Prevent hotlinking with a .htaccess file?

8 years ago

Rather than draw this out with a long explanation, it would be worthwhile to read Chris's article at Ultimate htaccess Anti-Hotlinking Strategy | Perishable Press

Make sure to read the comments as well.

Some great info.

Thanks
1 reply

{{ DiscussionBoard.errors[9975850].message }}

alex93

8 years ago

Originally Posted by David V

Make sure to read the comments as well.

Some great info.

Hi David, iv had a good read of this before, trouble was it simply went straight over my head, I am no coder you see, does anyone have an example of what they use, looking to block entire domains only, not looking to use allow, so hoping that would simplify this process.

Scratches head, must of spent 4 hours reading and non the wiser.

Thanks
1 reply

{{ DiscussionBoard.errors[9976652].message }}

alex93

8 years ago

Hi, can someone validate if this is ok, going to block all image sites except google images.

RewriteEngine On
RewriteBase /
RewriteCond %{REQUEST_FILENAME} \.(gif|jpe?g|png)$ [NC]
RewriteCond %{HTTP_REFERER} !^$
RewriteCond %{HTTP_REFERER} !reviewanygame\.com [NC]
RewriteCond %{HTTP_REFERER} !google\. [NC]
RewriteCond %{HTTP_REFERER} !search\?q=cache [NC]
RewriteRule (.*) /index.php?/$1 [R,NC,L]

Thanks
1 reply

{{ DiscussionBoard.errors[9985853].message }}

Karen Blundell

8 years ago

for whatever site you want to allow hotlinking the code should look like this:

Code:

RewriteCond %{HTTP_REFERER} !^http://www.warriorforum.com/.*$      [NC]
RewriteCond %{HTTP_REFERER} !^http://www.warriorforum.com$      [NC]

and your last line should contain the code showing the extensions of the files you want to prevent from being hotlinked by all other sites like so:

Code:

RewriteRule .*.(jpg|jpeg|gif|png|bmp|swf|zip|mp3)$ - [F,NC]

[ 1 ] Thanks
1 reply

Signature

---------------

{{ DiscussionBoard.errors[9988478].message }}

alex93

8 years ago

Originally Posted by Karen Blundell

for whatever site you want to allow hotlinking the code should look like this:

Code:

RewriteCond %{HTTP_REFERER} !^http://www.warriorforum.com/.*$      [NC]
RewriteCond %{HTTP_REFERER} !^http://www.warriorforum.com$      [NC]

and your last line should contain the code showing the extensions of the files you want to prevent from being hotlinked by all other sites like so:

Code:

RewriteRule .*.(jpg|jpeg|gif|png|bmp|swf|zip|mp3)$ - [F,NC]

Hi Karen, so i only add this bit then and not the rewrite engine on bit at the start?

RewriteCond %{HTTP_REFERER} !^http://reviewanygame.com/.*$ [NC]
RewriteCond %{HTTP_REFERER} !^http://www.warriorforum.com$ [NC]
RewriteRule .*.(jpg|jpeg|gif|png|bmp|swf|zip|mp3)$ - [F,NC]

Is there no software online that can do this code for me, i simply want to allow Google to index my jpg images, as they are all jpg, and block all other sites, it seems like a complete nightmare trying to get a bit of code online, feels like i am pulling teeth.

Because i am messing with an important part of the site, i dont want to cock it up and end up blocking my own images, this is why i am concerned about getting it right.

Can someone write the 3 lines of code for me, i added this before but nobody seems to be able to verify it? I think i need to add jpg to one line of code and the rest is fine, but unsure?

RewriteEngine On
RewriteBase /
RewriteCond %{REQUEST_FILENAME} \.(gif|jpe?g|png)$ [NC]
RewriteCond %{HTTP_REFERER} !^$
RewriteCond %{HTTP_REFERER} !reviewanygame\.com [NC]
RewriteCond %{HTTP_REFERER} !google\. [NC]
RewriteCond %{HTTP_REFERER} !search\?q=cache [NC]
RewriteRule (.*) /index.php?/$1 [R,NC,L]

Thanks

{{ DiscussionBoard.errors[9990033].message }}

yukon

Banned 8 years ago

Here's what I did on one of my sites where other domains kept hotlinking my images.

Watermark the hotlinked images with your domain URL, it's free advertising.

If you go back & edit the old images to include a watermark, make sure you keep the old URLs intact, that literally gives you 100% control over the images on the domains you don't own.

Or swap out the old image URLs with banner ads If you want to piss off the guys scraping your content. I would make sure to watermark all your images first because they might come back & just download/host the images on their own host.

Anyways, your in a good position If someone is hotlinking images. Use it to your advantage (free advertising).

[ 1 ] Thanks
2 replies

Signature

Hi

{{ DiscussionBoard.errors[9988493].message }}

Karen Blundell

8 years ago

Originally Posted by yukon

Here's what I did on one of my sites where other domains kept hotlinking my images.

Watermark the hotlinked images with your domain URL, it's free advertising.

it's a good idea, Yukon - but hotlinking also uses up bandwidth, and on a busy site, unless the person has lots of bandwidth included with their hosting, it can be costly.

Thanks
1 reply

Signature

---------------

{{ DiscussionBoard.errors[9988504].message }}

yukon

Banned 8 years ago

Originally Posted by Karen Blundell

it's a good idea, Yukon - but hotlinking also uses up bandwidth, and on a busy site, unless the person has lots of bandwidth included with their hosting, it can be costly.

True hotlinking will use bandwidth but you could always look at the server logs on the host & see which of the hotlinked images are the most popular, then host those few images on an external free host (ex: Google Picasa) & 301/302 redirect the old image URL to the new external host image URL.

That still gives you free advertising on domains that are hotlinking & you can go back to Picasa or whatever external image host & edit the images for years If needed.

[ 2 ] Thanks
1 reply

Signature

Hi

{{ DiscussionBoard.errors[9993061].message }}

alex93

8 years ago

Originally Posted by yukon

That still gives you free advertising on domains that are hotlinking & you can go back to Picasa or whatever external image host & edit the images for years If needed.

Would it be possible to include an alternative image url from say Photobucket, stored on someone else's domain and show my image advert which is clickable, almost like an advertising banner.

Seeming how there is now 1000 sites, i figured it would be useful to not only put the image advert, but put a clickable image which sends them to the homepage of my site?

Granted i understand you can place alternative image url, but is it possible to be able to make the image clickable like an advert, like google adsense does?

Thanks

{{ DiscussionBoard.errors[9997692].message }}

alex93

8 years ago

Originally Posted by yukon

Here's what I did on one of my sites where other domains kept hotlinking my images.

Watermark the hotlinked images with your domain URL, it's free advertising.

Sounds like a plan, i may add an image promoting my site, seeming how over 1000 sites are pinching them, might give me some traffic.cheers.

Alex

Thanks
1 reply

{{ DiscussionBoard.errors[9990036].message }}

Karen Blundell

8 years ago

Hi Alex,

If you only want to give Google permission to hotlink your images and no other sites the code would look like this:

Code:

RewriteEngine On

RewriteCond %{HTTP_REFERER} !^http://google.com/.*$      [NC]
RewriteCond %{HTTP_REFERER} !^http://google.com$      [NC]
RewriteRule .*.(jpg|jpeg|gif|png|bmp|swf|zip|mp3)$ - [F,NC]

you can remove the zip and mp3 extensions if you don't need them -

[ 1 ] Thanks
1 reply

Signature

---------------

{{ DiscussionBoard.errors[9990555].message }}

alex93

8 years ago

Originally Posted by Karen Blundell

Hi Alex,

If you only want to give Google permission to hotlink your images and no other sites the code would look like this:

Code:

RewriteEngine On

RewriteCond %{HTTP_REFERER} !^http://google.com/.*$      [NC]
RewriteCond %{HTTP_REFERER} !^http://google.com$      [NC]
RewriteRule .*.(jpg|jpeg|gif|png|bmp|swf|zip|mp3)$ - [F,NC]

you can remove the zip and mp3 extensions if you don't need them -

Thanks for this, much appreciated, I take it i also need to include my own domain, as most i see include their own domain, wondered if that was standard practice.

This is the one i pulled online, they also said the jpg must be written as j?peg, iv bolded the potential problem below. Want to allow all search engines so hoping i can use the below and change yourdomain to my domain name.

RewriteEngine on
RewriteCond %{HTTP_REFERER} !^http://(.+\.)?yourdomain\.com/ [NC]
RewriteCond %{HTTP_REFERER} !^http://(.+\.)?google\.(.+)/ [NC]
RewriteCond %{HTTP_REFERER} !^http://(.+\.)?(.*\.)?google\.(.+)/ [NC]
RewriteCond %{HTTP_REFERER} !^http://(.+\.)?bing\.(.+)/ [NC]
RewriteCond %{HTTP_REFERER} !^http://(.+\.)?(.*\.)?bing\.(.+)/ [NC]
RewriteCond %{HTTP_REFERER} !^http://(.+\.)?yahoo\.(.+)/ [NC]
RewriteCond %{HTTP_REFERER} !^http://(.+\.)?(.*\.)?yahoo\.(.+)/ [NC]
RewriteCond %{HTTP_REFERER} !^$
RewriteRule .*\.(jpe?g|gif|bmp|png)$ - [F]

Just wondered why they said the j?peg must be j?peg and not jpg, kinda confusing.

Cheers for all the help, i know i am a pain in the arse.

Thanks
1 reply

{{ DiscussionBoard.errors[9992181].message }}

emptee

8 years ago

Originally Posted by alex93

Thanks for this, much appreciated, I take it i also need to include my own domain, as most i see include their own domain, wondered if that was standard practice.

This is the one i pulled online, they also said the jpg must be written as j?peg, iv bolded the potential problem below. Want to allow all search engines so hoping i can use the below and change yourdomain to my domain name.

RewriteEngine on
RewriteCond %{HTTP_REFERER} !^http://(.+.)?yourdomain.com/ [NC]
RewriteCond %{HTTP_REFERER} !^http://(.+.)?google.(.+)/ [NC]
RewriteCond %{HTTP_REFERER} !^http://(.+.)?(.*.)?google.(.+)/ [NC]
RewriteCond %{HTTP_REFERER} !^http://(.+.)?bing.(.+)/ [NC]
RewriteCond %{HTTP_REFERER} !^http://(.+.)?(.*.)?bing.(.+)/ [NC]
RewriteCond %{HTTP_REFERER} !^http://(.+.)?yahoo.(.+)/ [NC]
RewriteCond %{HTTP_REFERER} !^http://(.+.)?(.*.)?yahoo.(.+)/ [NC]
RewriteCond %{HTTP_REFERER} !^$
RewriteRule .*.(jpe?g|gif|bmp|png)$ - [F]

Just wondered why they said the j?peg must be j?peg and not jpg, kinda confusing.

Cheers for all the help, i know i am a pain in the arse.

Hi Mate,

The question mark is regex for "the last character (or group) is optional".

In other words - jpe?g will match both "jpeg" and "jpg".

Cheers,
Michael

[ 2 ] Thanks
1 reply

Signature

★★★ Supercharge GSA Search Engine Ranker With PA and DA. Rank Like it's 2012 Again ★★★

Is CloudFlare COSTING You Business?

{{ DiscussionBoard.errors[9992284].message }}

alex93 8 years ago

Originally Posted by emptee

Hi Mate,

The question mark is regex for "the last character (or group) is optional".

In other words - jpe?g will match both "jpeg" and "jpg".

Cheers,
Michael

Thanks Michael, was wondering what that was, so would i be right in thinking i am set to go with this now, iv put my url in the first line, want to include all search engines and hoping this below is now sufficient..

RewriteEngine on
RewriteCond %{HTTP_REFERER} !^http://(.+.)?reviewangame.com/ [NC]
RewriteCond %{HTTP_REFERER} !^http://(.+.)?google.(.+)/ [NC]
RewriteCond %{HTTP_REFERER} !^http://(.+.)?(.*.)?google.(.+)/ [NC]
RewriteCond %{HTTP_REFERER} !^http://(.+.)?bing.(.+)/ [NC]
RewriteCond %{HTTP_REFERER} !^http://(.+.)?(.*.)?bing.(.+)/ [NC]
RewriteCond %{HTTP_REFERER} !^http://(.+.)?yahoo.(.+)/ [NC]
RewriteCond %{HTTP_REFERER} !^http://(.+.)?(.*.)?yahoo.(.+)/ [NC]
RewriteCond %{HTTP_REFERER} !^$
RewriteRule .*.(jpe?g|gif|bmp|png)$ - [F]

Hoping i can then add this today and stop these buggers.
- Thanks
- 1 reply
{{ DiscussionBoard.errors[9992488].message }}
- Karen Blundell 8 years ago
  
  Alex, you don't have to include your own domain - that's a given
  
  just enter all other domains you want to give permissions to and that is it.
  
  [ 1 ] Thanks
  
  Signature
  ---------------
  
  {{ DiscussionBoard.errors[9992883].message }}

emptee

8 years ago

Hi Alex,

Nope - definitely not.. well, ignoring possible SVG javascript exploits anyway... And you definitely DO NOT want to head down that route!

302 it to a small PNG or GIF with your url prominently placed.. should get some attention (hopefully!)

Michael

[ 1 ] Thanks
2 replies

Signature

★★★ Supercharge GSA Search Engine Ranker With PA and DA. Rank Like it's 2012 Again ★★★

Is CloudFlare COSTING You Business?

{{ DiscussionBoard.errors[9997698].message }}

alex93

8 years ago

Originally Posted by emptee

Hi Alex,

Nope - definitely not.. well, ignoring possible SVG javascript exploits anyway... And you definitely DO NOT want to head down that route!

302 it to a small PNG or GIF with your url prominently placed.. should get some attention (hopefully!)

Michael

Much appreciated for this, i was concerned.

Iv finally mastered seo, it has **** all do with content, i have over 20,000 game reviews, well written and no real traffic, it makes me wonder if my money should of been spent on baclinks. Google claims all this shit but from what iv seen is smoke and mirrors, reallly disappointed. Content is king, probably the biggest myth of them all.

Lets just give all traffic to the person with the most backlinks who has the biggest wallet, what a search engine, iv worked my absolute arse off building my site focusing on the quality, yet i should of just thought, sod it, just buy links instead.

Sophisticated = Google, that has to be the biggest joke of them all.

Quality content is king - absolute bullshit.
.

Thanks

{{ DiscussionBoard.errors[10006778].message }}

alex93 8 years ago

Originally Posted by emptee

Hi Alex,

Nope - definitely not.. well, ignoring possible SVG javascript exploits anyway... And you definitely DO NOT want to head down that route!

Michael

Bummeer,, will do what we can lol, going tto be image hotlilinking try and turn the tables, not gettting tot far, how do we piss them off fior good?.
- Thanks
{{ DiscussionBoard.errors[10006997].message }}

rhinocl

8 years ago

If you have cpanel, you can prevent all hot-linking simply by choosing that option there.

Thanks

Signature

cheap search engine optimization

{{ DiscussionBoard.errors[10004547].message }}

alex93

8 years ago

Sorry for the added rant, i guess i am quite gullible, i actually thought it was fair game.

[ 1 ] Thanks

{{ DiscussionBoard.errors[10006809].message }}

nimonogi

8 years ago

Code:

RewriteEngine On
RewriteCond %{HTTP_REFERER} !^$
RewriteCond %{HTTP_REFERER} !^http://(www.)?yourdomain.com/.*$ [NC]
RewriteRule .(gif|jpg|swf|flv|png)$ http://www.yoursite.com/hotlink.gif [R,L]

For more security rules visit .htaccess rules to Harden your website

Thanks
1 reply

Signature

European Web Hosting by Brontobytes

{{ DiscussionBoard.errors[10021359].message }}

MarketingWithArthur 8 years ago

Hi,

To summarize (solutions to prevent hotlinking + adding watermark):

1. If you have Wordpress - this is plugin:
Download | ByREV WP-PICShield – HOTLINK Defence

2. If you have your own CMS/script on website:
PHP Scripts - Image Hotlinking Tracker | CodeCanyon

3. Additional knowledge (simple php script):
Stop and prevent Image Hotlink with Apache htaccess and PHP

Best Regards,
Arthur
- Thanks
Signature

[NEWBIE FRIENDLY] "This System is Complete Plan to Finally Succeed in CPA"
{{ DiscussionBoard.errors[10022509].message }}

Prevent hotlinking with a .htaccess file?

Trending Topics

What I've Been Up To...Finally Made It

How to know what to charge for advertorials, ads and guestblogs

Fake stories? Or True Stories? Any thoughts?

Last Resort...Please Help

Writer's block