https://fls.doubleclick.net/activityi; ?
Oct 9, 2014 | 4:25 pm
#1
Original Poster
Join Date: Nov 2009
Location: East Berlin
Posts: 1,557
https://fls.doubleclick.net/activityi; ?
Why am I seeing that every time a page is loading on ba.com? It pops up momentarily before a new page loads. Is it BA or my browser?
It's annoying. It seems to be slowing things down tonight.
Palmer
It's annoying. It seems to be slowing things down tonight.
Palmer
Oct 9, 2014 | 4:33 pm
#2
FlyerTalk Evangelist
Join Date: Aug 2002
Location: London
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This might sort this out: http://winhelp2002.mvps.org/hosts.htm
Oct 9, 2014 | 6:09 pm
#5
FlyerTalk Evangelist
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Perhaps it's the script that records what flights you search for. If you (like me) don't block ads or restrict cookies you'll often see Google ads for BA mentioning destinations you've recently searched for. I've seen the same with IHG and Hilton. Others will do the same but I use them much less frequently.
Oct 10, 2014 | 1:37 am
#6
Join Date: Jun 2009
Location: LHR
Programs: BA Gold
Posts: 339
Doubleclick is the name of the adserver BA are using, it's the most popular ad server in the industry and is owned by Google. Ad servers can do a lot of things besides just serve ads, including dropping and reading cookies stored in your browser.
It's unlikely BA would be using doubleclick to track flight searches and change prices, they're more likely to keep that in-house, but it's possible.
It's unlikely BA would be using doubleclick to track flight searches and change prices, they're more likely to keep that in-house, but it's possible.
Oct 10, 2014 | 1:47 am
#7
Moderator: Iberia Club, Airport Lounges and Ambassador: The British Airways Club
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It really slows you down using BA.com in places like China where the authorities have their own views about Google (or rather Google Plus). Same for FT incidentally!
Oct 10, 2014 | 2:27 am
#8
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I wasn't referring to BA using them to track searches for their own purposes (stats collection or showing in the 'my recent searches' section when you're logged in) but when you visit other sites I often see ads for BA promoting destinations I recently searched for, or ads for IHG and Hilton promoting hotels I was looking at. As these ads are served by Google or Doubleclick it means Google has had to get this information somewhere.
Oct 10, 2014 | 3:37 am
#9
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Oct 10, 2014 | 1:58 pm
#10
Original Poster
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Location: East Berlin
Posts: 1,557
I've tried 'whitelisting' it but that didn't work.
Palmer
Nov 13, 2014 | 4:23 am
#11
Join Date: Mar 2009
Location: JAX
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This might sort this out: http://winhelp2002.mvps.org/hosts.htm
Just means I have to do my shopping on my tablet now. #firstworldproblems
Nov 13, 2014 | 4:47 am
#12
FlyerTalk Evangelist
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I did this to my laptop after you posted it and it's been working great... but it does mean I now can't use the Gate 365 eStore to earn Avios - it can't track my click-throughs.
One further thing that I think you can do, if you want to do something like shop on Gate365, is to do the shopping session in an InPrivate or incognito or similar mode, in which the cookies are not stored long-term on your machine but (AIUI) automatically deleted when you've finished that session and you shut down the browser. That will stop those cookies from tracking you.
Nov 13, 2014 | 6:52 pm
#13
Moderator, Emirates
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Nov 13, 2014 | 7:11 pm
#14
FlyerTalk Evangelist
Join Date: Mar 2013
Location: London
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One further thing that I think you can do, if you want to do something like shop on Gate365, is to do the shopping session in an InPrivate or incognito or similar mode, in which the cookies are not stored long-term on your machine but (AIUI) automatically deleted when you've finished that session and you shut down the browser. That will stop those cookies from tracking you.
Nov 14, 2014 | 4:46 am
#15
Join Date: Dec 2009
Location: Aberdeen
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Ghostery is another great option to help. Its amazing how many things are flagged up when you see the details. And its free.
https://www.ghostery.com/en-GB/
https://www.ghostery.com/en-GB/