Protect Your Site Against UserCash and Other Scumbags
In this brief article I explain the atrocity that is UserCash and then provide the JavaScript needed to protect your site.
What is UserCash?
UserCash is an online advertising program that uses redirects and frames to exploit your site with advertisements. UserCash customers link to target sites using rewritten URL’s generated via the UserCash “generator/compiler.” There are two types of these rewritten UserCash links:
- Links that use frames to create banner-like ads above your pages
- Links that use frames to deploy landing-page ads before your pages
As of now, all UserCash links assume the following generalized format:
http://1z2l3e4gt6y44k7wqld9.usercash.comUserCash then pays 70 cents (or less) for every 9999 top-frame clicks or 70 cents for every 3999 landing-page clicks. Let’s just pause for a moment to contemplate the implications of this idiocy:
- UserCash is paying people to exploit sites that may not belong to them.
- UserCash advertisements are low-quality, unwanted cheap spam junk ads.
- UserCash pays 70 cents for 9999 ads, or, 70 bucks for a million ads.
- UserCash is littering the Web with their cheap garbage advertisements.
- UserCash will pay people to put garbage ads on any site — even yours.
- Even Google is susceptible to this type of advertising (see screenshot).
I find it remarkably sad that there are people who are eager to force scummy spam ads upon others just to make a quick buck. It is also utterly pathetic that people are willing to sell out their own sites with such a blatantly cheap advertising stunt. Nonetheless, rather than continuing with this rant, let’s focus on a way to protect our sites against UserCash and any other site that tries to frame our pages..
Protect your site against UserCash and other framing scumbags
Fortunately, preventing scumbags such as UserCash from placing ads on your site is relatively easy. Simply link to or place the following JavaScript in the <head> of your web pages:
<script type="text/javascript">
<!--//--><![CDATA[//><!--
// break out of frames @ https://perishablepress.com/press/2007/12/03/protect-your-site-against-usercash-and-other-scumbags/
if (top.location != self.location)
top.location = self.location;
//--><!]]>
</script>With this code in place, your pages will automatically “break out” of any enclosing frames. Of course, this method requires that JavaScript be enabled on the visitor’s browser, which happens to be the case for a large majority. When JavaScript is available, this code is highly effective at breaking your pages out of frames. This trick was taken from my article, HTML Frames Notes Plus.
27 responses to “Protect Your Site Against UserCash and Other Scumbags”
thanks, I had worked out another solution but yours is much simpler, going with it. damn usercash..
Glad to hear it’s working for you, psilo — usercash doesn’t deserve any business that is attained by stealing from people!
I totally forgot to do this when setting up my blog, and this is the second time I’ve been helped by this site. – Thanks!
My pleasure — glad to be of service! ;)
Fantastic, works for me. Have installed your solution to all of my sites under my banner KMPNetwork. Can’t thank you enough.
I don’t think its the right approach to be blocking sites that could drive traffic to your sites.
@Webmaster: Thanks for the feedback — much success to your domains! :)
@Ryan: Thank you for your honest opinion, however, this method does not block any sites whatsoever — it simply prevents thieves from stealing content by removing unwanted advertising frames. Traffic is definitely not blocked — in fact, removing frames helps to “pull” traffic into the actual target site.
lol, someones mad cuz people like to make money online.
please dont make such comments about a site that you dont even know about.. if it was illegal what they were doing they wouldnt last this far… usercash has helped me a lot.. right now i am earning at least 250dollars a month with usercash.. and thats all that matters..
Nikolai is a liar. He owns usercash.com.
View here:
http://www.blacklabelads.com/mb/commerce/purchase_form.php?zone_id=78150
And see his site in the descriptions!
No, nikolai, you are wrong. Making money is definitely not “all that matters.” It is that very attitude that continues to ruin the Web for the rest of us. Let’s do the math on this one. If UserCash is paying roughly $70 per million ads, then someone such as yourself claiming to make $250 per month is guilty of polluting the Web with over 3.5 million servings of those atrociously sleazy UserCash advertisements every month!
i really don’t care on what you think or say .. i just think that your a scumbag yourself for your reckless title…