Using the MVP's Hosts file causes problem...

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Ben - 03 Mar 2008 19:53 GMT

Hello,

With the Hosts file de-activated this website displays normally:
http://news.bbc.co.uk/ ,
however, on activation of the file, a white space appears across the top of
the page with the word 'Advertisement' showing twice together with a spacing
in the left hand links bar.

I have tried deleting the three references to the bbc in the hosts file but
this has no effect.

Any help appreciated.

Ben.

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Mike M - 03 Mar 2008 22:25 GMT

> Hello,
>
[quoted text clipped - 8 lines]
>
> Any help appreciated.

Since you appear not to understand the purpose of the hosts file why are
you using it? Its purpose amongst other things is to prevent the display
of unwanted advertisements and this it is clearly doing. If you want the
adverts don't use the hosts file. Alternatively learn its purpose and
understand what it is doing.

Clue: Adverts are rarely served from the website being viewed.
The only BBC reference in the MVP Hosts file blocks the stats counter and
has nothing to do with the display of adverts. Other blocked sites
include the string bbc but have nothing to do with the BBC web site.

Signature

Mike Maltby
mike.maltby@gmail.com

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Ben - 04 Mar 2008 02:03 GMT

Hello Mike,

This image is of the front-page of the news international version.:

http://www.geocities.com/cowichancricket/MNG1.gif

The hosts file is de-activated - the page displays normally. No ads.

This image reflects the blocking of ads. i.e., the hosts file is activated.

http://www.geocities.com/cowichancricket/MNG2.gif

I do wish to use the hosts file. I don't want to de-activate it everytime I
access the BBC. However if there were a way I would prefer to see the site
appear without the blocked ads space i.e., as in the first image..

Any suggestions?

Ben.

| > Hello,
| >
[quoted text clipped - 19 lines]
| has nothing to do with the display of adverts. Other blocked sites
| include the string bbc but have nothing to do with the BBC web site.

Reply to this Message

Mike M - 04 Mar 2008 08:45 GMT

You do not need to deactivate the hosts file when visiting the BBC web
site. Where advertisements are blocked the word advertisement will appear.
If you don't want this to happen forget about the hosts file and display
the ads. If you want to see some ads and not others then edit the hosts
file accordingly. The properties of an ad will tell you its source and
you can then add or remove the url or ip address to the hosts file.

> Any suggestions?

In the same way that you have repeated your question I will repeat my
reply. Learn and understand the purpose of a hosts file..

Signature

Mike Maltby
mike.maltby@gmail.com

> Hello Mike,
>
[quoted text clipped - 44 lines]
>> Mike Maltby
>> mike.maltby@gmail.com

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Ben - 04 Mar 2008 15:24 GMT

Hello Mike,

I must quote you. "If you don't want this to happen forget about the hosts
file and display
the ads". I don't want this to happen. But I have no ads (this only on the
BBC web site) when I "forget" (de-activate) the hosts file. All other sites
display ads.

I believe I do understand the purpose (and value) of the hosts file.

The BBC web site is not behaving like any other web site. Its display is, in
part, contrary:
No hosts file = no ads displayed and no spaces. And an activated hosts file
= blocked (no) ads and spaces.

All other web sites respond normally. No hosts file = ads displayed and no
spaces. Hosts file activated = no ads but spaces.

I wonder if you, in the UK, see the ads when you de-activate the hosts file.
I on the other hand, and in western Canada, see no such ads when I do so.
None whatsoever. And no spaces.

This is, in my view, an anomaly.

Perhaps we will have to leave it at that, Mike. But I am curious as to what
ads the BBC is using? Perhaps this is a clue for me:

<style type="text/css" media="all">
@import "/css/screen/shared/styles.css";
@import '/css/screen/shared/toolbar_ifs.css';
@import "/css/screen/nol/styles.css?v2";
@import "/css/screen/nol/furniture.css";
@import "/css/screen/nol/promo.css";
@import "/css/screen/nol/business.css";
@import "/css/screen/nol/ifs.css";
</style>

Cheers,

Ben.

| You do not need to deactivate the hosts file when visiting the BBC web
| site. Where advertisements are blocked the word advertisement will appear.
[quoted text clipped - 56 lines]
| >> Mike Maltby
| >> mike.maltby@gmail.com

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Mike M - 04 Mar 2008 19:09 GMT

Ben,

Let's get one thing straight. The ONLY BBC site that is blocked by the
MVP hosts file is stats.bbc.co.uk which as should be obvious from its name
is a stats/tracking site. The only visible effect of blocking this site
is that in the left hand frame below the "Related BBC Sites" you will
probably see the infamous "Red X" icon. If you right click on the icon
and select Properties you will see something similar to
http://stats.bbc.co.uk/o.gif?~RS~s~RS~News~RS~t~RS~HighWeb_Story~RS
indicating that stats.bbc.co.uk is the URL of the blocked image.

No other BBC content is blocked however if there is a link to an advert OR
other external content whose server is blocked via the Hosts file then
this will be blocked.

If you are seeing an empty box with Advertisement in it then I'll give you
a clue. This box would normally contain an advert or perhaps other
external contents but access to the site concerned is being blocked by the
hosts file. What that site might be can be determined in the usual way,
right click, properties.

> All other sites display ads.

So what? All this means is that the site serving the ads isn't blocked.
If you don't want to see the ads, be adventurous, add the urls of the
sites serving those ads to your copy of the hosts file.

As for my being in the UK, that is immaterial. I use a customised copy of
the MVP hosts file (however for this test reverted to the original copy)
and as a test have accessed the BBC news site via a US proxy (non UK IP
address) and see none of the problems that you are seeing. I suspect you
need to look a lot closer to home than the BBC site for the cause of your
problems,

What some consider to be a problem when using the hosts file to block for
example access to ad serving sites is that the behaviour of the browser
back button can be erratic as the back route might include links to a
blocked site. In such cases it is often easier to jump back to the
required site using the drop down box rather than step back site by site.

Signature

Mike Maltby
mike.maltby@gmail.com

> Hello Mike,
>
[quoted text clipped - 101 lines]
>>>> Mike Maltby
>>>> mike.maltby@gmail.com

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Ben - 04 Mar 2008 22:08 GMT

I can only thank you, Mike, for sharing your expertise with me.

I would like to perhaps end my input by leaving you with one sentence:

When I de-activate the hosts file and open the BBC news page I see no
spaces, no word 'advertisement', no small box with the red cross in it and
no boxes of any kind.

Best wishes,

Ben.

| Ben,
|
[quoted text clipped - 141 lines]
| >>>> Mike Maltby
| >>>> mike.maltby@gmail.com

Reply to this Message

Mike M - 04 Mar 2008 23:14 GMT

You have yet to establish the site being blocked. Why haven't you done
this and by so doing contribute something to this thread? I've explained
how to do this.

For the fourth time the word ADVERTISEMENT is an indication that a link is
being blocked. That link could be as small as a 1 pixel web bug. Why not
establish what that link might be?

Signature

Mike Maltby
mike.maltby@gmail.com

> I can only thank you, Mike, for sharing your expertise with me.
>
[quoted text clipped - 3 lines]
> spaces, no word 'advertisement', no small box with the red cross in
> it and no boxes of any kind.

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Ben - 05 Mar 2008 11:24 GMT

Hello Mike,

The site being blocked was an 'ad.doubleclick.net' one. I wasn't able to
find this in I.E. but a user of Firefox told me of it. I edited the hosts
file by placing the # before this entry: 'ad.doubleclick.net
#[MVPS.Criteria]', and achieved the desired result with the BBC news
homepage.

This satisfies me.

Ben.

| You have yet to establish the site being blocked. Why haven't you done
| this and by so doing contribute something to this thread? I've explained
[quoted text clipped - 11 lines]
| > spaces, no word 'advertisement', no small box with the red cross in
| > it and no boxes of any kind.

Reply to this Message

Ben - 05 Mar 2008 13:24 GMT

But it didn't satisfy me.

I have restored the hosts file to its original content; switched to using
Mozilla Firefox as my default browser and installed AdBlock Plus and several
allied extensions. Having done this I am now able to control the manner in
which web pages display - especially the BBC News page (which prompted this
thread) without resorting to placing limits on the MVP's hosts file.

Ben.

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Mike M - 05 Mar 2008 17:39 GMT

You are the only person I am aware of that has problems when viewing the
BBC web site with the MVP hosts file installed since the hosts file blocks
NOTHING from the BBC web site other than their stats server.

Why you should want to use a hosts file yet allow access to the
ad.doubleclick.net web site amazes me and shows, IMO, a failure to
understand the purpose of using a hosts file to prevent the unwanted
display of advertisements. As I have previously indicated, and you have
chosen to ignore, I believe your problems are local and have nothing to do
with the BBC web site nor use of a hosts file.

Signature

Mike Maltby
mike.maltby@gmail.com

> But it didn't satisfy me.
>
[quoted text clipped - 4 lines]
> News page (which prompted this thread) without resorting to placing
> limits on the MVP's hosts file.

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Ben - 05 Mar 2008 22:04 GMT

And when using Internet Explorer with the MVP's hosts file restored to its
original content:

In Internet Options | Security tab | Internet Zone | Custom Level under
Scripting:

Active scripting - Disable
Allow paste operations via script - Enable
Scripting of Java applets - Enable

In the context of my initial post in this thread:

"With the Hosts file de-activated this website displays normally:
http://news.bbc.co.uk/ ,
however, on activation of the file, a white space appears across the top of
the page with the word 'Advertisement' showing twice together with a spacing
in the left hand links bar.

I have tried deleting the three references to the bbc in the hosts file but
this has no effect."

The changes, outlined above, allow me to open the (linked) web page without
the "white space appears across the top of the page with the word
'Advertisement' showing twice together with a spacing in the left hand links
bar".

It was, as you have said, Mike, a "local" problem - the result of a recent
format/install and my failure (I forgot) to amend the settings in Internet
Options from their installed defaults.

http://www.geocities.com/cowichancricket/MNG3.gif

Thanks for the 'pushing' :)

Ben.

| You are the only person I am aware of that has problems when viewing the
| BBC web site with the MVP hosts file installed since the hosts file blocks
[quoted text clipped - 15 lines]
| > News page (which prompted this thread) without resorting to placing
| > limits on the MVP's hosts file.

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