Link redirection, again

[Sweno]

Ok, sorry if this should be appended to an existing topic. But I'm on my mobile device (only reason I realized it was happening) and looking though all the existing topics would take far too long.

In the last post in our current pony thread i get sent to:
(linebreaks inserted after the equal signs to prevent this post from mangling page layout)

Code:

http://api.viglink.com/api/click?format=go&key=d2f6dc3d61fd72ef48d01980d6bfec29&loc=
http%3A%2F%2Fdrunkardswalkforums.yuku.com%2Ftopic%2F8678%2FMy-Little-Plotpony-Friendship-is-Second-Thread%3Fpage%3D13&v=
1&libid=1325700980312&out=http%3A%2F%2Fsunnyrays.deviantart.com%2Fgallery%2F%23%2Fd4fyrq4&ref=
http%3A%2F%2Fdrunkardswalkforums.yuku.com%2Fforums%2F7%2FOther-People-s-Fanfiction&title=
My%20Little%20Plotpony%3A%20Friendship%20is%20Second%20Thread%20in%20Other%20People's%20Fanfiction%20Forum&txt=
http%3A%2F%2Fsunnyrays.deviantart.com%2Fgallery%2F%23%2Fd4fyrq4&jsonp=vglnk_jsonp_13257010810372

Instead of the deviant art page (sunnyrays.deviantart.com/something) I'm not sure if this kind of JavaScript shenanigans is normal now (and something I have disabled via browser plugin on my desktop). But I don't think it should be happening on paid forums

So one more vote for moving the community elsewhere. >.<

ETA: put the full link in a code block to prevent yuku from shortening it.
-Terry
-----
"so listen up boy, or pornography starring your mother will be the second worst thing to happen to you today"
TF2: Spy

[Sweno]

Sigh, and most of the link gets swallowed by the forum. I'll try to post the entire string when I'm back at my laptop
-Terry
-----
"so listen up boy, or pornography starring your mother will be the second worst thing to happen to you today"
TF2: Spy

[Bob Schroeck]

Mm. Viglink again. Anyone else see it coming up in links? I'll check while I go through the rest of the forums right now.
-- Bob
---------
Then the horns kicked in...
...and my shoes began to squeak.

[Bob Schroeck]

Update: I went to the pony thread and looked at that post, Sweno. I'm at work and on Chrome, so I don't have Noscript running, and I don't see viglink popping up in the URL. All I see is deviantart.
-- Bob
---------
Then the horns kicked in...
...and my shoes began to squeak.

[Ankhani]

Looks clear to me as well. It could be a mobile thing, as I know some sites have 'mobile version' pages you can use, which may be different than the main site.
---

The Master said: "It is all in vain! I have never yet seen a man who can perceive his own faults and bring the charge home against himself."

>Analects: Book V, Chaper XXVI

[Sweno]

well I went back to the post in question (link) and it appears to be a semi-random occurrence.
but looking at the source of the page does show javascript calls to api.viglink.com (as well as google apis, quantserve tracking, and some iphone/ipad specific callouts)

After a cursory parsing of the javascript in question

Code:

    var vglnk = { api_url: '//api.viglink.com/api', key: 'd2f6dc3d61fd72ef48d01980d6bfec29' };
    (function(d, t) {
        var s = d.createElement(t);
        s.type = 'text/javascript';
        s.async = true;
        s.src = ('http:' == document.location.protocol ? vglnk.api_url : '//cdn.viglink.com/api') + '/vglnk.js';
        var r = d.getElementsByTagName(t)[0];
        r.parentNode.insertBefore(s, r);
    }(document, 'script'));

It looks to be doing some on the fly redirection of non-https links.
The javascript code at http://cdn.viglink.com/api/vglnk.js (one more domain for my hosts file to blackhole) which gets loaded and run is beyond my motivation to parse.

edit:
after having checked out viglink.com's page, it appears that certain things (like "link insertion" which was complained about earlier) can be turned on and off on an per-account basis. I have no clue what level things are set at or what granularity (all of yuku, all of drunkardswalkforums, etc) these things operate.
The only good (and I hesitate to use that term) thing about this is that the javascript is fast, so fast that I don't even see the redirection happening on my desktop. The only reason I caught it happening was my phone has a much slower internet connection (3g vs broadband) and it took a second to bounce through their api server.
-Terry
-----
"so listen up boy, or pornography starring your mother will be the second worst thing to happen to you today"
TF2: Spy

[LynnInDenver]

It's sure not mobile. I don't see it in my install of Firefox, since it's locked down so tight it needs an oxygen tank. I do see it in Chrome, which I only have a flash blocker on, and not logged into the forum.

Specifically, you can see it if you copy and then paste the link. It's spoofing the pop up that tells you what the link is, which I consider to be borderline malware behavior anymore. Especially since it doesn't show as redirected in the page source.

If it wasn't for the hiding, I'd say it was merely incompetence. Now I'm thinking outright that it's an effort to make more money on the board via link tracking, and hoping we don't notice. We pay for it, that should be enough, or you need to revise the rate structure if it in't.
--

"You know how parents tell you everything's going to fine, but you know they're lying to make you feel better? Everything's going to be fine." - The Doctor

[ECSNorway]

Borderline/[i] malware behavior?

That isn't straddling the line in my book, it is quite clearly and firmly on the wrng side of it.[/i]
--
Sucrose Octanitrate.
Proof positive that with sufficient motivation, you can make anything explode.

[Dartz]

I can't make it do it in Firefox. Even allowing scripts, I can't make it do it.

But I can confirm it with Google Chrome.
________________________________
--m(^0^)m-- Wot, no sig?

[CattyNebulart]

There are viglink request all over the pages again, though they are blocked on my end due to the various blockers I have running, so I am not sure if it is actually being called. I still object to being tracked though. Just open a page in source view and search for viglink.
E: "Did they... did they just endorse the combination of the JSDF and US Army by showing them as two lesbian lolicons moving in together and holding hands and talking about how 'intimate' they were?"
B: "Have you forgotten so soon? They're phasing out Don't Ask, Don't Tell."

[Bob Schroeck]

Grr. And it's almost impossible to complain -- the old Yuku support forums have been eliminated, replaced by a page where you basically submit a help ticket and hope for the best.
-- Bob
---------
Then the horns kicked in...
...and my shoes began to squeak.