Rehaan Team-BHP Support



Join Date: Feb 2004 Location: Bombay Posts: 23,182 Thanked: 28,616 Times

Shady Business: Airtel & MTNL injecting advertisements / js into websites you visit!





Hopefully this post will help you know better -- about what's happening to you right now, without you even realising it.



Internet providers like Airtel & MTNL are intercepting your browsing data, and injecting it with additional ads & JavaScript code.



Their goal? To earn additional revenue from you. Yes, additional revenue on the connections & services you've already paid for!





To illustrate this with an analogy, it is like:  Your car audio system inserting its own ads between songs you're playing via your iPod.

 Your cell phone provider squeezing ad messages into your WhatsApp conversations with friends.

 Your phone calls being interrupted by an audio ad every hour.

 The pizza delivery guy swapping out one slice of your pizza with something you didn't order.

Here's an example of what it looks like on MTNL. It's not easy to spot, since it only happens occasionally:





The only way I spotted it was because I know what ads on Team-BHP are supposed to look like (hint: not this!):





The highlighted code is NOT originally present on the Team-BHP webpage. MTNL has changes the contents of the page:





They even place their rogue ads on top of legitimate ads:





Dear Esteemed Customer, you might even get ads





The CEO of Adphonso (the partner ad network) even Insta-ban





With new advertisers coming on board (eg. BankBazaar), you will no longer be able to easily





It gets worse! Soon they will be injecting: Animated ads : They are already experts in awful graphic design. This will just take it to the next level!

: They are already experts in awful graphic design. This will just take it to the next level! Frames : Shifts the whole webpage to one side and inserts their ads beside it (or on both sides).

: Shifts the whole webpage to one side and inserts their ads beside it (or on both sides). Interstitials : A full-screen splash page ad before you are taken to your desired destination.

: A full-screen splash page ad before you are taken to your desired destination. Appear anywhere : Bad enough that they appear, but now they'll appear anywhere on the page.



It's also  The maximum number of pop-up ads per device per day is restricted to 5.

 There seems to be no process in place to seek consumer consent before pushing ads into their browsing sessions.

AIRTEL



A Few weeks back Airtel was also busted for injecting JavaScript code from an Israeli company Flash Networks into webpages:





Flash Networks then sent a ridiculous copyright infringement notice to the



Who is Flash Networks? Their LinkedIn page says: Flash Networks is a global leader in optimization and monetization. Our solutions, enables operators to boost network speed, optimize video and web traffic, and generate over-the-top revenues from the mobile Internet. Hmmm... I wonder what Airtel is interested in here?



Ironically, Airtel thinks all its customers are idiots, and claims the injected JavaScript is only to "track data usage". Rubbish. There's absolutely no need to inject JavaScript to do that. 'Water-boarding at Guantanamo Bay' sounds like a fun weekend activity, to those who don't know any better.Hopefully this post will help you know better -- about what's happening to you right now, without you even realising it.Their goal? To earn additional revenue from you. Yes,revenue on the connections & services you've already paid for!Here's an example of what it looks like on MTNL. It's not easy to spot, since it only happens occasionally:The only way I spotted it was because I know what ads on Team-BHP areto look like (hint: not this!):The highlighted code is NOT originally present on the Team-BHP webpage. MTNL has changes the contents of the page:They even place their rogue adslegitimate ads:, you might even get ads without a close button!The CEO of Adphonso (the partner ad network) even pretended to be a MTNL customer who was in favour of it.With new advertisers coming on board (eg. BankBazaar), you will no longer be able to easily identify the ads as the rogue ones from MTNL!It gets worse! Soon they will be injecting:It's also reported that:A Few weeks back Airtel was also busted for injecting JavaScript code from an Israeli companyinto webpages:Flash Networks then sent a ridiculous copyright infringement notice to the Bangalore techie who uncovered this malpractice.Who is Flash Networks? Their LinkedIn page says:Hmmm... I wonder what Airtel is interested in here?Ironically, Airtel thinks all its customers are idiots, and claims the injected JavaScript is only to "track data usage". Rubbish. There's absolutely no need to inject JavaScript to do that. Last edited by Rehaan : 9th July 2015 at 11:57 .