Frequently Asked Questions
- >> What's the point of "protected links" ?
- Our service is particularly useful when:
- You don't want the destination URL to see where you're coming from.
- You don't want your link's URL to be freely visible and detectable by automated means.
- >> Why are your links "trusted", and why is this the preferred service for forums?
- We currently support most file uploading services. Forum owners know that sometimes, link shielding services are used to hide phishing URLs and virii, and they're difficult to detect.
With linkblur, you can be sure that a link that looks like this http://linkblur.com/rapidshare/nUE0pQbiY3WupTyxp2uupzHhL29gYj==
really points to rapidshare (for example), because we implement several checks.
If someone tries to be clever and tries to disguise a different URL as rapidshare, this is what happens -> http://linkblur.com/rapidshare/nUE0pQbiY2qio2qfMF5wo20i. This has several advantages for our users, including:
- Users know exactly where that link is going, at a glance, without disclosing the full URL
- Forum moderators can see if a link is trusted or if it warrants further investigation
- Users feel they can trust our links because they are transparent, and most of all safe from phishing sites
- >> What file hosting services do you currently support in your "trusted links" program?
- We currently support the following sites:
- Rapidshare.com
- Megaupload.com
- Depositfiles.com
- Hotfile.com
- Megashares.com
- Uploading.com
- Storage.to
- Mediafire.com
- Zshare.net
- Easy-share.com
- Sharebee.com
- Ziddu.com
- >> What's the difference between "anonymized", "encrypted", "protected" and "captcha-protected" links?
- Anonymized links look like this: http://linkblur.com/?http://ipswift.com . All they do is remove your HTTP_REFERRER variable
and replace it with linkblur, which means that if you post this link on forum "domain.com", it will look like you actually came from linkblur.com and there will be no reference to "domain.com".
- Encrypted links look like this: http://linkblur.com/crypt/nUE0pQbiY2yjp3qcMaDhL29g.
They work exactly link anonymized links, but the destination URL is encrypted, and is only visible if you actually click on the link.
This generally offers higher protection from automated bots
- Protected links look like this: http://linkblur.com/prot/MjonMUc8I1VCK0lSQzxKPVY5VDBBOEldWgpgCg==.
They are just like encrypted links, but they offer an additional layer of protection: to reach the destination URL you also have to click on a button.
This method guarantees additional protection from bots, and can only be broken by less than 0.5% of online bots.
- CAPTCHA Protected links look like this: http://linkblur.com/captcha/OTo2OUcrUy1COzZORz0nYE0rRV1WPCctSjo2OUcrUy1COzBgYApgCg==.
They work exactly like protected links, but they offer yet an additional layer of protection: to reach the destination URL you must first enter a CAPTCHA (e.g. the letters contained in an image) and then click on a button.
We use the best CAPTCHA service in the world (recaptcha), which, as of 2009, still blocks 100% of bots and is unbeaten. CAPTCHA-protected links offer maximum protection from bots, and they are unbreakable by any automated means (e.g. only a human can get past them).
