Apr 15, 2009
Using RefLock To Survive A Bee Attack | Linkbee That Is
I have a script that tracks loads on posts and I see a real-time daily and overall post popularity + traffic statistics. All of a sudden the Missed Schedules Plugin experienced over 300 hits in a few minutes. I was like WTF? Stumbleupon probably. I checked and no new user registration. None after 400 hits. I could smeel something funny ... and it wasn't me.
Checked the traffic stats and all the hits were coming from linkbee.com. I don't know what kind of traffic scheme this shit is but I have a feeling I know who got me there ... cough ... swestfall ... cough ... . OK! Fake traffic, hits for the sake of visiting. This linkbee thing, I had no time to check it out thoroughly but, noticing no new user registered after 500 hits, I would say it's an ad clicking scheme. It framed my site and placed a lame ad on top.
The Referrer Lock Wordpress Plugin
In a matter of minutes I wrote a new plugin to block refererrs by host / domain and added a frame breaker. The plugin is very easy to use! This is how it looks.
The config screen below is located in Wp-Admin > Settings > Privacy.
This plugin was up when I have already received 600 hits and I blocked them. Kaput and fk off! I wouldn't have done this if any of them registered but nothing. And things chilled out again. I manually SQL-ed out the fake hits from my stats scripts and all was cool.
Here's The Referrer Lock Plugin
Use it wisely but don't block google.com or your own domain :) To overcome a referrer block go to the address bar, click the url and press [enter]. But no fake visitor will ever do that unless they really want to visit your site.
Registration is quick, painless and worth its weight in gold.
... And The JS Frame Breaker Plugin
You may call it The JawBreaker too. It uses a bit of Javascript magic to ensure your site is not framed and, if it is, it takes over the entire browser window breaking free from the deadly grip of the framing site. Some call this The Frame Buster.
Registration is quick, painless and worth its weight in gold.
Now, when StumbleUpon goes down on you, you can smack it in the head by adding stumbleupon.com. And your site can't be framed with things it didn't do no more.
Remember: Traffic is good if you find any use for it. But traffic for the sake of hits is lame and resources unfreindly.
Hey, Linkbee is exactly like Tinyurl. It’s a url shortening service. We would like to investigate this potential fraud traffic, so please send an email to me as soon as possible with details.
I have manually wiped all IPs from my logs but this is my link: linkbee.com / OSFT
I can’t imagine what you can find out after checking this out but I know I’ll keep your traffic on the no-no list.
Reminds me of the time I was doing PPC with ABCsearch … or something like this … . Clicks were coming, no sale was made, … fake traffic all the way. 50$ donated to them.