Anti Virus and other Software is Stealing Your Traffic

Scott Ames · 02-05-2009, 08:10 PM

You spend time making sure you have a 404 redirect so that if a user comes to your site on a broken URL they will still be redirected somewhere, and / or you put something useful on the 404 page.

Along comes some software programs like AVG anti-virus. As soon as they detect a 404 on anything the client does, they are redirected to their own page.

At first I thought something was wrong with my redirect and I kept messing with it. It refused to work. I kept getting some search page that I could tell someone was getting paid from. Once I uninstalled AVG, bingo, I could hit my sites and the 404 custom page would come up.

To me they are stealing my traffic. A guy types in my URL a little wrong and gets their page instead of mine. I move a URL and rely on redirect to clean up my mess, they get my traffic.

No webmaster is perfect and all have some broken links. Directories keep links forever, etc. You want that traffic, but you don't get it.

The solution I guess is to comb the logs, find each broken link, and 301 redirect it. What a pain.

Doug English · 02-05-2009, 08:26 PM

My webhost (Roadrunner, now Brighthouse for those of us in most of Florida or Michigan) used to do the same thing w/ 404 pages. They would go to a 'google syndicated' RR branded search page.
That seemed to stop for me a few months ago. Perhaps they learned in most cases Adsense sucks regardless of the volume.

I think your comment about the AV and other software is a HUGE thing, probably why you see so many 'lost clickbank sales' threads every other day. I don't think they are stealing traffic, but definitely losing it.

I have a membership site that I've been running for 3 years. Script even sends me an email when someone joins w/ their referrer name and a 'came from' field. 3 years ago, I'd see a small fraction of new members w/out a referral id. Nowadays, it can be close to 50/50 if not higher. These days, it doesn't even seem like you can consistently pull the standard 'HTTP_REFERER' string from most visitors. (yes, typo intentional)

02-05-2009, 08:10 PM	#1
Scott Ames Senior Warrior Member War Room Member Join Date: Jun 2006 Location: West of Rockies Posts: 5,556 Thanks: 363 Thanked 665 Times in 325 Posts	Anti Virus and other Software is Stealing Your Traffic You spend time making sure you have a 404 redirect so that if a user comes to your site on a broken URL they will still be redirected somewhere, and / or you put something useful on the 404 page. Along comes some software programs like AVG anti-virus. As soon as they detect a 404 on anything the client does, they are redirected to their own page. At first I thought something was wrong with my redirect and I kept messing with it. It refused to work. I kept getting some search page that I could tell someone was getting paid from. Once I uninstalled AVG, bingo, I could hit my sites and the 404 custom page would come up. To me they are stealing my traffic. A guy types in my URL a little wrong and gets their page instead of mine. I move a URL and rely on redirect to clean up my mess, they get my traffic. No webmaster is perfect and all have some broken links. Directories keep links forever, etc. You want that traffic, but you don't get it. The solution I guess is to comb the logs, find each broken link, and 301 redirect it. What a pain.
	Action is the foundational key to all success. - Pablo Picasso

02-05-2009, 08:26 PM	#2
Doug English HyperActive Warrior War Room Member Join Date: Dec 2007 Location: Florida, USA. Posts: 220 Thanks: 18 Thanked 52 Times in 39 Posts	Re: Anti Virus and other Software is Stealing Your Traffic My webhost (Roadrunner, now Brighthouse for those of us in most of Florida or Michigan) used to do the same thing w/ 404 pages. They would go to a 'google syndicated' RR branded search page. That seemed to stop for me a few months ago. Perhaps they learned in most cases Adsense sucks regardless of the volume. I think your comment about the AV and other software is a HUGE thing, probably why you see so many 'lost clickbank sales' threads every other day. I don't think they are stealing traffic, but definitely losing it. I have a membership site that I've been running for 3 years. Script even sends me an email when someone joins w/ their referrer name and a 'came from' field. 3 years ago, I'd see a small fraction of new members w/out a referral id. Nowadays, it can be close to 50/50 if not higher. These days, it doesn't even seem like you can consistently pull the standard 'HTTP_REFERER' string from most visitors. (yes, typo intentional)