Webmasters can fight the Zango threat, here's how --- thanks to Jim from Greenguy&Jim

[CDSmith]

Webmasters can help fight Zango, thanks to Jim from over at Greenguy & Jim BBS.

From their newsletter:

With all the talk about Zango these past few weeks, I think the best offense is a great defence. And to me, education of the surfer is the key.

I have come up with a page that both will scare the surfer and explain how to get rid of this software. I also have an htaccess file that twill detect Zango users and redirect them to this page.

I need to let you know that this page is only m way to help the surfers clean their PCs. There are not nor will there ever be any ads on this page. And, it will always be there for your surfers. You really have nothing to lose...you won't make any money from these surfers anyway.

Here is the url for the page I created...
http://www.adwaresucks.com/zango

And the htaccess file can be found here...
http://www.adwaresucks.com/zango/zangohtaccess.txt

You may use this if you would like. We have tested it and it appears to be working very well.

As more of these adware/spyware products surface that will take money from webmasters and programs alike, I will make a new directory, page and htaccess file.




I hope all of this helps.
Jim

I intend to use this method on my sites. Hopefully some of you jump on board and help in the fight (while better protecting your traffic). This plan falls right in line with PussyCash's stance on Zango -- http://www.gofuckyourself.com/showthread.php?t=669330 (as well as a few other sponsors mentioned in that thread by Will76)

Time to take control of this situation, and this looks to be a pretty good first step. Huge thanks to GG&J for that.

[scottybuzz]

Please follow all of these steps. If you don't you will not uninstall this program.

Delete registry values: (To do this simply "Press Start", click "Run" and type "regedit")
HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows\Curr entVersion\Run\zanu
HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows\Curr entVersion\Run\Zango [application name]
HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Classes\TypeLib\{E5B57 AB3-15F8-43A2-ABAC-3E58A9C25818}
HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows\Curr entVersion\Explorer\Browser Helper Objects\{21B4ACC4-8874-4AEC-AEAC-F567A249B4D4}
HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\RAS Autodial\Control\LoginSessionDisable=1
HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows\Curr entVersion\Uninstall\[game name]
HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows\Curr entVersion\Uninstall\Zango [application name]
HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows\Curr entVersion\Uninstall\zanu
HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\zanuHKEY_CURRENT_USER\ Software\zanu

Delete files: (To do this simply "Press Start", click "Search" and when you find the file, delete)
installershell.exe, zangoinstaller.exe, zanu.exe

Delete directories: (Same as above)
C:\Program Files\ZangoClient
C:\Program Files\Zango Applications
C:\Program Files\Zango Games
C:\Documents and Settings\[Current User]\Application Data\Zango [application name]

C:\Documents and Settings\[Current User]\Start Menu\Programs\Zango
C:\Documents and Settings\[Current User]\Start Menu\Programs\Zango Games

Misc:
[application name] is a name of a program installed by ZangoSearch.
[game name] is a name of a computer game installed by ZangoSearch.

Too hard, not even I, let alone the surfers knows how to do that

[Spoff]

Woah now this is an interesting idea. Gotta say that if I was redirected to that page it would scare me straight. Thanks CD.

[JD]

good shit. I'll be doing it as well!

[Martin]

Originally Posted by scottybuzz

Too hard, not even I, let alone the surfers knows how to do that

lol. for real?

[selena]

Originally Posted by scottybuzz

Too hard, not even I, let alone the surfers knows how to do that

Not at all trying to be a bitch, but what is it that seems confusing in that? I thought it was very explanatory when I first got it in mail today.

[Zester]

there is a flaw in using this page: http://adwaresucks.com/zango/

in time, Zango will change things to make it harder to remove Zango and that page will no longer be relavent.

[Huggles]

I am adding that to my sites.

[pawsregd]

Originally Posted by scottybuzz

Too hard, not even I, let alone the surfers knows how to do that

Give it a try. It might sound intimidating or confusing but if you go through the steps 1 by 1 it is real simple

[Zester]

CDSmith can you logon to your ICQ please ?

[CDSmith]

Originally Posted by Zester

there is a flaw in using this page: http://adwaresucks.com/zango/

in time, Zango will change things to make it harder to remove Zango and that page will no longer be relavent.

I think you are wrong, because I have no doubt that as Zango makes changes to their system GG&J will make the necessary adjustments to that page to keep up, or leave further instructions on what to do.

Or someone else will come up with something.

Now is not the time to nay-say and shoot down a plan, now is the time to support any effort to fight a problem like this. Thanks.

[Klen]

Good that should be added at every site so then all surfers should be educated.

[CDSmith]

Originally Posted by Zester

CDSmith can you logon to your ICQ please ?

I am on, have been all afternoon.

Fire away.

[OzMan]

The registry editing needs to be a one click tool, otherwise most people will not be bothered and/or fuck it up if they try

[polish_aristocrat]

I'd agree with scottybuzz for once, most surfers won't be able to do that by themselves.

98% of people never deleted anything in the registry and they'd get set scared or confused for sure

[SmokeyTheBear]

if jim reads this.. i hope he can change the wording of the warnings and advice a bit..

First off , i would remove the wording that says zango is not illegal.. from what i have heard from lawyers , it is illegal plain and simple.. why legitimize their practise... it just hasnt been properly prosecuted yet..


Secondly the line about zonealarm is good.. see the mcafee siteadvisor site . i think more people know the name mcafee so it might be good to drop a link to what mcafee says about zango ( it isnt good )

If i were you i would see my warning about it and try to add something at the top that helps ensure ther surfer understands that you arent just making a sales pitch

and lastly

[CaptainHowdy]

Good stuff !

[jayeff]

I guess the more threads on this the better, but it isn't really a whole lot different from what was suggested in one of Smokey's threads and as someone else mentioned, I really don't think that is something for the average surfer to attempt to tackle. In fact I would go so far as to say it is almost irresponsible to advise most surfers to manually edit their registries.

It's also unnecessary they take that risk, since Search-and-Destroy (and presumably other free programs/services) can safely remove not only Zango, but other scumware too.

While it cannot (generally) hurt to approach this problem from every angle, I think we are kidding ourselves if we believe we can make more than a small dent in the problem with this approach. Zango is just one of many scumware operations and so long as they are supported by people promoting their installs and customers buying from them, installs and the theft of traffic will continue to grow.

Reluctant as so many are to speak out, especially against some of the well-known names, in the end that is going to be the only real way to beat this problem.

[Zester]

it's not scary enough, it makes the surfer work when he is impulsive and horny.
I think there should be a line like: "Like many other porn sites you will not be able to visit this site until you remove Zango"

[mikeyddddd]

I had already set up my .htaccess to direct to my own page with a warning to the surfer. I am going to add a link from my page to Jim's page with the removal instructions.

My problem is that it takes awhile to change the .htaccess for a couple of hundred domains.

[Zester]

Originally Posted by CDSmith

I think you are wrong, because I have no doubt that as Zango makes changes to their system GG&J will make the necessary adjustments to that page to keep up, or leave further instructions on what to do.

Or someone else will come up with something.

Now is not the time to nay-say and shoot down a plan, now is the time to support any effort to fight a problem like this. Thanks.

yes, that crossed my mind but I believe he should have this responsibility on his shoulders alone, there should be also some text there: "if you still can't remove Zango, please click here, or shoot me an email to I can keep this guide up to date"

by the way, no way am I shooting down a plan, I just want to make this as useful as possible, this really is a big fight ahead of us and we need to be smarter

[squishypimp]

someone needs to great an auto unistall program cause thats too hard for the average joe.

[Zester]

Originally Posted by CDSmith

I am on, have been all afternoon.

Fire away.

I swear to god i'm paging you, you are not getting my messages, 31024634 is it not ?

[Zester]

Originally Posted by squishypimp

someone needs to great an auto unistall program cause thats too hard for the average joe.

I think a piece of software CAN delete .exe files and registy entries, where are the C++ programers here ?

[stev0]

Couldn't you just make a .reg file that does all that for them?

[kenny]

Doesn't spybot remove Zango?

If so why not redirect them to a page with a download link.

You can kill a bunch of adware with one shot that way and Spybot stays updated

[cranki]

Originally Posted by squishypimp

someone needs to great an auto unistall program cause thats too hard for the average joe.

I support this idea... somebody code that, it'd be a blessing!

[rigrunner]

i did like smokey's thread suggested, offering them a link to google saying search for spyware removal. I also put a link in for Ad-adware.
didn't have the page as scary lookin as that warning page though!! i think that might put my surfers off returning for life!

[CDSmith]

Originally Posted by Zester

I swear to god i'm paging you, you are not getting my messages, 31024634 is it not ?

I'm not getting a peep out of you on ICQ so far. Hmm....

You can email me at cdsmodels at shaw dot ca

or, if this is about you wanting to join PussyCash, you can at anytime click the banner in my sig below and have at it.

Cheers. :D

[SmokeyTheBear]

Originally Posted by kenny

Doesn't spybot remove Zango?

If so why not redirect them to a page with a download link.

You can kill a bunch of adware with one shot that way and Spybot stays updated

havent checked it out but some adware removal programs also delete cookies and that would be a bad thing.

[CDSmith]

Originally Posted by rigrunner

didn't have the page as scary lookin as that warning page though!! i think that might put my surfers off returning for life!

If done right, it only works on the zango surfers, of which you're not making any money on anyway.

AND, if some of those surfers follow the instructions or get someone local to help them through it, they will likely be thankful to your site for alerting them.

[BlackCrayon]

yeah, its a good idea but i too worry about surfers looking at that and just giving up and go somewhere else.

none of this will have much impact without solidarity. if we could together with big mainstream AND adult sites they would have considerably less pages to pop from. and even if the surfer is too 'dumb' to remove it, they'll be forced to do something about it eventually because they won't be able to enjoy some of their favorite sites. but this will never happen sadly. try talking sites like myspace, amazon, ect into doing this.

[Gillespie]

Good stuff. I'll test it out in a site when I get my design.

Is there a way to track redirected visits? Better yet, is there a way to track redirected visitors who actually came back?

[JimBarnett]

Thanks Guys
I just noticed this thread. adwaresucks is a work in process. We will be setting it up tonight so it will build an htaccess file for you and will allow you to use your own css file. It will also allow you to return traffic to you even if zango is still installed. We are also going to attempt to educate surfers on almost 450 scumware programs.

Sometime tomorrow, everything should look pretty and the words may or may not be changed as far as zango. They have been sued many times in the past and every time, they have won...because of their terms and conditions. But, I did spend all of 2 minutes writing it so I may polish it a bit.

As for the uninstall instructions, there really isn't an easier way. If you use any uninstall software, it wants to remove all cookies as well. And, as you know, we don't want that. I had my 14 year old niece go through the instructions yesterday and she had no problem getting rid of the software.

I didn't start this for the money. And, I don't want to make money from it. I am doing it because I hate thieves.

As long as nobody minds, I will keep you updated.

[wargames]

Sweeet

[will76]

Originally Posted by jayeff

I guess the more threads on this the better, but it isn't really a whole lot different from what was suggested in one of Smokey's threads and as someone else mentioned, I really don't think that is something for the average surfer to attempt to tackle. In fact I would go so far as to say it is almost irresponsible to advise most surfers to manually edit their registries.

It's also unnecessary they take that risk, since Search-and-Destroy (and presumably other free programs/services) can safely remove not only Zango, but other scumware too.

While it cannot (generally) hurt to approach this problem from every angle, I think we are kidding ourselves if we believe we can make more than a small dent in the problem with this approach. Zango is just one of many scumware operations and so long as they are supported by people promoting their installs and customers buying from them, installs and the theft of traffic will continue to grow.

Reluctant as so many are to speak out, especially against some of the well-known names, in the end that is going to be the only real way to beat this problem.

Educating the surfer is good. it helps. It is not the end-all, I agree.

What I like about this the most is that zango's advertisers will not make a penny (or for that matter pay a penny to zango) from sites that are using scripts like this.

I feel this way about that traffic, I am not going to make any money from it because of you (zango) so fuck you, you are not going to make any money from it either. Whether or not we are able to educate the surfers to remove it, if we can block them from seeing zango's adds then we will put a huge dent in zangos income.

It's all about the money. If you can't stop sponsors from paying them (AFF / CAMS / SexSearch) then you can try to stop the people from seeing their ads. After all it is OUR traffic, we should have control over where they go.

[Fizzgig]

I got that email. I've been a member of Greenguy since... oh, since it started.

Actually since it was on ANS.

[will76]

Originally Posted by JimBarnett

And, I don't want to make money from it. I am doing it because I hate thieves.

I hate thieves as well.

[WarChild]

Originally Posted by JimBarnett

Thanks Guys
I just noticed this thread. adwaresucks is a work in process. We will be setting it up tonight so it will build an htaccess file for you and will allow you to use your own css file. It will also allow you to return traffic to you even if zango is still installed. We are also going to attempt to educate surfers on almost 450 scumware programs.

Sometime tomorrow, everything should look pretty and the words may or may not be changed as far as zango. They have been sued many times in the past and every time, they have won...because of their terms and conditions. But, I did spend all of 2 minutes writing it so I may polish it a bit.

As for the uninstall instructions, there really isn't an easier way. If you use any uninstall software, it wants to remove all cookies as well. And, as you know, we don't want that. I had my 14 year old niece go through the instructions yesterday and she had no problem getting rid of the software.

I didn't start this for the money. And, I don't want to make money from it. I am doing it because I hate thieves.

As long as nobody minds, I will keep you updated.

We should take up a collection (hell I'll donate) to have a professional coder write a simple, open source uninstall untility for zango. Offer it to surfers who trust you and want to use it along with your existing uninstall instructions.

[CDSmith]

Originally Posted by JimBarnett

As long as nobody minds, I will keep you updated.

Thanks for the post Jim. I highly doubt anyone here minds if you follow this up by posting some updates here. There are a lot of serious webmasters looking for a solution or course of action to this problem, something that at least gives our side something to do about it.... so I say update away.

I think some folks will be surprised at what a colllective group of webmasters can do if they work together in a focused way rather than at cross-purposes. Hurting the adware company's bottom line even a little is a win in my book.

[darnit]

Originally Posted by WarChild

We should take up a collection (hell I'll donate) to have a professional coder write a simple, open source uninstall untility for zango. Offer it to surfers who trust you and want to use it along with your existing uninstall instructions.

Why not just point the surfer to adaware or another free utility? We are making this WAY more complicated for the surfer and ourselves than we need to.

[teksonline]

nice, now if i have my spyware bar on your computer, i type this url into the control panel and boom surfer will never see this page...

this can't be done from just one location, but thanksf or your efforts, we all need this on our own domains

[Tanker]

Originally Posted by darnit

Why not just point the surfer to adaware or another free utility? We are making this WAY more complicated for the surfer and ourselves than we need to.

as jim said above al the products out there now to remove this also require you to delete your cookies

[teksonline]

yeah it's time to start fighting lazy adware companies that delete all cookies, i am sick to death of entering my login/pass to protected sites

[Spunky]

Cool beans..thanks CD for the info

[Splum]

What surfer in their right mind is going to follow those instructions, they would rather close popups than go through all those instructions.

[teksonline]

also better warn to backup registry first, or you're just as bad as a virus giving out that info lol

[TripleXencoding]

Originally Posted by scottybuzz

Too hard, not even I, let alone the surfers knows how to do that

Thats pretty simple stuff man.

[BitAudioVideo]

its a pretty simple batch file...

REGEDIT4
[-HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\blah\blah\zanu]

[kenny]

Originally Posted by SmokeyTheBear

havent checked it out but some adware removal programs also delete cookies and that would be a bad thing.

The only cookies that I've seen Spybot flag are sex tracker cookies.

No Topbucks, Nastydollars, none of those big programs that I use have ever been flagged when I have ran spybot on my machines.

If a spyware detecting software is flagging a sponsor's cookies then that sponsor should do something to fix it. We would be losing more sales to spybot then Zango if that was the case.

Telling a surfer to remove zango manually is not a good enough solution. You are telling the surfer to do it the hard way for the sake of a cookie that may or may not be flagged. Then next year you're going to have to show them how to remove something else.