Mr WOW
@accenture.com
| WOW tracking connection to Google!!
Recently I've noticed that WOW's internet connection is forcing connections and cookies on my machine when I browse to google.com. Below is a brief list of what my browser now connects to when I go to google.com. This is crazy! This is something that should only happen if I have spyware or a virus on my machine. What gives?!
a.faireagle.com
ad.yieldmanager.com
ads.addynamix.com
adtrgt.com
burstnet.com
contextweb.com
doubleclick.net
fastclick.net
nebuad.adjuggler.com
network.realmedia.com
realmedia.com
trafficmp.com
Unfortunately, the only article that I could find that remotely touches on this is
»Shouldn't User Tracking Advertising Be Opt-In?
I called tech support and they were clueless. I also sent an email to someone pretty high up in customer service... Anyone else that subscribes to their broadband service notice this when they go to www.google.com? |
|
JackSparrow
join:2003-12-25
Troy, MI | so have you checked for spyware or a virus??? |
|
Archos
join:2007-11-14 | reply to Mr WOW
I don't connect to any of that when I go there. Are you using IE, Firefox, or another browser? |
|
Mr WOW
@wideopenwest.com | reply to Mr WOW
Happens with a newly installed machine, internet explorer or firefox. Take that same machine to a separate network all together and the problem goes away.
I have some other friends on WOW that have reported the same behavior. |
|
DJ Matt
@wideopenwest.com | reply to Mr WOW
I'm not sure about this. If thats the case then that really sucks and is terrible on WOW's part. I have Firefox with the Ad Block Plus running and it does wonders for me. |
|
Iczer
@wideopenwest.com
|  reply to Mr WOW
Confirmed, and infuriated. 
It sure looks like WOW has silently agreed to allow NebuAD to track all of us, without our knowledge or consent (unless someone from WOW can point out some update to the terms of service, which would still tick me off big time, regardless!)
It took me a bunch of times hitting www.google.com, but sometimes it would try to set a cookie from:
a.faireagle.com (which apparently is a tracking cookie from NebuAD - see »OptOut creates cookies with faireagle name)
And then one time, "luckily", hitting google got me cookies from:
a.faireagle.com and
nebuad.adjuggler.com
I've read articles about this company, and learned about the insidious (IMHO) way they insert their tracking cookies into pages by working with Internet Service Providers (WOW, in our case) who agree to place NebuAD's network devices on their network. It sure looks like WOW's a willing accomplice, working with NebuAD, and making money off of selling my privacy to them. I hope I'm wrong, but that's sure what it looks like to me.
See: »Ask DSLReports.com: What Is NebuAD?
and
»ISPs Make a Tidy Profit Selling Your Browsing History
I want nothing to do with an ISP that's willing to sell out my privacy without so much as a warning, and allowing a tracking company to alter the content of whatever website they choose, in this case, Google. Hmm...I wonder how Google feels about that? I think they should be informed...
In my mind, this is spyware, and instead of infecting my machine, these "hackers" have now infected my ISP.
Please, prove me wrong, Wide Open West. |
|
switchtech
@sprintlink.net
| reply to Mr WOW
Install COOKIEWALL by analog X. It's free and you will be AMAZED of the cookies that get dumped on your PC. When it's installed and set up to start w/windows, it will capture all your cookies. You can decide to add them to the kill list or accept. It will alert of new cookies too. I use and though a cookie gets dumped on my pc, it deletes it. If you go to web pages that stores your signon info, you can add that cookie to the "keep" section. I know IE and others will delete this stuff but even after deleting everything you think is there, cookiewall will find stuff there. Also running CLEANUP! is a way to make it harder for this stuff to stay on your PC. Cookiewall is a must and I've used it since it was version 1. |
|
Iczer
@wideopenwest.com
| reply to Iczer
Yup, they're tracking us, and injecting tracking cookies/altering web sites using NebuAD:
»www1.wowway.com/wow/wow.aspx?Con···ermID=11
Look under the "Third Party Advertisers" section. (newly revised as of January, 2008!)
This really ticks me off. They're altering websites I go to, slowing down my internet browsing experience, and I'm getting absolutely nothing in return. Are my rates going to be lower now that WOW is making money off of my browsing history? Right...
Time to spread the word about this. |
|
Iczer
@wideopenwest.com
| reply to switchtech
Thanks very much, switchtech, for the tip. I agree, cookie management is extremely valuable. I've always filtered my cookies, and deny cookies from almost all of the sites I visit.
However, the infuriating thing about this is that in order to stop WOW (NebuAD) from tracking you, they actually want you to allow them to SET A COOKIE!!!
»www.nebuad.com/privacy/optout.php
»www.networkadvertising.org/consu···_out.asp
Not only that, but you need to do this on every computer you have, in every browser you use, and of course, if you regularly delete your cookies, you'll need to do it every time you delete your cookies!!
Folks, this is borderline ridiculous. Even if I want to opt-out of their tracking, they'll still have a cookie on my machine, tracking my "opt-out status" cookie. And regardless of my status, on whichever pages WOW allows NebuAD to track, every time I hit said page (like google), it's going to call a NebuAD server to check my tracking status cookie, therefore slowing down my browsing. |
|
Millenniumle
join:2007-11-11
Fredonia, NY
| ...
Use Opera and ad these to your blocked content:
*faireagle.com*
*yieldmanager.com*
*addynamix.com*
*adtrgt.com*
*burstnet.com*
*contextweb.com*
*doubleclick.net*
*fastclick.net*
*adjuggler.com*
*realmedia.com*
*trafficmp.com*
Or put the full domians into your hosts file. Most, if not all, of these domains will be nixed by any ad blocking software or publically maintained host file. |
|
FileShackOrg
join:2005-01-26
Lincoln Park, MI | reply to Mr WOW
Re: WOW tracking connection to Google!!
Nice, I was waiting for the 10mb/s down stream from Wow and they add this B.S. to the network. This is just great. |
|
doormans
join:2002-11-17
Roseville, MI
| reply to Mr WOW
This could be a way for WOW to generate extra cash since the offer lower prices than most other Isp's. As far as them selling private info, that could be a sticky situation as it does happen.Does anyone know if this happens with comcast or any isp's in WOW's markets? It would be interesting to know. Also you should change your dns servers to something other than WOW's as I recall search redirects were happening with WOW. |
|
FileShackOrg
join:2005-01-26
Lincoln Park, MI | reply to Mr WOW
already have changed dns to opendns haven't looked back since. |
|
hamburglar_
join:2002-04-29
Columbus, OH | reply to Mr WOW
I installed cookiewall and don't see any of these. Do you have to be using WOW's DNS or what? |
|
doormans
join:2002-11-17
Roseville, MI
| I dont use WOWs dns servers(haven't for as long as I can remember) and they were on my computer,so it doesn' appear that servers matters. I guess its up to us/you/me to review their TOS weekly to ensure we can't say we did not know. I don't like the idea of cookies being set if I opt out either. Opt out is what it means. If I don't want it then don't put it on my computer unless I explictly allow it.Period. |
|
DJ Matt
@wideopenwest.com | reply to Mr WOW
Thats stooping to a new low level then. This is really bogus. What does all this exactly do? I have the ABP add on for Firefox. Am I preventing all this crap or no? Something like this should not be legal. |
|
FileShackOrg
join:2005-01-26
Lincoln Park, MI | reply to Mr WOW
only one more step til communist china in this country. |
|
imrf
Premium
join:2002-06-06
Utica, MI
 ·WOW Internet and C..
1 edit | reply to DJ Matt
said by DJ Matt :
What does all this exactly do?
Nothing.
Something like this should not be legal. It's in the TOS, every time you pay your bill you agree to it. WOW sends out updated TOS' as they edit them. It's up to you to read it. |
|
doormans
join:2002-11-17
Roseville, MI
| said by imrf  :said by DJ Matt :
What does all this exactly do?
Nothing. Something like this should not be legal. It's in the TOS, every time you pay your bill you agree to it. WOW sends out updated TOS' as they edit them. It's up to you to read it. I don't recall getting a revised TOS from them. As for it doing nothing then I guess I'm good with them monitoring my surfing habits if you say its ok. |
|
imrf
Premium
join:2002-06-06
Utica, MI
·WOW Internet and C..
| said by doormans :I don't recall getting a revised TOS from them. I've seen them in the bills before.
As for it doing nothing then I guess I'm good with them monitoring my surfing habits if you say its ok.
Cookies or not, they know where you go every second of the day, they are after all, your ISP. |
|
