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IE8 Will Contain an Accidental Ad Blocker

Posted by kdawson on from the inprivate-blocking dept.

JagsLive sends in a Washington Post blog post reflecting on one privacy-enhancing feature of the upcoming Internet Explorer 8, the so-called "InPrivate Blocking" that has privacy advocates quietly cheering, and advertisers seriously worrying. Here is Microsoft's description of the feature. From the Post: "The advertising industry is bracing for trouble from the next version of Microsoft's Internet Explorer, details of which were announced today, because it will offer a feature that blocks some ads and other content from third-parties that shows up on Web pages. A Microsoft spokesman said that the feature, to be known as 'InPrivate Blocking,' was never designed to be an ad blocker, though 'there may be ads that get blocked.' Instead, it was designed to stop tracking 'pixels' or pieces of code that could allow third-party sites to track users as they move around the Web."

4 of 437 comments (clear)

  1. Firefox Anyone? by fishyfool · · Score: 5, Informative

    Install Firefox, whack in AdBlock , NoScript, and FlashBlock and you have more privacy and security than with IE.

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    Enjoy Every Sandwich
    1. Re:Firefox Anyone? by rm999 · · Score: 5, Informative

      I think you mean Adblock Plus... Adblock hasn't really been updated for about 4 years

      I've found all I need is Adblock Plus with a subscription to "EasyElement+EasyList"

  2. Re:They just don't get it do they by Lachlan+Hunt · · Score: 5, Informative

    If by header, you mean , it's probably because that's where Javascript should be kept. All my webpages validate as xhtml strict, and placing the tag in is the only way for it to validate.

    Wrong! The script element can be placed within either the head or body of a page, so placing it near the end is perfectly fine.

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    By reading this signature, you hereby agree with the content of the above comment.
  3. Re:They just don't get it do they by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 5, Informative

    All my webpages validate as xhtml strict, and placing the tag in is the only way for it to validate.

    Sorry, but you're incorrect. The applicable block of valid XHTML, with the Google Analytics code where Google advises to put it:

    <!DOCTYPE html PUBLIC "-//W3C//DTD XHTML 1.0 Strict//EN" "http://www.w3.org/TR/xhtml1/DTD/xhtml1-strict.dtd">

    [snip]

    <script type="text/javascript">
    //<![CDATA[
    var gaJsHost = (("https:" == document.location.protocol) ? "https://ssl." : "http://www.");
    document.write("\<script src='" + gaJsHost + "google-analytics.com/ga.js' type='text/javascript'>\<\/script>" );
    //]]>
    </script>

    <script type="text/javascript">
    //<![CDATA[
    var pageTracker = _gat._getTracker("UA-3044339-1");
    pageTracker._initData();
    pageTracker._trackPageview();
    //]]>
    </script>
    </body>

    Posting anonymously, because I don't want to waste the moderation points that I've already applied to this thread.