Google created Google AdSense for domains to help maximize revenue on so-called parked pages (yes, those ugly pages full of links that vaguely look like a search engine page). Of course, this attracted a lot of web spammers. They simply use a well-known domain, but with little alterations. That's why they are sometimes referred to as typo-squatters.
As typo-Squatters Are Gaming Google and others, some companies are fighting back. And one of them is Microsoft. It's research team developed a prototype, "Strider URL Tracer". That Microsoft tool can be used to hunt down typo-squatters.
The lightweight prototype, called Strider URL Tracer, builds on the work within Microsoft's Cybersecurity and Systems Management group to keep tabs on a sophisticated typo-squatting scheme that uses multilayer URL redirection to make money from Google's AdSense for domains program.
Yi-Min Wang, who heads up the group's work in Redmond, Wash., said URL Tracer can be used as a parental control tool to block inappropriate ads from being served from Web sites that are set up to deliberately lure kids who accidentally misspell a popular domain.
The typo-squatters can be a very lucrative activity. The authors often feels safe, because they often go unnoticed, and the "squatted" companies dont go to court most of the time. But this could change very soon.
When a user visits a Web site, her browser may be instructed to visit other third-party domains without her knowledge. Some of these third-party domains raise security, privacy, and safety concerns. The Strider URL Tracer, available for download, is a tool that reveals these third-party domains, and it includes a Typo-Patrol feature that generates and scans sites that capitalize on inadvertent URL misspellings, a process known as typo-squatting. The tool also enables parents to block typo-squatting domains that serve adult ads on typos of children's Web sites.
Strider URL Tracer by Microsoft Research source
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