[murph]

Can someone explain the how's and why's of websites referring you to another site. A hypothetical example - I decide to search Google using my keywords and up pop the results. I browse through and reach page 2 of Google's search results.
"O great...." - I see a result - just what I was looking for. I click the link and "...hang on; what's this? This is something else completely different. It looks like some inferior search engine type page - never even heard of it..."
Is the page that Google cached actually available? Is this a set-up by the "search engine" site owners to increase traffic? It's a nuisance and half these sites are dodgy as well. Is there software available to prohibit your browser from "referring" you to these sites? Or is there anything else that can be done...

[fredg]

Hi,
Do you have any spyware/advertising programs you run a scan of your computer with?
Search Engine referrals come from Spyware.

Here are 2 great, free, programs that you can use to scan your computer, and safely delete all of this stuff:

http://www.security-related.com/download2.htm
Download: SpyBot Search & Destroy; 1.3

AdAware at:
www.lavasoftusa.com
Download: AdAware_SE

I use Win98SE; and both of the above work great with it.
Best wishes,
fredg

[murph]

I use Adaware SE Pro and Ad-watch is constantly monitoring. The search site in question has something like 650 results when you ask Google to show you which pages link to it - some of these are from the same site.
I don't think it is a Spyware thing. More than likely, the different domain names are mapped to the same IP address.
It's a similar thing to when you try to reach a site that has been moved or closed - you usually reach the homepage of the webhost.
You think you are going to one site but you get this ridiculous tacky websearch portal thing...
It's not causing me any problems, it's just really annoying and I wondered if there is an app. That can recognise referral scripts before the page is loaded...

[fredg]

Hi,
Check out this site for O2Clean... which is, I think, what you want to download/install for these referral webpages.

http://www.nsclean.com/freebies.html

Best wishes,
fredg

[murph]

Thanks fredg, I'll have a look at that link...