This seems a little different.
Posted on 02/19/2012 11:36:10 PM PST by LegendHasIt
OK, a few hours ago I tried to do a google search.... Something very benign (I do all my searches for things that 0bama & co wouldn't like with other search engines anyway).
So I type in my search terms and click the button.
And it comes back with a page saying "We have detected unusual search patterns coming from your computer. You must identify yourself to continue., with blanks to fill in, and one of those security scramble graphics where you have to type in the letters/numbers to prove you aren't a robot.
Of course I got the heck out of there immediately, and swore to never use google again, since I don't trust them anyway.
Then a full computer scan with Ad-Aware reported a "hostile entry attempt from google.com" and submitted it for "Threat Alliance analysis".
Or perhaps Skynet has indeed become self aware.
I got one of those on google the other day. The message said unusual traffic detected on my network, then the little type in the wavy letters box.
I do not use Google directly. I use Google indirectly thru startpage.com
Startpage.com enters Google searches thru their own proxy or some such. They isolate you from SkyNet. Give it a try.
What does this even mean?
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What does this even mean?
Beats the heck out of me.
I do do a lot of 'prepper' type searching, which we know that the Administration hates, but like I said, I use a different SE for that kind of stuff.
Yeah, I have refused to buy an I-phone or I-pad, or an Android (google) phone or tablet because I know that they track and report your every movement.
Never used facebook or twitter, even before their sins were discovered.
And I turn on my old ‘dumb’ cell phone maybe once a month.
Hate to clue you in but you are already being tracked just by being on your computer and posting——particularly on this sight. We are consider extreme by those who don’t like our view point.
Google= the DNC
How can we “trust” Startpage?
I can only assume that they suspect you of being some kind of a search bot, making millions of searches a minute, since only this kind of a search would cause them problems. I doubt they would care about the content of the actual search, and wouldn’t try to stop you from making certain types of searches they might disagree with politically. This could be possible if maybe some bug on your computer is doing these random searches without your knowledge.
This seems a little different.
BTTT to reboot...
This stinks..
Yeah, And I’m running “’spybot’ now. It has been locked out of many of the files and folders that it checks, and is reporting hundreds of errors..
Looks like I’m going to have to do a “System Restore’.
Maybe it wasn’t google themselves, but a hacker.
Google is paid to ensure some websites end up at the top of a search.
Somebody has probably figured out how to use a bot to put their particular website on top.
By using that filter, they are ensuring whomever is doing the searching is actually human.
What do you mean this site? I just come to DemocraticUnderground to look at pictures of rainbows and talk about how we can reach humanity on a more human level of transcendence while.... oh, wait.
Got a link for that?
I've got a web site that isn't taking off. Sounds like you've got the solution! Where do I click? How many hits do I get per dollar?
I don’t have solutions.
Sorry I am guilty of stating the obvious... should have know better
But you said Google does. Where do I click to pay them to boost my site?
It costs money to be somebody on Google, pony up.
I use startpage, too. i like it.
I realize I was stating the obvious....The government has for a very long time tracked folks, as have commercial trackers. If you have a social security number or driver;s license or bank account....if you pay your taxes....So many things have been tracked and logged and recorded. The books you check out of the library (or used to), the magazines you subscribe to....all of this data about you exists in someone’s file somewhere.
Maybe I am just cynical because my work has always required me to have a clearance so I have always figured lots of folks know more about me than I may even know about myself.
I see what you’re asking. :)
I’m sure they have contact information.
Sounds like a virus to me.
I would do the same thing, system restore. And then make sure your firewall is turned on, with anti-virus and anti-spyware too. You might even need to use safe mode to go in and see what programs are in your startup folder before getting back online (though if you’re reading this it’s too late unless you’re on another computer!).
Google recently changed their privacy policy. I didn’t read through all the fine print but I think it was so they can use more specifically targeted ads when you use their search engine, at least that’s what it superficially means.
But what it really means is the company with “Don’t Be Evil” as its moniker is even more of a threat to our privacy than they used to be.
Yep...
http://www.google.com/intl/en/policies/privacy/
I think one has until March 1 to opt out.
I’ve deleted everything google that I can from my computer, even my beloved google earth.
Just ask Ricky about that. Converted his name to a common noun! LOL!
Of course, that feat was not accomplished by paying Google. Rather, it was by fooling Google's search algorithm. This is confirmed by the fact that non-Google searches also uncover the disgusting substance high in their SERPs. From Google's point of view, this is a bug, not a feature. And certainly not a feature Dan Savage would have had the funds to buy!
I've been aware of this sort of thing for decades (I used to have high security clearances too, until I 'retired' from the world, and even back then I was rather privacy sensitive.). This thing from google was just new to me, and a quick web search from an alternative search engine didn't turn up anything that seemed to mention what I experienced.
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On the bright side, a System Restore seems to have cleared up the problem with Spybot being locked out of the files and folders.
.......................
Thank you , everyone, for your replies to my vanity thread.
I'm still never going to use google again, voluntarily, although I know that nearly every web page these days has embedded google stuff in them, and even modifying my HOSTS page won't defeat them all.
That's the front door, where I advertise like a normal party.
But I'm not looking for the front door. You advertised the back door. I want to pay to have my site on top, regardless of worth! That's the opportunity you said existed, but to which you cannot link.
I don’t mind if the government keeps track of me, that is their job.
It only bothers me when some big capitalistic firm like Google is tracking me.
(Uh wait, I’m not on DU now either - this web stuff is too confusing).
Actually - you are NOT stating the obvious. Yes, I know that the gov’t, and companies, and the banks, and the phones, and even the chips in our cars keep track of us. Twice my credit card number has been stolen, and within 24 hours the bank has cancelled it, because it “noticed” purchases outside of my normal buying habits. So - that is good for me.
I’m a little less certain how “real time” the survelance is on my banter on websites. Of course if they ever had reason to, it could all be pulled up I imagine. And I know that some folks have gotten into trouble for making threats on websites. Not sure if someone turns them in, or the threats get picked up directly.
An article I read on “black boxes” for cars was interesting, that most any car now (GPS or not) has a memory chip that will record the last bit of driving information such as speed, braking, etc. And they have been used to recreate crash scenes.
As I said, you’d have to talk to Google on how to do that.
All I said was Google does that. Since I don’t have a website, I’ve never had need to look at how that is done. I just know, from reading websites like Pcmag and computer sites is that web search sites have figured out how to get value from where a website places in a search engine.
I’m highly confident that you’re being cynical, but I can give you some information. I know for a fact (I used to work with one such company), that you can pay to have your site come in in the top 3 ads. BUT, I don’t know of Google offering this service. There are companies that can make sure the algorith puts a certain site at the top of a list, and they’ll monitor and modify their paramaters to keep you there. The company I was associated with charged about $1,000, and that was a bare minimum for certain search terms. If you wanted to have your site be on the top all the time, it would cost you big time. So, in case you are actually serious about if the claim is true, I can verify that you can pay to appear at the top, but I don’t know of Google itself offering that. I do know that private companies will get you are the top, and that it is quite costly. You’ll have to look them up yourself though, I have zero interest in Google, and refuse to use, endorse, or support it in ANY way.
Also, if you haven’t already, switch to Firefox and get the “no-script” add on. You might also like one called (I think) don’t track me, and ad-blocker. These will greatly reduce the odds of having issues in the future.
I use mapquest.com in place of Google Earth. I do believe it’s owned by yahoo, but I’m unsure. You can get the satellite view there too, and in some cases it’s better detailed. (I have seen both when looking at an integrated map on a site, basically one from google earth was embedded in a site I was on, and I compared it to the mapquest that I use). I cannot say it’s any better, we have so little privacy. But Google is certainly going to be the greater of two evils, no matter what two evils you compare.
I wasn’t personally being cynical, because I know its business and product placement is a reality in the marketplace. If you go into a convenience store, that’s part of a chain, or a grocery that is also part of a chain, every product that is prominently placed or placed in the easiest reach has been paid to be there.
I would suggest old fashioned shoe leather to increase web traffic.
I’m told that one of the best ways to increase foot traffic is to make sure that there is something new about it on a daily basis.
This is new. Google determined that a few Malware programs were hijacking browsers to up the traffic to client sites. So they took some of the most commonly used key words and tied them to a ‘check if human’ protocol. Not the most elegant way to handle bots, but effective. In my opinion they should have detected quantity and not the qualities of the searches, If you are sending a search request every half second, you are not human.
Try adding this to /etc/hosts:
127.0.0.1 googleads.g.doubleclick.net
I did that a while ago, and that one line made a noticeable difference in my perceived browsing speed.
Doubleclick's not supposed to slow the internet down, but it does in practice, because your average web author is too dumb to follow guidelines as to its usage. As a result, pages hiccup pending its response, instead of rendering properly, then updating when the ad arrives. Google underinvested in its infrastructure, causing their costly ad-server to become a bottleneck. That, combined with failure on the part of your average webmaster to code around its performance limitations, made it a stand-out web irritant!
Fortunately, the above one-line, code-free solution exists! Now, I don't mind a few ads, as long as they don't slow me down. But doubleclick became a bottleneck. So screw 'em! If GOOG had invested, I wouldn't have bothered. But they didn't, so I edited /etc/hosts, and now it's very unlikely I will ever get around to un-editing it.
They probably detected you are a Conservative which is against their lib policy.
Also, if you haven’t already, switch to Firefox and get the “no-script” add on. You might also like one called (I think) don’t track me, and ad-blocker.
You are thinking of the extension Ghostery (for "dont track me"). I've got that one installed and it's pretty informative.
AdBlock Plus is pretty useful too, as well as Flashblock for those of us on bandwidth limited connections.
With all the hating on Google this might be unwelcome, but I just love me some Google Dictionary. This fetches a definition of anything I select on a page. Pretty nice
This all runs on Chrome too.
That's the SEO industry. Ironically, SEO
stands for Search Engine Optimization. That is to say, optimum for the searchee, not the searcher. I am the searcher (I don't really have a web site I want to promote, LOL). Thus, SEO is my enemy, not my friend. It is also Google's enemy, because it reduces the effectiveness of the Google search engine as perceived by its users (me).
Folks seem to have trouble understanding the search engine business model. To a search engine, the searcher is the product, not the customer. The customer is the advertiser, to whom the search engine delivers eyeballs. The search engine wins by delivering eyeballs to advertisers. It best does that by delivering the best search results with the least effort on the part of the eyeball.
Check out this Firefox add onn
TMN Track Me Not. It sends spoof/false searches to Googel, and has them chasing their tail up a tree.
I got totally fed up with all the Java BS and cookies yada yada yada at Google.
Switched to Yahoo search, much cleaner. If they start pulling stunts like Google, I will dump them and find another one.
Be prepared to plunk down big money.
This is no longer the nice, helpful Google wunderkind of the 90s.
Small businesses are summarily steam rolled by the Big Guys.
Oh, I had redirected all the google-analytics, googleads and doubleclick URLs a long time ago, although they seem to come up with new ones pretty often, and yeah, I had experienced horrible stalls and slowdowns prior to that , especially over at HotAir.
Earlier tonight I added google.com to the redirect list.
That ought to be interesting.
Hey i could have written your. Awesome. My phone barely knows i own it.
Is it safe to add on to Firefox?
I use Ubuntu Linux, Firefox with add-ons and ixquick for anonymous searches.
But nothing is foolproof;
How a father found out his daughter was pregnant;
http://www.forbes.com/sites/kashmirhill/2012/02/16/how-target-figured-out-a-teen-girl-was-pregnant-before-her-father-did/
I have used Google Patents (since when it was a “beta” feature) to search for very old patent information. Sometimes you have to examine many patents to find what you want, because their search based on OCR processing of scanned patent images from the USPTO, and that doesn’t work reliably on very old patents. In extreme cases, you might have to look at dozens or maybe hundreds of patents.
I have had exactly the same problem as what you have described, including the “unusual search patterns” message and the “Captcha” entry roadblock (which I could never get past no matter how many times I tried.
But this wasn’t recent-this was several years ago. I haven’t had the problem recently, though.
I’m more inclined to think this is a software glitch rather than anything sinister, an attempt to block “bots”.
But with Google, you’re never sure.
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