800 745 9229
In Europe, at +44 (0) 20 7840 1300
Registrant:
Legal Department
Amazon.com, Inc.
PO BOX 81226
Seattle WA 98108–1226
US
hostmaster@amazon.com +1.2062664064 Fax: +1.2062667010
Domain Name: cloudfront.net
Registrar Name: Markmonitor.com
Registrar Whois: whois.markmonitor.com
Registrar Homepage: http://www.markmonitor.com
Administrative Contact:
Legal Department
Amazon.com, Inc.
PO BOX 81226
Seattle WA 98108–1226
US
hostmaster@amazon.com +1.2062664064 Fax: +1.2062667010
Technical Contact, Zone Contact:
Legal Department
Amazon.com, Inc.
PO BOX 81226
Seattle WA 98108–1226
US
hostmaster@amazon.com +1.2062664064 Fax: +1.2062667010
Created on…...........: 2008–04-25.
Expires on…...........: 2013–04-25.
Record last updated on..: 2010–05-06.
Domain servers in listed order:
ns-01.cloudfront.net
ns-02.cloudfront.net
@anartist Thanks for all that. You must get out more.
@anartist Lurves ya. You know my old saying – it takes one to know one. You wrote it: but I read it.
Hey, guys here’s the official answer: the redirectingat thing is a marketing thing that gives Fluther money if someone clicks on the link you post, then buys something. The service we’re using to change the links has affiliations with tons of companies, and it’s proven to be rather lucrative.
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