FYI for Yahoo users
Travis Roy
travis at scootz.net
Tue Nov 12 11:59:25 EST 2002
Using something like AdSubtract, Junkbuster, or other ad filtering
software will usually get rid of this crap..
I have some details at
http://scootz.net/removing_online_advertising.html
What I can leak out is somewhat limited.. Ask me again in 4 years when
my NDA that I signed at BURST! Media runs out (www.burstmedia.com) :)
> -----Original Message-----
> From: gnhlug-discuss-admin at mail.gnhlug.org
> [mailto:gnhlug-discuss-admin at mail.gnhlug.org] On Behalf Of
> bscott at ntisys.com
> Sent: Tuesday, November 12, 2002 11:34 AM
> To: Greater NH Linux User Group
> Subject: Re: FYI for Yahoo users
>
>
> On Tue, 12 Nov 2002, at 7:59am, mcostolo at yahoo.com wrote:
> > I was recently made aware of Yahoo's use of "Web Beacons" ...
>
> Additional FYI:
>
> The practice of embedding single-pixel images in an HTML
> file for the purposes of tracking page usage is common place.
> These are also called "web bugs" (because they track your
> position like a "bug" in a spy movie). "Web beacons" is the
> marketing term for them.
>
> The way it works is as follows: A image is embedded in an
> HTML file (e.g., web page, or some email) via the standard
> IMG tag. When people view said HTML, the image is retrieved.
> This can be noted in server log files. The image is often
> hosted on a server shared by many customers (e.g.,
> DoubleClick's ad servers). Said servers will often give a
> cookie to the user's browser, allowing the browser to be
> tracked from web page to web page. In email and other
> individually-generated HTML files, unique identifying
> information is often embedded in the image URL, allowing
> tracking without cookies.
>
> The image does not, in fact, need to be a single pixel; the
> single-pixel trick just makes the image hard to spot.
>
> More information on this and other privacy-invading
> marketing tricks (and counter-measures you can employ) is
> available at the JunkBusters web site (http://www.junkbusters.com).
>
> --
> Ben Scott <bscott at ntisys.com>
> | The opinions expressed in this message are those of the
> author and do
> | not | necessarily represent the views or policy of any
> other person,
> | entity or | organization. All information is provided without
> | warranty of any kind. |
>
>
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