Society, Issues, Business, Allegedly Unethical Firms, Ezula
- Webmasters and surfers, mostly disapproving of the embedded advertising links.
- Web owners upset by changed content; describes an "opt-out" procedure.
- Provides coding web masters can add to their pages to prevent Top Text inserted links.
- Article on Interactive Advertising Bureau's possible regulatory complaint over Gator's ad insertion. Also discusses Top Text and the effort against it.
- Information for webmasters and surfers about the eZula TopText browser plugin and a similar program called Surf+.
- Explains how Top Text and similar programs can negatively affect income streams, particularly for sites that use affilate programs.
- A webmaster's editorial accusing TopText and Intelsoft International's Surf+ of theft, false advertising, and deceptive self-promotion.
- Article on Commission Junction's apparent blessing of Ezula's links, followed by a lively discussion.
- Discussion of web design to detect and defeat contextual advertising, including recognizing the HotText and TopText plugins.
- Resources, news and forums for the fight against contextual advertising.
- Forum thread on the eZula "scumware" and possible responses.
- Examines the spread of both "spyware" and programs that add commercial links to websites. KaZaa's distribution of eZula is heavily featured.
- Portal News article about the fight against unauthorized ad link insertion.
- Article about anti-competitive involuntary hyperlinks being placed by Top Text (aka ContextPro).
- Explains how the eZula system works and provides resources that allow users to remove it and to help web site owners protect their sites from unwanted advertising insertion.
- Petition protesting insertion of advertising links on web pages.
- Editorial suggesting "loud, pointed, organized protests" against this attempt to "take over your web pages."
- Provides a script killer for the eZula software. Also works on Surf+.
- Resources for webmasters facing traffic-stealing programs including eZula's TopText, Surf+ and Gator.
- Discussion about the eZula TopText defacement in the context of copyright violation.
- "Advertisers try aggressive (and annoying) hyperlink technology to make the Web pay."
- Provides script to disable Top Text and Surf+. Documents source code alterations made by these programs.
- San Francisco Chronicle: mentions concerns about the ethics of covert advertising, and commercial firms outraged by links to competitors' sites.
- Gives information on how to remove/unistall TopText, and links to other more detailed resources.
- Information and resources primarily for webmasters who wish to fight unethical contextual advertising.
- Article describing the financial arrangements, briefly mentioning the controversy.
- Information to help users and webmasters identify when Top Text is installed.
- Editorial decrying stealth download tactics, copyright and other legal violations.
- Editorial asking "How far should advertising go?" Examines eZula's browser plug in as a specific example of unethical advertising.
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