Bogus link in my Clicks Stats

• 

  auxclass · Member · Dec 3, 2013 at 4:11 am

  • Copy link
  • Add topic to favorites

  Found a adcash.com link today in my Clicks section of my Stats today (Dec 2, 2013) – some type of script link (which I should not even be able to put on my blog, since script is stripped out & I have the No Ads Upgrade, so should be no Ad clicks anyway) – looks like some sort of affiliate redirect – can’t find it in my site – even using Omnisearch – don’t want to get my site suspended for some bogus link

  The full link is in a Draft Post for the staff – has STAFF in the title

  This is a bit disturbing on either how the link is on my site and hidden from me or how outside data gets into my blog

  thanks

  The blog I need help with is: (visible only to logged in users)

• 

  kraftbj · Staff · Dec 3, 2013 at 5:17 pm

  • Copy link

  It’s a relatively new strategy some spammers are using. They’ll create a legitimate site on WordPress.com to see how our script considers a click, then artificially add on clicks to sites in hope to attract the site owners to click through while checking out their stats.

  We mix things up to stop it, but it is a cat and mouse game with these folks.

• 

  auxclass · Member · Dec 3, 2013 at 5:28 pm

  • Copy link

  But this shows up as the click was FROM my site – I don’t understand how a click can show up as a click from my site when the link should not have been on my site at all – it’s like the spammer had access to my site –

  The referral spam I understand, I see a link to my site and go look to see what that site is – common behavior – see if the site is legitimate or not – looking at Referrals is how I know that a site in France for instance has my latest Post (just title) with a link back to my latest Post –

• 

  kraftbj · Staff · Dec 3, 2013 at 5:46 pm

  • Copy link

  Right—it is a related gimmick that basically uses both ends of the spectrum. They spoof referrals onto your site and they spoof a click out.

  They aren’t hacking into your site; most likely sending a false signal to the script that we use to track outbound clicks for your stats by modifying what their browser is rendering using Firebug or Chrome’s Developers Tools or a similar automated process.

• 

  auxclass · Member · Dec 3, 2013 at 5:53 pm

  • Copy link

  OK – I guess – maybe this is one of those “magic” things that your senior developers understand – but still spooky to me –

  I have found some outbound clicks that had gotten past me in a comment that I have had to clean up a few times and I thought this might have been the same, but then I was not able to find the link, so confusing at best

  thanks for checking

• 

  kraftbj · Staff · Dec 3, 2013 at 6:01 pm

  • Copy link

  Anytime!

  I ran a check on your site as a second set of eyes and confirmed nothing slipped by you. Cheers!