| Description:
There has been some confusion about the 're-appearance' of programs such as Ezula's TopText and Spedia's Surf+ which cause extra advertising links to appear within the body of a web page. Originally, Ezula's links were orange and yellow, while Surf+ could be found as green links. Recently, there have been web sites are showing links which are very similar in coloration (green) and placement to these unwelcome scumware programs.
These new links are a method of advertising chosen by the owner of a website to implement on their pages. This technique, called "IntelliTXT" is produced by an advertising company from San Francisco, California called Vibrant Media and was launched in April, 2004. The following description is courtesy of their site and a demonstration can be found on the overview page.
IntelliTXT creates sponsored text links from keywords, hooks and phrases within article-based content. This user-activated advertising message provides users with relevant product information. The publisher-side approach gives web publishers controlled access to the rapidly growing pay-for-performance market.
How do you get it?
The simple fact is that you don't and therefore there is nothing on your computer that you need to remove. Consider IntelliTXT to be similar to a banner advertisement that was chosen by the webmaster for his/her site. Some webmasters may choose to implement an optional "opt-out" link for their users so if you aren't fond of IntelliTXT look for this link.
Details:
Although IntelliTXT appears eerily similar at times to previously harmful programs it is simply another advertising method. The important fact is that this particular method has not been designed to cheat or steal revenue from webmasters. Some important points to keep in mind about the program:
IntelliTXT works by analyzing the text on the page, identifying keywords and then matching those keywords against relevant advertisers. The areas of text to be analyzed are marked by surrounding those areas with special tags. When IntelliTXT is applied, the HTML in those areas is replaced with a modified version containing the IntelliTXT keyword. The modified version looks the same except for the addition of the highlighted IntelliTXT keywords.
IntelliTXT will NOT serve ads over hyper linked content.
Publisher Permission – IntelliTXT is controlled and managed by the publisher. This is not a desktop application.
Each user-activated click generates revenue for the web publisher. (Vibrant Media FAQ)
Does it Violate
Privacy?
No.
Are there any known
security issues?
No.
Stability problems:
None.
Terminating IntelliTXT: The closest sure thing you can do to get rid of IntelliTXT is to simply stop visiting sites that have chosen this advertising method. There is nothing on your computer that needs to be removed or changed. Vibrant Media also offers an optional tag for webmasters to implement which will allow the user to turn IntelliTXT on or off. If the site you're visiting has incorporated this tag into their pages you should be able to find an "opt out" link which will allow you to turn it off. Relevant article from Imedia about IntelliTXT and editorial integrity. |
