 gwionwild colonial boyPremium,ExMod 2001-08
join:2000-12-28
Pittsburgh, PA
kudos:1 | reply to spuddiver
We desparately need to clarify who Akamai is and what they do, because it comes up, it'll come up again, and they're just plain huge...
Akamai runs "server farms." But unlike the hosting companies that hand you 20 gigs and a password and user name, and wish you good luck, they offer managed content services... that is, they update your files for you, maintain the pages or access portal system for you, and... yes... serve some ads for whomever has the cash to call that their "content." That used to be their main customer base, if memory serves me. Unlike the clueless minions like Doubleclick, though, Akamai used the ads as a means to the end of getting established, rather than as the end in itself.
Now, that's just a part of the business. They even manage e-commerce portals for companies that either haven't the size and money, or haven't the desire or expertise, to do it themselves... if you use Verizon's pay online feature, for instance, you'll discover that Akamai plays a role in serving up the facilities to do it, if you carefully look at firewall and proxy logs afterwards. Your NAV live updates come from an Akamai server. Some software archives and online ordering systems for downloadable pay software come from them. And, of course, ads. And tracking...
But you have to know the specific servers... that's best extrapolated by what you're doing, as they pop in. If you're downloading something, and it comes from akamai, or you're buying something, and you end up redirected to them, odds are they're just acting as a content manager/e-commerce portal for their "partner." If you're closing your stock trading app, or you're leaving a website, and you see a gratuitous redirect, they're probably doing demographics and usage tracking analysis. If they're in the middle of a page, in a funny rectangular blank spot with a "___.akamai.xxx was blocked by your favorite ad filter," they're probably serving adverts.
Blocking the whole domain may disable some useful things... but allowing every server in the domain will probably get you some ads, web bugs, and whatnots... everyone's own call. Definitely not sleazy operators on the level of some of the dedicated ad and tracking businesses, but they are "wires for hire", to use a rather rough expression... so they'll do pretty much whatever, within reason, they're paid to do...
What you need to do is break them down into their component parts, which can be pretty daunting. One approach I've seen work pretty well, for the more ambitious power user types, is to do a domain block, then make "allow" or "bypass" rules in the ad filter when you find a site or service you use needs an akamai link, for that server. For instance, verizon might (and this isn't a "real" server, just a made up example  ) use "someServer.akamai.net" for bill payment stuff... you could (if you're articulate with your proxy or firewall) make a rule to catch the traffic, then find the server and bypass it or rezone it in IE... or, since they're really not on the "silt low sleaze level" of some of the people in their business, you could just let them go. I've never seen anything really hostile or shockingly intrusive from them, personally. Just that they're soooo ubiquitous, these days... hehe... one could almost say they're like equine-exhaust on an 1860's city street...
--
"Anger makes dull men witty, but it keeps them poor."Elizabeth I, in Francis Bacon, Apophthegms, 1625 |
.