Zango Confirmed Sponsors List

[Linkster]

As mentioned here http://www.greenguysboard.com/board/...0&postcount=57
Its time to stop wallowing in this and take action to make sure the sponsors that are benefitting from this are removed from our sites

CAUTION - only post sponsors that you can PROVE - and show the proof - and this is not limited to Zango - any toolbar installer that will screw the original referrers aff codes or ignore them or hijack a surfers computer is included

[Linkster]

Probably should also add that this includes any sponsor that accepts sales from the keywords you bid on through zangocash - which is quite an impressive list of sponsors to say the least

This is not a new problem - although it is affecting the adult world more now that myspace users have been hit with the installs and evidently the company (in its various forms) has been around for some time. I saw that both CJ and the other large mainstream aff companies have had their affiliates battling this since at least 2004 with many large affiliate programs actually taking action to remove the affiliates from their rolls - and it would be the right action for these adult companies to take as well, however some may not know, as well as some may ignore the problem as they dont realize they are losing money

[virgohippy]

How would I begin the hunt on my end? Is there any way I can find and identify sponsors/sites without installing the fuck-ware on my own system?

[tickler]

<script> 
var agt=navigator.userAgent.toLowerCase(); 
if (agt.indexOf("zango")!=-1) {

Put something here

}
</script>

- Do some sampling/logging of your surfers to see how many are infected.
- Display a warning to the surfers that they are infected.

Sponsors could do some similar testing at their end to set red flags for possible theft. Too many sales wirh the flag would warrant back checking the referring URLs to check for modified links. If they catch anyone, they should file criminal charges against the affiliate, and Zango, not just suspend the account.

[virgohippy]

Originally Posted by tickler

- Do some sampling/logging of your surfers to see how many are infected.
- Display a warning to the surfers that they are infected.

I stuck the code on a couple of pages and will add it to more over time. For now I have it linking to a blank image. I'll play with it more and see if I can't come up with some creative uses.

If anyone has a "Zango removal procedure" page I'll gladly link to it. If not, I'll just have to find/write my own.

[plateman]

I found a list of domains and programs that vango dont target, http://www.benedelman.org/spyware/18...xclusions.html and did a bunch of hunting and couldnt find the ones they do target

[walrus]

Originally Posted by virgohippy

If anyone has a "Zango removal procedure" page I'll gladly link to it. If not, I'll just have to find/write my own.

Working on one now for my blogs and would be more than happy to share.

[digifan]

It is a great idea... and too important to ignore the benefits to be gained from a possible cooperation to hunt them down together with the members of another webmaster forum so I posted there about your plan Linkster and was proposing this cooperation as well.

http://www.askdamagex.com/showpost.p...75&postcount=9

Hope this helps.

[Linkster]

Digifan - I appreciate that and I have also asked over on GFY (and am asking publicly here) if we can all put aside board ideologies for a little bit to cooperate on this one as it affects everyone - to the tune of 200,000 new surfers in primarily the US every day

[DamageX]

Originally Posted by Linkster

Digifan - I appreciate that and I have also asked over on GFY (and am asking publicly here) if we can all put aside board ideologies for a little bit to cooperate on this one as it affects everyone - to the tune of 200,000 new surfers in primarily the US every day

Linkster, great initiative! If you guys already have a list started, please point me to the thread and I will also link to it from ADX.

[digifan]

I'm glad it can be worked out and will be for sure

[nation-x]

good stuff

[Jim]

I guess we should start this list with NetFlix
This thing runs a lot deeper than just adult sponsors.
http://www.1source4.info/0504-hb2-netflix/netflix1.wmv
OK, I just terminated my netflix accounts...who's with me?

[DamageX]

Originally Posted by Jim

I guess we should start this list with NetFlix
This thing runs a lot deeper than just adult sponsors.
http://www.1source4.info/0504-hb2-netflix/netflix1.wmv
OK, I just terminated my netflix accounts...who's with me?

Never promoted them in the first place, so I guess that's a very good start.

[Jim]

Originally Posted by DamageX

Never promoted them in the first place, so I guess that's a very good start.

I never did either but you don't want to buy from them either, do you?

[Simon]

I still can't get that wmv to play. I get an error message that the host doesn't support streaming. But when I read about Netflix on this page it seems to be saying they're a victim of Zango.

[Jim]

The movie is exactly as they explain it. And, I get what both you and thta page is saying. So, either an affiliate of netflix bought the traffic from Zango or Netflix itself bought the traffic. I found a page listing a partial list of Zango clients.
http://www.benedelman.org/spyware/images/180-jan06/
You are probably right...it probably is an affiliate buying traffic from them.

So, you know what we can expect from any sponsors accused of using zango, right? "It was an affiliate and we have terminated their account".

I did also read that yahoo used them up until last year. Here is a good page about the owners of Zango. http://www.benedelman.org/spyware/180-affiliates/

And here is how to remove the software...
http://www.2-spyware.com/remove-zangosearch.html

[DamageX]

Originally Posted by Jim

The movie is exactly as they explain it. And, I get what both you and thta page is saying. So, either an affiliate of netflix bought the traffic from Zango or Netflix itself bought the traffic. I found a page listing a partial list of Zango clients.
http://www.benedelman.org/spyware/images/180-jan06/
You are probably right...it probably is an affiliate buying traffic from them.

So, you know what we can expect from any sponsors accused of using zango, right? "It was an affiliate and we have terminated their account".

I did also read that yahoo used them up until last year. Here is a good page about the owners of Zango. http://www.benedelman.org/spyware/180-affiliates/

And here is how to remove the software...
http://www.2-spyware.com/remove-zangosearch.html

Any sponsor allowing affiliates to generate sales via Zango is just as guilty as the affiliates themselves, if they know about it.

[Jim]

Originally Posted by DamageX

Any sponsor allowing affiliates to generate sales via Zango is just as guilty as the affiliates themselves, if they know about it.

That's the thing, how do you prove they know about it? Sure, once a list is gathered, they have been warned. But until then, you never know the truth. That is, unless you are stupid and admit to it by saying we had to do it to compete. At first look, it looked as though netflix was stealing traffic that bestbuy bought a commercial for. But, after further investigation, it seems maybe netflix knew nothing about it. I truthfully think the only winners in this thing is zango.

Webmasters and sponsors both are going to be hurt before this is over. I have said this in private and I will say it now...the answer is to build a better mousetrap. We already know how to tell if a surfer has the toolbar installed. It can't be hard to do something with these surfers knowing that. Hell, just redirecting these people with the toolbar to a page letting them know they have adware and how to uninstall it will help greatly. Not to mention a decent programmer that can write a program that will disable the toolbar.

After reading a list of the investors, we are the proverbial David fighting Goliath. We need to work smarter, not harder.

[ChiTown]

Originally Posted by Jim

That's the thing, how do you prove they know about it? Sure, once a list is gathered, they have been warned. But until then, you never know the truth. That is, unless you are stupid and admit to it by saying we had to do it to compete. At first look, it looked as though netflix was stealing traffic that bestbuy bought a commercial for. But, after further investigation, it seems maybe netflix knew nothing about it. I truthfully think the only winners in this thing is zango.

Webmasters and sponsors both are going to be hurt before this is over. I have said this in private and I will say it now...the answer is to build a better mousetrap. We already know how to tell if a surfer has the toolbar installed. It can't be hard to do something with these surfers knowing that. Hell, just redirecting these people with the toolbar to a page letting them know they have adware and how to uninstall it will help greatly. Not to mention a decent programmer that can write a program that will disable the toolbar.

After reading a list of the investors, we are the proverbial David fighting Goliath. We need to work smarter, not harder.

decent programmer that can write a
program that will disable the toolbar.
That's a thought in a way.
About a year ago spyware embeders were writing programs
that when entering a puter they would uninstall other
spyware programs the person had..
Problum tho is they update the damn things too often and they
get better all the time..
That's why the CWS shreader was updated weekly..
I had the link to the GammaCash affil Forum for the toolbar
and just passed the info to Merijn who was writing the Shreder.

[tickler]

Originally Posted by Jim

So, you know what we can expect from any sponsors accused of using zango, right? "It was an affiliate and we have terminated their account".

I was thinking about that when I said that criminal charges should be filed. Just terminating a house account don't work too good then. No wiggle room!

Trying to equate it to the real world, I see zango as being the thief, and the affiliate as receiving stolen goods. Now if one was to file charges against both, the affiliate might be out of reach in a different country. But, we all know where zango lives.

And as far as Goliath, I wonder how long they would hang around if some smart attorney files under RICO.

[digifan]

Here is a link to check if you are infected or not,
http://sharkideas.com/zango-test/
and another link to how to remove it,
http://www.symantec.com/security_res...519-99&tabid=3

PS You are awesome jim

[Xallow]

Hmmm.... would id be ok to make a popup window on free sites that we submit (the popup window being the Zango test thingy) that way, every surfer that visited that particular free site would be notified if they were infected.

[DamageX]

Originally Posted by Xallow

Hmmm.... would id be ok to make a popup window on free sites that we submit (the popup window being the Zango test thingy) that way, every surfer that visited that particular free site would be notified if they were infected.

Probably not necessary, if the linklist owner himself has already put a user agent checker in place and redirects all Zango-infested traffic to a different page. That traffic will likely not see your free site to begin with.

Jim, I agree on the better mousetrap thing. I'm gonna give this some thought, see what I can come up with.

[Jim]

DamageX, like I said, even a simple redirect page that would say, "Your computer has been infected by an adware program." Scare the shit out of the surfer by saying these people now know where you have been and what you are doing. And then give them a way to uninstall the toolbar. Also, recommend some anti adware software for future attacks. That alone would probably stop the problem by probably 30% or more. It really doesn't matter what you do to someone with the toolbar...you aren't going to make money from them anyway.

I truthfully only learned today that an affiliate could use this software. It does seem to be in the best interest of everyone to get some software up and running to put an end to it.

We will work on something as well.