Why do all external links have to go through an advertiser?

[Katamarino]

It seems that every external link placed within a post on the forum is converted to redirect via http://apicdn.viglink.com/

I often browse on my work laptop when travelling, and this domain is blocked as being untrusted and unsecure.

Every other forum I visit treats links as normal. Is this some way that PPRUNE has found to make money off of people? It's a real pain in the a**e.

[mixture]

Every other forum I visit treats links as normal. Is this some way that PPRuNe has found to make money off of people? It's a real pain in the a**e.

Do you have any idea how much it costs, both directly and indirectly to run a site like PPruNe ? Evidently not.

Hosting something like PPRuNe is not something you can do on one of those cheap dollar per month hosting contracts !

There's no such thing as a free lunch, the money has to come from somewhere.

I'm sure the operators of PPRuNe would appreciate a suitably sized charitable donation from your chequebook in return for removing adverts.... ;)

[Katamarino]

Clearly you did not really understand my point.

I have no objection to the banner ads, etc. My issue is that every external link that people post is converted by the forum to instead point to an advertisers site, which then instantly redirects to the original link.

This goes against decent practice, as you're switching out the links that people post without warning, and redirecting to a site that at least according to our provider here is a security risk.

Of the many forums I have visited online, this seems to be the only one that does it. This, though, is the only one that is run for profit, so I suppose they are happy to sacrifice usability in return for more income.

[Saab Dastard]

Katamarino,

Can I suggest that you look at page 2 of this thread:

http://www.pprune.org/computer-internet-issues-troubleshooting/528488-links-wont-open.html

It's worth persevering with, I can assure you.

SD

[boguing]

Are the links that you are seeing highlighted in green?

If so, it's probably something that you've picked up while downloading free software, and the simple work around is to install the 'adblock' extension for your browser.

[IBobi]

Also, is it possible you're only seeing those viglinks while NOT logged in to your PP account? You should not see them if logged in to your free account.

If you are logged in and are still seeing them, please let me know your browser/version, OS, ISP and device and we can troubleshoot.

Paul

[KBPsen]

I'm redirected when using Firefox 31 and Chrome 36, being logged in or not makes no difference. In IE 11 there appears to be no viglinks.

[BEagle]

When using Win8.1u1 with IE11, PPRuNe is s l o w.

If I use Win8.1u1 with Firefox, the pages loaad quicker, but there are a lot of 'transferring data from' flags at the lower left hand edge whilst these infernal 'tailored advertising' things load. Including viglink....

This applies whether or not I've logged in.

The odd advert is one thing, it's these links which cause issues.

I'm aware of how InternetBrands and Viglink use these systems for commercial benefit; however, as a miserable old git I make it a policy NEVER to buy anything from one of these 'tailored' advertisers.....and I suspect that I'm not the only one.

Too much advertising will only mean that more and more people will resort to Adblockers.

[mad_jock]

https://adblockplus.org/en/internet-explorer

That works a treat mate.

No more tailored Viagra advertisements any more :ok:

[Booglebox]

beagle, adblock can't stop click-tracking redirection of links... Observe the URL to mad_jock's link:

http://apicdn.viglink.com/api/click?format=go&key=1e857e7500cdd32403f752206c297a3d&loc=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.pprune.org%2Fcomputer-internet-issues-troubleshooting%2F545949-why-do-all-external-links-have-go-through-advertiser.html&out=https%3A%2F%2Fadblockplus.org%2Fen%2Finternet-explorer&ref=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.pprune.org%2Fcomputer-internet-issues-troubleshooting-46%2F

[mad_jock]

You need to take control of the scripts to stop that.

[IBMJunkman]

I access this forum using my iPad and 4 browsers. I see the redirects in Safari and Dolphin. In Chrome and Photon I can't.

[IBobi]

My ad-ops guy tells me we're killing that campaign, so you should no longer see it after today. Let me know if it gives you any more trouble.

Paul

[Booglebox]

Gone for me! :cool:

[Saab Dastard]

[Cautiously disables GreaseMonkey script] ...looks OK to me!

apicdn.viglink.com is still mapped to 127.0.0.1 in my hosts file.

SD

[mad_jock]

How To: Update the HOSTS file in Windows 8 (http://winhelp2002.mvps.org/hostswin8.htm)

For those that want to know how to do it in win8.