ISP-operated servers alter search results, researchers claim
Search engine redirects give stealthy love to advertisers
- theregister.co.uk August 9th, 2011
- Source: http://www.theregister.co.uk/2011/08/09/isp_operated_servers_altering_search_results_researchers_claim/
Search engine requests are being altered to redirect users to specific websites in a "stealthy" system that benefits advertisers, US researchers have claimed.
"Malicious servers" operated by internet service providers (ISPs) redirect users to websites relating to the information they have searched for using search engines available in browsers' address bars, the Microsoft and University of New York researchers said.
Online advertising companies are profiting from the system which "inserts several rounds of redirection before eventually directing the user to her destination," the researchers said in a study (8-page/286KB PDF).
