[ insider_reports_insider ]
Rogers Internet Injects Itself Into Google
David Utter
Staff Writer
2007-12-11
 Insider Reports RSS Feed
A Canadian ISP has attracted attention by tucking a little bit of JavaScript into the Internet datastream to present subscriber notification messages.
 | | Rogers Internet Injects Itself Into Google |  |
The screenshot of Google's Canadian homepage as displayed on Lauren Weinstein's blog doesn't look like any Google homepage you have ever seen.
Rogers Internet, Canada's big broadband service provider, has the capability to inject content onto pages passing through its network to subscribers. Weinstein said the code to do this can be used on any unencrypted http traffic; Google is just one example.
The current usage and opt-out choice for the status messages "hardly changes the extremely problematic and network neutrality unfriendly aspects of such situations," said Weinstein. Advertising insertions without an opt-out could be implemented this way.
Wired blogger Sarah Lai Stirland got Rogers to confirm the experiment, which Rogers uses to notify customers about their monthly total GB usage and how close they are to the monthly limit.
One aspect of the test may be particularly galling to Google. The Rogers display notes it is the "Rogers Yahoo! Hi-Speed Internet" service. Google can't be delighted with advertising a major Internet rival on its homepage, and we won't be surprised if the search ad company complains about this.
About the Author:
David Utter is a business and technology writer for SecurityProNews and WebProNews.
More insider_reports_insider Articles
Insider Reports RSS Feed
|
|
RSS
Archive
Contact Us
Advertise
