Link Hijacking

Link Hijacking is accomplished with various browser add-ins that may have been silently downloaded into your computer through Adware or Spyware sponsored websites. The add-in reads over your shoulder (so to speak) and when it sees a word that vaguely relates to the add-in's sponsor, it turns that word into a pseudo-hyperlink that will lead to another site of the add-in sponsor's choosing.

The actual site you're on has nothing to do with the link, and yet to casual users, it seems as if the site, and not the add-in, has provided the link. Imagine if the inserted links are bogus, or lead the user to sites that are time-wasters, off-topic, or offensive. The user might blame the innocent site owner for the problem, without realizing that a third-party add-in generated those links. It's really bad for site owners because they lose control over what's linked off their sites.

There are some valid uses for this technology, but most of the real-life cases are bogus, and are usually caused by a sneaky browser add-in trying to insert fake links into every web site you visit. To see some safe “examples” of Link Hijacking in action, visit UnwantedLinks.com at:

http://www.unwantedlinks.com/examples.htm