Subj : Re: sur.ly
To   : Ky Moffet
From : Ed Vance
Date : Wed Jan 22 2025 23:50:07


> ED VANCE wrote:

> Never heard of it, but.... <goes off, reads sur.ly site, and a couple 
> random discussions> Sur.ly is not a site, it's a a site utility meant to
> keep you on the site that uses it.

> We used to call what it does link hijacking, and would be annoyed when 
> some site rewrote links or forced you into an iframe instead of letting 
> you go where you wanted to be. It probably achieves this via some PHP
> rewrite function, but the effect is the same.

> It also hacks a toolbar into the browser window (unclear how persistent 
> that is).

> It's free to site owners because you're the product (they don't say, but
> clearly they are making money from selling user-behavior data). It 
> tracks you even AFTER you leave the site where you tripped over it, and 
> it actually says that.

> If I saw a site using it, they'd immediately go on my never-return list. 
> In fact I would block them in HOSTS so I didn't go there accidentally. 
> (And I just added sur.ly to my block list.)

> Apparently they're based in Moscow, and have been running an aggressive
> marketing campaign trying to get every business site everywhere to sign 
> up. The phrasing in the marketing email is remarkably similar to other
> website scams.

> Verdict: avoid.

> My base HOSTS file, tho I've added a few sites over the years, and had 
> to remove one or two.

> https://winhelp2002.mvps.org/hosts.htm
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Thank You Ky.
Ed
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