I got a website subscriber question regarding security (and privacy, basically). This is worth answering and discussing.
1. Introduction
I got this question from a website subscriber regarding the news links in the email they received (private data is masked for privacy):
“Unfortunately my computer’s security system completely blocks my access to any of your website’s URL links.”
Picture 1
What is this about?
2. Short answer
To save your time: this is about advertising platforms tracking code. So, not a real virus/security threat, and very often not even a big privacy issue, but still not ideal.
For more details, read on.
3. What’s going on here?
I did confirm the noted warning with my own ad-blocking (and antivirus) software:
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For reference, this is the full link from the email:
https://zj9ivk1v.r.us-east-1.awstrack.me/L0/https:%2F%2Furls.grow.me%2Fhttps%253A%252F%252Fbike.bikegremlin.com%252F20956%252Fcheap-aliexpress-and-amazon-tools%252F%253FautomailerReaderId%253Da9e052ec-2a76-4e74-9aaa-2bd60b21a67d%2526automailerReaderType%253Dsubscriber%2526utm_source%253Dgrow%2526utm_medium%253Demail%2526utm_campaign%253Dautomailer%2526utm_content%253Drec/2/01000194e382290b-e05b6e85-8b4e-4ac8-8cff-cc5cdff4ac50-000000/uixAqlojlWxOFSKQGhgi7JkTh58=412
And this is the page it redirects to (along with the trailing query string – exactly as it gets redirected when I click on the “Proceed” button):
https://bike.bikegremlin.com/20956/cheap-aliexpress-and-amazon-tools/?utm_source=grow&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=automailer&utm_content=rec#growUnverifiedReaderId=a9e052ec-2a76-4e74-9aaa-2bd60b21a67d&growAuthSource=automailer&growSource=automailer
The bold part in the link above is my website’s page, and the rest (after the “?utm_source=”) is the tracking code.
4. What kind of tracking is this?
It’s advertising platform tracking.
At the time of writing, my website costs are mostly covered using Mediavine adverts (the link leads to my article about the pros and cons of that platform).
Patreon donations are generous, but are still not covering all the monthly costs.
Adverts that are just random pay very little. Advertisers are willing to pay decent rate only when an advert is shown to a person that has some interest in their product. That is where tracking comes in play.
Google knows who you are and what your interests are when you log into your Gmail, or your YouTube account (or use Google Drive, etc.). Google offers us a lot of stuff for free, but is then able to keep track of what we like, watch, read etc, so it can serve ads based on our personality and interests – and make big profits.
Facebook and Instagram do similar on those social network platforms. Same goes for other social networks (including Reddit).
Small, independent sites, like BikeGremlin, can’t do that (and, as far as I’m concerned, won’t). One way of making any decent advert revenue is by using platforms like Mediavine Grow, that let visitors log in, so that Mediavine can serve ads based on the visitor interests.
However, by the end of 2024, I’ve decided to remove Mediavine Grow from my websites. As the subscriber letter from the start of this article shows, Grow is not transparent enough (I hate that “transparent” word, but can’t find any better in this case) about what it does and how it works. Not towards the website visitors definitely. At least that’s how I see it and why I’ve removed it at the cost of over 60% reduction in website revenue.
I care about security and privacy, and at the time of writing, this is what I think is the best choice (or, for us pessimists: the least bad one 🙂 ).
I’ll add this Twitter thread as a brief discussion on this topic:
https://x.com/darth_na/status/1854867734246355097
My reply in that thread:
https://x.com/bike_gremlin/status/1854912175497732288
5. Conclusion and how dangerous is this?
Does this kind of tracking affect visitor safety or privacy? As far as I know, it can affect privacy, to a certain degree. At least for those who don’t use smartphones and don’t pay with cards. Those who do have a lot more serious privacy concerns than some website advertising tracking.
For more details see:
From the perspective of a website author: while I’m happy to share my knowledge and experience for free, and spend the time and effort in order to do so, I don’t like the idea of having to pay money out of my own pocket in order to do that. Website adverts help keep my sites independent of any (corporate) sponsors, and cover the cost of running.
If every visitor paid one cent per month, adverts would not be needed – but that is not a realistic scenario, so serving ads is the next best option. At the same time, Grow platform tracking didn’t sit well with me so I’ve decided to ditch it – and live with the costs of that choice.
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