Norton Blocking Affiliate Links & AdSense Revenue

[5starAffiliates]

Hi all,

I'm new to this forum and hate to start off with bad news but have some info I want to be sure everyone knows about.

Norton Internet Security and Firewall are blocking most affiliate links & banners and even AdWords and Adsense ads. It also blocks most ad servers. It may even be blocking your own site logo if it is a certain image size.

FYI - When I say "blocked" I mean erased, wiped out and invisible. It leaves a blank white spot where the banner or text link should have been, making it look like your site is messed up or you are missing information. It totally strips out your osurce code too. With AdWords and Adsense ads the body copy is visible but the link is missing so you cannot click.

I have been researching this issue for awhile now, and have posted a warning here before, but just finally downloaded the software to start testing. I'm APPALLED and ENRAGED at how this software DEFACES websites and can effect webmaster/affiliate revenue!

THE DEFAULT IS SET TO BLOCK ADS, so for non savvy users that don't realize how much Norton blocks, they will just think your site is poorly designed or info is missing when the see all the white spaces. Norton is being shipped with many new computers so I think this problem will grow.

Please download the FREE trial of Norton Internet Security (which includes the Firewall software too.) Check your site!

Since a picture is worth a thousand words I have built a page full of examples to display the problem and spread the word. Thought I would share so you can see the damage it does.

Also at the bottom of the page are links to other articles and some potential software solutions and work arounds.

http://www.5staraffiliateprograms.com/norton-blocks-revenue.html

Hope this info helps some of you recover from this and increase your income somehow.

 

[otherground]

It's ironic that a company that does alot of online advertising would create software to block ads ...

 

[Anthony]

Is there any word about this being changed in future versions?

 

[5starAffiliates]

Not so far. Not that I have heard about anyway - unfortunately.

 

[Redleg]

I don't think it's only Norton that blocks adsense and other ads...
When I use my computer at work (Army), I can only see white fields as well, but the websites are ok...
I'm afraid that I can't tell you the names of the Firewalls etc., but it's used by companies worldwide.

 

[5starAffiliates]

Yes I'm hearing reports of some others too, but I think Norton is the most blantant and most widely distributed. See this recent press release:

March 1, '04 Symantec press release:
“Symantec Security Software Ships on Nine of the Top 10 Notebook Computers Worldwide... and sales of notebooks have now surpassed those of desktops…” www.symantec.com/press/2004

Also I have added some potential workarounds and solutions to the bottom of the page and have some other options that I know are in development now.