Highlighted links in Text

1492 wrote:
Where exactly are you seeing inline text ads(links) on RV.NET? I've checked the forums using a couple of different browsers, as an anonymous visitor with no ad blocking or tracking installed, and not seeing anything?

Are you logged into the forums when these inline text ads appear? Or not? What browser?

Personally for myself I am not seeing any other hyperlinks other than the ones intentionally posted by forum members most likely due to my use of AdBlockPlus..

I am not sure if it is the same “ad service” but several years ago RV.net started using Kontera inline ads service. If I remember correctly the keywords in the text was blue with TWO blue underlines. Roll your mouse over that text and a ad would popup based on the keyword in the highlighted text..

This has been discussed many times and a “fix” was found but it was temporary and you had to keep “opting out”.. Then the “opting out” eventually quit working then the option disappeared..

As far as I am aware you got these ads whether you were logged in or not..

As far as my own FF browser settings, I have been all over every possible setting and can not find any way of changing the posted link colors nor any other text which has been consistently mentioned in many posts by one member.. Perhaps IE has that but FF does not seem to have that.. Fortunately I am not bothered any more by those pesky inline ads :B

I refuse to disable my browser defenses or use IE to verify if those inline ads are still present but here is a few links which discuss this issue..

HERE

HERE

HERE

HERE

HERE


From the last link..

“Posted: 02/11/10 11:11am Link | Quote | Print | Notify Moderator

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
This in-text advertising is a new feature we are testing in an attempt to offset the costs of maintaining the forums. We are continuing to work with the vendor to see if there are ways we can limit the text-link ads from displaying in areas like member profiles. It will be an on-going process as we continue to experiment with it.

If you'd like to disable the in-text ads our vendor has informed us that you can do so by taking the following steps:

Click on the question mark in the upper right corner of one of the ads that appear when you roll over one of the links
This will take you to a Kontera page that talks about how the ads work. At the VERY BOTTOM of that page, there is a line that says "To disable Kontera ContentLink please click here." If you click that link the in-text double underlined links should no longer display for you on subsequent pages providing you have your cookies enabled and for as long as the cookie is present.”

It must be unique to my desk top computer, as I don't see them on this laptop.

The way I have Firefox (And MSIE) configured links show up underlined and blue (normally)

If I'm Posting I can choose to set color, itialics, underline and such but your browser may override.. Few fancy up the links though.

usually it is your browser that is doing the highlighting and underlining.

I like it that way.

Where exactly are you seeing inline text ads(links) on RV.NET? I've checked the forums using a couple of different browsers, as an anonymous visitor with no ad blocking or tracking installed, and not seeing anything?

Are you logged into the forums when these inline text ads appear? Or not? What browser?

IAMICHABOD wrote:

tenbear wrote:
Why would you want to disable the links?

I would like to know that too but tenbear asked first.

MrWizard wrote:
if using Firefox browser download the AdBlock add on

I use the AdBlocker on my Firefox browser and can see all the links in all posts but no ads anywhere.

What the OP is asking about is called "In Line Ads" (they work sort of like a hyperlink but instead of clicking you activate them by rolling your mouse over them), these are those pesky popup ads from third party vendors.

RV net does have inline ads and they are not just a nuisance but a potential source of your PC getting hacked by drive by malware from these unsecure third party vendors (had that happen twice to me before I wised up).

After the second time my PC got infected by malware from inline ads I changed to using FireFox (instead of IE)and added the AdBlockPlus.

No more roll over inline ads!

Those inline ads also make use of JavaScripts so you can also use NoScript (puts YOU in control of what JavaScripts can run)..

Disabling those pesky inline ads also allows your Internet to run MUCH faster, use less data (for those who are data "plans" curbing unwanted/unneeded data is important).

OP is not talking about intentional links which folks post (like websites or pictures).

What browser are you using?

Some time ago I was getting links to unwanted ads. They were a result of an add-on extension in Firefox. I don't remember the name of the extension but if you look at the extensions you may find an extension you don't want.

Aside: It is possible for a user to remove the "underline" for URL links if you're Javascript savvy, and write a bookmarklet for instance, that basically customizes the CSS for a viewed webpage. But, who would want to waste their time doing that?

tenbear wrote:
Why would you want to disable the links?

I would like to know that too but tenbear asked first.

MrWizard wrote:
if using Firefox browser download the AdBlock add on

I use the AdBlocker on my Firefox browser and can see all the links in all posts but no ads anywhere.

bukhrn wrote:
How do I turn off the highlighted, underlined links in the text of the forums???

If you are seeing ads when you hover over links, than that's most likely due to a browser hijack. The forums do not use text link ads.

AdBlock browser extension may be able to block your text link ads, but you should remove the root cause of these ads(?) to be safe. Try Malwarebytes Free.

Why would you want to disable the links?