Gaia gets ads from KNOWN -malware distributors-

[Nanenna]

I wonder if that's what caused my last computer to become so... so slow! I could have sworn I wasn't adding anything to it but it just got slower and slower. This one has all the protection it can handle!

[Flying Dicks]

Waltzkrieg

Things such as this and the transformation of Towns into a playground for devious scriptors are really disconcerting to me. My computer is pretty well-protected, and I haven't had problems with viruses in several years, but the fact that this goes on at all makes me feel not so good about professing support for Gaia. I would certainly never recommend it to anyone who wasn't already a member, at this point.

On a website with such a large userbase and visibility, you would think security would be a bigger priority. Admins addressing the issue by saying they buy ads in bulk and then asking users to do homework for them on it would sit better with me if something had actually been done to remedy the situation. But so far, it hasn't-- or at least, that's the impression I get from the many users still reporting browser hijacks and tracking cookies from the usual suspects.

I think as with most issues on Gaia greater transparency would be beneficial. But more than that, something needs to be done about stuff like this. I often find myself laughing about of the mountains people make out of molehill-sized things on Gaia-- most of them related to free items-- but security is for me dead serious, and it should be for Gaia, too. I don't feel like it is right now.

The issue is that you can't report redirects and scripts- and have you SEEN the reporting procedure? Its a lot more complex than "screenshot and post" how it used to be. The admins use macs, as far as I know anyhow, and say it takes them thousands of refreshes to encounter troublesome ads- of course, since most windows based scripts wont work on a mac and ad companies more often prey on windows users since it is inherently bad in the security department (It's also more widely used for home computing).

However they buy bundles FROM these companies- they didnt just get them at random, they found and bought from these companies and now they are sharing our info with them, and yet they are KNOWN as dangerous, malware distributing, spamming, redirecting, services? That just isn't safe.

We can't do everything for you, Gaia. Taking care of your users' security is YOUR job when its on your site. If someone comes to my house and falls down the stairs who gets sued? Me. Because I'm responsible for their safety on my property. Gaia is your property, yes? I'm not saying they can be sued but it's morally -wrong- to just let this stew and get as bad as it has and claim to not know how to fix the problem when a simple assessment of your ad servers proves they arent reliable.

[ChrisJS]

I am curious about just how long Gaia has been receiving these ads from the listed places. Reason being that I have been on Gaia for a few years now and I have never, never had problems with the site. Ever. Never had viruses, spyware, pop-ups, and I was on Gaia constantly.

I admit that I have gotten a bit lately, as my old protection ran out and I had to switch and during the process I picked up a s**tload of crap on my pc, I now run AVG. But I do still get a bit. But if Gaia has had a deal with these particular groups for a long time and there has not been a problem, and suddenly malicious material is popping up within them, it's not really Gaia's fault. Should they look into it, absolutely. Are they fully responsible? Not completely. If I read through the first link given in the first post correctly, they agree to try to the best of their reasonable abilities to keep things clean but they don't fully guarantee that somehow crap won't get through. No one can, really. Yes they need to do whatever is possible to stop it but they aren't guaranteed to get it all.

Just to clarify, if they need to (and can) get rid of these that appear to be so horrible, then they should.

But I also state, Gaia is not some flat-out a**-hole company. Do they worry about money, yes. Do they have certain priorities towards their own advancement, yes. But that doesn't mean they care nothing about their users. I am sure that they are looking into it. They have an entire thread dedicated to locating ads that shouldn't be presented to the users. Gaia doesn't want to chase its users away, they aren't out with a master plan to screw people.

They need to clean it up, but I do not see this as some malicious attack on the userbase from the 'evil' that is often alluded to be Gaia's higher ups... stare

and @ Flying...someone couldn't sue you for injuries sustained within your home if you've had them sign a consent form saying that there is always the possibility of injury and you enter at your own risk...which is pretty much what Gaia has done.

[SmurfQueen279]

Sweet n Leo

Flying Dicks

However they buy bundles FROM these companies- they didnt just get them at random, they found and bought from these companies

Gaia doesn't buy bundles. Only a very silly business would pay someone to put ads on your own website.

Oooh oooh ooooh!!! But that's the excuse that they all use for the fact of the existence of inappropriate ads - that they buy them in bundles and the ad companies "sneak" the bad stuff in. So, I guess that isn't true?

[SmurfQueen279]

surprised Sweet deleted his post? Why? eek Well, if my reply to it disappears, that's a problem. I didn't do anything wrong; I just asked a question.

[Sweet n Leo]

SmurfQueen279

Sweet n Leo

Flying Dicks

However they buy bundles FROM these companies- they didnt just get them at random, they found and bought from these companies

Gaia doesn't buy bundles. Only a very silly business would pay someone to put ads on your own website.

Oooh oooh ooooh!!! But that's the excuse that they all use for the fact of the existence of inappropriate ads - that they buy them in bundles and the ad companies "sneak" the bad stuff in. So, I guess that isn't true?

I'm just correcting the mistake. Gaia isn't paying for these ads, they're being paid for them. It's a huge difference.

They get bundles and stick it on the site. While every attempt to make sure nothing bad slips through, by both Gaia and the actual ad companies, it happens. It happens to all of the ad companies, including Google (who've had some famous screw ups). And when it does happen Gaia tries it's damnedest to get rid of them, but it's not possible if users who see them don't report them correctly. It's much more complicated than that. (And yes, I'm speaking from experience as someone who has dealt with ads and ad services before).

It is also important to remember exactly what's a bad ad. Porn, yes. Redirecting, yes. Placing a cookie, no. All ads do that. "Tracking Cookies" are just cookies that say "I've seen that ad already, don't show it again". But that leads on to my rant about why people misunderstand cookies.

If someone is going to argue against ads (which they're quite rightfully allowed to do so) then what they're saying should be accurate. That's all I'm saying.

I'll put it another way. Would you pay to have the honour of putting a Coca-Cola ad on the side of your building, or would Coca-Cola pay you? That's all I was correcting.

EDIT: Yes, I did remove my post as I changed my mind about posting. It happens when you post a lot in the SF, sometimes you change your mind.

[Flying Dicks]

True but you typically pay to begin ad packages, known as leasing I think. Yes they pay Gaia, but Gaia should still research these things. They obviously know what the companies are, since they have them linked, so why cant they check them out beforehand?

EDIT
what I mean is, when you look at google adsense or something, which Gaia has I think, the packages are like, however many guaranteed hits for however much money. You pay to begin the package, or they say you get like two weeks free then you pay monthly to continue the service. Yes the ads are paying for the space but you're paying for the ad -server-

[Crayola34]

Thanks for bringing this up again. It needs a lot of attention. The ads on gaia can be really dangerous and they drop cookies everywhere.

I especially wonder why AdBlock Plus and Gaia = glitch for the users who have it. I had to turn mine off to stop the constant redirects. What did AdBlock interfere with? Where was our information going? I'd like to know.

[Flying Dicks]

I still fail to see how the 'package deal' argument applies at all since, if they're linking the companies on their privacy policy they obviously know and its not one or two ads its the ENTIRE COMPANY that is rated as dangerous.

@Crayola
I also use Spybot search and destroy's immunize feature with adblock plus and I have not had problems for some time, but they made it so you have to unblock a certain CSS class to see your my gaia page.

[Flying Dicks]

legal

[Aeddict]

This is really disturbing. I'm happier than ever that I have my ads blocked. Still, gaia really needs to fix this right away. It's outrageous user abuse for the sake of petty greed (or ignorance, which is hardly an excuse). They need to take some responsibility. It makes things even worse that there's real money circled on this site. I loathe to even think of the implications of malware and viruses from the ads on a site that frequently asks its users to buy their products online with real money, paying it from their real accounts. evil

[UPC Betsy]

I have McAfee on my computer, which my dad downloaded after our last computer was found to have over 9000 malware items on it that Norton didn't recognize as malware/couldn't get rid of. I may be wrong about Norton not recognizing it, but I do know that the spyware and malware couldn't be destroyed.

Currently, here is the report for Gaia.

Interestingly, the report for Tribal Fusion has it listed as a green site, but if you scroll down the customer reviews say differently.

I also have spybot search and destroy. I've never been redirected on Gaia and have generally been lucky with ads, but Gaia should still look into this.

[Sonic Offline]

I'm glad to see you know how advertising works, OP.

Gaia uses Google-Analytics for ads, and Quantserve for tracking cookies. They do NOT choose what is shown, nor who shows it within their ad distributors. Those domains exist, and they work apparently through Google ads, but tough s**t. Gaia cannot say "I want need ads to pay the bills, but I don't want them from yada yada yada". They do, however, have the right to flag certain ads within what they're given.


No, Gaia CANNOT change this without explicit permission from Google ads, which I doubt they'll get.

[Dios de Television]

I've only suffered this redirection once, and it was on someone else's computer.

I don't have adblock or anything, I just buy Gaia Cash on a semi-regular basis. Gaia still does that thing where you don't see ads if you pay 'em, right?