How does Drudge know where I live?

[Isere]

Recently I've noticed that when I go to Drudge (I know, I know...), I get ads for local companies. For example, ads for real estate in San Francisco.

I have never given any info to this site! Has he installed spyware on my computer?

I'm on a Mac and use Safari or IE as a browser. I tried erasing all my cookies, but that didn't work.

This really ticks me off and I would like to know what I can do to stop it. Any suggestions would be most appreciated.

Thanks!

[FarmerOak]

1. He is just THAT GOOD a reporter.

nt

[MikeG]

2. Find out where he lives and go kick his ass.

I heard it's not that hard to do.

[wysimdnwyg]

5. I would ask which...

isn't that hard to do, but I guess you mean both finding him AND kicking his ass. :evilgrin:

[MikeG]

6. The kicking ass part.

[ringmastery]

12. I read a newspaper article about him

He lives on Miami Beach in an oceanfront condo.

[Failure]

3. I'd be happy to take his hat and shove it right up his ass for you..nt

[Political_Junkie]

4. You may have spyware on your computer,

though no one can install it for you. Usually comes packaged with other programs. Get Adaware.

[Canuckistanian]

7. I told him

He was on my ass for weeks.

[texas1928]

8. with a MAC ad programs should not affect you.

His website has a program on it that looks at your IP and you can tell where you are coming from by the DNS report on that IP.

[Pale_Rider]

9. Probably nothing more than advertisers doing a whois ...

... on your IP address and finding out the rough geographic location of your ISP. According to the Yahoo! privacy policy:

http://privacy.yahoo.com/privacy/us/printall.html

Information Collection and Use Practices

Yahoo! receives IP addresses from all users because this information is automatically reported by your browser each time you view a web page.
Your IP address is also stored in our user registration databases when you register with Yahoo!.
IP addresses may be used for various purposes, including to:
Diagnose service or technology problems reported by our users or engineers that are associated with the IP addresses controlled by a specific web company or ISP.
Send the most appropriate advertising based on geographic area or information derived from your IP address. Many IP addresses are commonly associated with Internet service providers, universities, or major corporations in specific regions or localities. Aggregate information derived from IP addresses may also be reported to advertisers.
Estimate the total number of users visiting Yahoo! from specific countries or regions of the world.
Assist merchants in Yahoo! Stores and Yahoo! Shopping to track visits to and business at their stores.
Help determine which users have access privileges to certain content that we host.
Other

When a Yahoo! web page is requested and viewed, that request is logged on our servers with information including the IP address of the computer that requested the page.
Yahoo! Mail <url: http://privacy.yahoo.com/privacy/us/mail/details.html > includes IP addresses in outgoing mail message headers, as specified by standard Internet protocol.
Yahoo! Messenger <url: http://privacy.yahoo.com/privacy/us/mesg/details.html > sometimes uses a peer-to-peer connection during its operation, including times when you may be using it for instant messaging (text conversations), file sharing and webcam streaming. Peer-to-peer means that your computer connects directly to the other user's computer in the conversation without needing to go through Yahoo! servers. As such, your IP address is available to users you share a peer-to-peer connection with.

If you want to stop it, either stop going to Drudgereport or use a browser anonymizer.

[Isere]

11. A browser anonymizer?

Thanks for all the suggestions, everyone.

I have never heard of a browser anonymizer, however. Can you recommend one?

Stop going to Drudgereport...ah, yes. I kick myself every time, but I can't seem to stop wanting to see what the wingnuts are up to. Same for listening to Rush.
Call it opposition research...or call it self-flagellation.

[Pale_Rider]

13. Yep, hides your IP address.

Check out http://www.anonymizer.com for starters. Though there is an expense with this solution. In most cases, you will need to go through a proxy server that will disguise your IP address and remove any identity.

PC Review on Anonymous Browsing ... the review is a bit old, but gives a general outline on what it means.
http://www.pcmag.com/article2/0,1759,55809,00.asp

PC Review on Anonymizer.com, which is probably the premier solution. Other solutions can be found in the right-hand box (though some of the links probably have floundered).
http://www.pcmag.com/article2/0,1759,55835,00.asp

Yes, we all probably visit the 'Dark Side' on occasion to see how the other side lives and what they believe. :scared: Just be sure to take a shower afterwards, go outside get some sunlight, think good thoughts and eat good foods.

[Isere]

14. Merci!

Excellent suggestions.
I knew I'd find help here!

[texas1928]

15. If you have a firewall and have one IP hitting you you can whois

with this site. www.dnsstuff.com

It is a great site.

[Kellanved]

10. Your approximate location can be found out with a traceroute

No Spyware needed for that. And your IP might give away that information; ISPs tend to map their IP-adresses to a locally small group of real users(i.e. a neighbourhood/district/...).


Example:
http://www.visualroute.ffs.net/