23

PMC should ban 3rd party downloads

Proff_C's Avatar Proff_C11/1/19 8:55 am
23 emeralds 1.8k 90
3/22/2021 7:39 am
WonderBoots's Avatar WonderBoots
Just in case you're not aware of where these downloads are taking you.....

Come across so many of these....Adfly..Shorte.ST...and probably others...the idea is you watch an ad, then you get your link.....except they want you to install a Search Hijacker App from Google Chrome..... MultyApp..etc....they are all known search hijackers...listed on Malwarebytes.

They monitor your internet activity and target you...your personnal details are not secure through these apps....

For a game that is aimed at mainly the younger audience...i would have thought PMC would have a tighter reign on this...and not let kids be redirected to malware ....

Anyway...my 2 cents...i'm careful...my security software warns me, and i double check anything i install...when in doubt...google the website name and put scam or malware at the end.
Posted by Proff_C's Avatar
Proff_C
Level 39 : Artisan Narwhal
13

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2
03/22/2021 7:39 am
Level 71 : Legendary Engineer
WonderBoots
WonderBoots's Avatar
the real issue that should be adressed here is not the addlink sites but the way they force you to allow notifications and cookies, i always look at sites before i decide to link a download, for example addfly wants you to use notifications and others want you to verify by completing surveys, but there are a handfulk that only require you too press 1 buttomn wait 5-15seconds and get the download, NO notifications, NO surveys, just 2 clicks and your done, these add shortners that dont harass you are alot more safe.

before i choose an addlink i test each link from each addsite to make sure my viewer is safe, not getting harassed by forced notifications.

here is how to make money without needing youtube adverts as a reliable sourcce of income.

1) create a website and subscrbe to a domain for about £11/month (for a custom name £20/year on top)

2) create a downlaod gallery for your content on your website then link PMC to your business/site

3)(temporarily) link downloads to addlinks which you have tested and you know is user friendly towards your viewers, DO NOT USE ADFLY or any addlink which forces surveys, long steps or forced NOTIFICATIONS OR COOKIES, should never take any longer than 15 seconds, should be as simple as 2 clicks, i even asked my younger sibblings to see if they can do this before i post to make sure younger audineces are safer.

4)you can skip step 3 if you apply for addsense and get aproved by google to have add banners on your website, (im currently waiting on)

iget roughly 2K downloads on each content i make with very short adds its enough to be fully self sufficient.

after all this platofrm is target for younger audiences a well as bigger content creators such as streamers and youtubers.

as creators we need to keep our viewers safe, i always fully disclose add downloads as well as redirects and even provide step by step help guides for my viewers to avoid clicking on wrong things.
1
01/04/2020 7:34 pmhistory
Level 26 : Expert Creeper
CreeperKid_
CreeperKid_'s Avatar
I have always been extreamley careful on the internet most of my safety tip come from here --> [url=<a href=]spreadprivacy.com/[/url]
1
12/18/2019 6:24 am
Level 5 : Apprentice Dragon
Roselladrelos
Roselladrelos's Avatar
Ideally, everyone should have an adblocker installed to combat these. Adfly is the worst of the bunch, because when they see you have an adblocker they direct you to a page which forces you to allow their spam notifications to show up. This can still be circumvented manually, but gosh is it annoying.
3
12/05/2019 2:07 pm
Level 32 : Artisan Dragonborn
TobySuren
TobySuren's Avatar
If a creator wants money from what they made, there are three easy steps that require NO ONE to lose their safety.
1. Create a youtube account
2. Upload your creations on there
3. Activate ads
Simple.
4
12/10/2019 11:22 am
Level 24 : Expert Princess
MissC-YT
MissC-YT's Avatar
thats great and all, but you need a following of 1000 people and have 4000 watch hours thats a lot for anyone to achieve
1
01/04/2020 6:00 pm
Level 53 : Grandmaster Artist
Imagopher
Imagopher's Avatar
so what? With less than that, the creators won't be making more than one or two dollars anyways.
2
12/10/2019 11:34 am
Level 32 : Artisan Dragonborn
TobySuren
TobySuren's Avatar
What about Proff_C's response to Paril:
Well this is what i suspected...that they would get banned...i'd be hoping with the collective minds of people that contribute on here, they'd be able to brainstorm a solution...As an idea...and i'm just throwing this out there...if PMC was to expand it's horizons...you have all thse contributed works on here...heaps of skilled creators...why not exhibit them?...set up a Planet Minecraft Youtube channel?...showcase works..get revenue..i know it won't happen overnight, but individual channels get millions of views...and there's god knows how many finished works on here sitting on the shelves.....just a thought.
1
12/05/2019 1:34 pm
Level 65 : High Grandmaster Demolitionist
busterdogtnt
busterdogtnt's Avatar
PMC should really be more careful, there is so many ways people can infect computer with malware, ranging from a minecraft folder infected with worms or trojans to links that grab IP's
6
12/05/2019 1:33 pm
Level 38 : Artisan Farmer
Mishkia
Mishkia's Avatar
Adfly, being one of the biggest ones, has a serious issue right now honestly. It used to be fine where yknow it'd to the simple "u need 2 update ur edge", easy to ignore, or whatever and you could skip without issue, but now it either, even with an adblocker, redirects you to a whole new site that's malicious, every time you open it/you can press "skip ad", or it sits you in a loop of "please accept notifications from x" and once you accept them all then get you to the link... the notifications spam you. Why. Or you just get nothing, even if you reload the page.

I haven't had an issue with adfocus yet, and I've definitely not had an issue with mediafire or dropbox itself, so on my end it just seems to be adfly, unfortunately its used a lot. There's times that if there's no link to go around adfly, I can't download things. It sucks when the community has such amazing resource packs and whatnot.
1
12/18/2019 4:11 am
Level 46 : Master Musician
CVerse
CVerse's Avatar
This is the problem I noticed with adfly. Since a few months ago that I got a job, I decided to remove all adfly links on my main map and just direct them to my download, no ads required. It used to be an okay solution to make some money (I got $20 just one time 2 years ago from a shoutout), but now it's so broken and annoying.
1
12/10/2019 10:43 am
Level 39 : Artisan Narwhal
Proff_C
Proff_C's Avatar
the issue i had was it wanted me to download a 'Google Add-on'...and a google search of that add-on warned me it was malicious....so Google don't monitor their add-ons either...
3
11/05/2019 1:26 am
Level 70 : Legendary Sailor
Rhines
Rhines's Avatar
Ah, gah, I could heartily agree. While content creators do like to get a payment for all their hard work, adfly and other malicious ad sites have taken things too far. I've gotten to the point where I'm unable to download and content due to adfly, the most used way to receive money for ads, being taken over by viruses & malicious downloads to the point where I can't access the download without downloading one of these :c
2
11/03/2019 1:31 am
Level 57 : Grandmaster Engineer
ShelLuser
ShelLuser's Avatar
There comes a time when people need to stop and rely on "other stuff" to keep them safe.

Meanwhile people are constantly logged into "social" media networks while browsing without realizing that this too tracks their every move.

Internet security isn't a thing you turn on or off, it's an ever ongoing process.
1
11/02/2019 5:12 pm
Level 1 : New Explorer
Exopteron
Exopteron's Avatar
There's an extension called "Universal Bypass"

https://universal-bypass.org/install
2
12/05/2019 1:54 pm
Level 32 : Artisan Dragonborn
TobySuren
TobySuren's Avatar
can I trust this though?
1
01/04/2020 5:18 pm
Level 1 : New Explorer
Exopteron
Exopteron's Avatar
your choice, works pretty well for me though
1
12/10/2019 10:49 am
Level 39 : Artisan Narwhal
Proff_C
Proff_C's Avatar
it hasn't got great reviews...
11
11/02/2019 1:25 pm
Level 88 : Elite Scapegoat
Paril
Paril's Avatar
FWIW, if egregious ad site usage is reported and/or we can catch it redirecting to malware, etc, we do ask them to change the link or attempt to talk to the site owners to resolve the issue.

That being said, we are extremely close to banning all ad links altogether. It's become a huge issue.
1
11/02/2019 10:13 pm
Level 39 : Artisan Narwhal
Proff_C
Proff_C's Avatar
Well this is what i suspected...that they would get banned...i'd be hoping with the collective minds of people that contribute on here, they'd be able to brainstorm a solution...
As an idea...and i'm just throwing this out there...if PMC was to expand it's horizons...you have all thse contributed works on here...heaps of skilled creators...why not exhibit them?...set up a Planet Minecraft Youtube channel?...showcase works..get revenue..i know it won't happen overnight, but individual channels get millions of views...and there's god knows how many finished works on here sitting on the shelves.....just a thought.
1
11/02/2019 9:55 am
Level 25 : Expert Artist
HorizonLine
HorizonLine's Avatar
Some basic tips to go through these sites securely:
1. Install az AdBlocker. (Opera GX has one built-in, Chrome has one to get in the Web Store for free, and Firefox has one too, also free.)
2. Don't click anything other than that Skip Ad button.
+1: Set your browser to ask for a download path everytime before a file would start downloading. So you can cancel the download, or save it to a path of your choice.

Proff_C, every single service tracks you, no matter the popularity or promises. That's what cookies all about. If you open a browser and type something into any of its input fields, your data is going to your Big Data profile. Privacy doesn't exist anyomore, and unless you have to hide something, you shouldn't worry about it. No one will ever be able to find just your data and inside that find useful informations. Only the database-specialized Artifical Intelligencies will be able to process that amount of data, and they don't care about average people watching 3X movies and downloading torrents at home. Don't do stup1d things, and you won't have to worry, simple as that.
4
11/02/2019 9:48 am
Level 61 : High Grandmaster Terraformer
Ivain
Ivain's Avatar
Eh no. Banning the adfly links is not a problem, I guess, since they're getting infected.

However, if you were to ban third-party downloads PMC would have to host every single file themselves, which is unrealistic, especially considering the fact people like me tend to have worlds several gigabytes in size.
2
12/05/2019 1:57 pm
Level 32 : Artisan Dragonborn
TobySuren
TobySuren's Avatar
If only adfly and others didn't care more about money than a lot of people's internet safety. It's a real shame that money is this important these days.
2
12/18/2019 4:14 am
Level 46 : Master Musician
CVerse
CVerse's Avatar
Money has always been important for sites to run. It's the right balance that counts though
1
11/02/2019 9:41 amhistory
Level 48 : Master Strawberry
memora
memora's Avatar
Although you can’t exactly stop kids from coming on to the website, it is aimed at teens and adults, who are generally expected to be sensible and smart about what they download online. When signing up to the website, you agree that you’re the age of 13 or older. Considering all the benefits of 3rd party downloads, it wouldn’t exactly be a smart move for PMC to remove them altogether.

PMC could possibly add in a rule where you have to have an account to download mods that use 3rd party sites, which will certainly filter out at least some of the kids.


They could also add a verification feature, which gives a clear warning on posts that use 3rd party sites that PMC are not sure is 100% safe. However, they wouldn’t completely block them, just add a warning.
2
11/02/2019 1:26 pm
Level 88 : Elite Scapegoat
Paril
Paril's Avatar
We do have this warning.
1
11/02/2019 4:42 pm
Level 48 : Master Strawberry
memora
memora's Avatar
Ah, sorry. I don’t really download mods, so was unaware. Would you like me to remove the post?
1
11/02/2019 7:05 amhistory
Level 63 : High Grandmaster Droid
Acidpop
Acidpop's Avatar
i would be very sad if they blocked adf.ly
1
11/02/2019 8:00 am
Level 39 : Artisan Narwhal
Proff_C
Proff_C's Avatar
Well this is why legitimate creators should talk to PMC about resolving this...and regulating the download links...it's the dodgy ones that will ruin it for everyone....if the wrong thing gets into the wrong computer of a high profile person, the first place they'll be coming is here...with lawyers right behind them...PMC is just leaving itself wide open, with no age restriction checks and openly allowing anyone to link to anywhere....it only has to happen once....and we all lose..
1
11/02/2019 4:49 am
Level 23 : Expert Architect
Tornado_Chasing
Tornado_Chasing's Avatar
I don’t think they should ban it, but instead they need to put more regulations for it.
1
11/02/2019 5:34 am
Level 39 : Artisan Narwhal
Proff_C
Proff_C's Avatar
Yes...as this post has progressed...moderation and regulation would be the key...
1
11/02/2019 4:38 am
Level 5 : Apprentice Engineer
superMinecraftL
superMinecraftL's Avatar
use an auto ad skipper browser plugin and its solved
1
11/02/2019 3:24 am
Level 42 : Master Archer
Just25Savage
Just25Savage's Avatar
PRO TIP- Just don't click on ads you'll be fine.
1
11/02/2019 3:10 am
Level 14 : Journeyman Crafter
MonteCrysto
MonteCrysto's Avatar
Maybe just asking PMC to check them all instead ? Or if they remove the possibility of 3rd party links, they have to increase the size limit of files you can upload on the site because man, 15Mo is kinda short
1
11/02/2019 5:40 am
Level 39 : Artisan Narwhal
Proff_C
Proff_C's Avatar
well checking it would be the first step...maybe not all of them...but surely they could cull the herd, through inactive profiles...inactive downloads etc...
3
11/02/2019 3:05 am
Level 39 : Artisan Sailor
tomatotownn
tomatotownn's Avatar
They need third-party websites to host the downloads for maps that are bigger than the maximum file size, lots of mapmakers and modders need them because often they go over that file size even with compression.

I agree though that people should not be able to directly profit off of consumers downloading their map, and something like a bot to detect if the link contains the domain-name of "adfly" or "shorte.st" and other websites that make money from redirecting hyperlinks.
2
11/01/2019 11:51 pm
Level 27 : Expert Mage
DaleighChronicle
DaleighChronicle's Avatar
Um, I was able to get to the wixsite for the download of Haven easily. Like, literally no problem and no request to download anything. I think you're just looking at the wrong skip link.
1
11/01/2019 11:58 pm
Level 39 : Artisan Narwhal
Proff_C
Proff_C's Avatar
You got a link to it?....i can get to the download button...but then Install required of a Google Chrome App...
1
11/06/2019 11:13 pm
Level 27 : Expert Mage
DaleighChronicle
DaleighChronicle's Avatar
You need to click the one at the top corner. Don't click on anything in the middle of the screen. That's all an ad.
2
11/01/2019 11:46 pm
Level 27 : Expert Skinner
ImYourEnder
ImYourEnder's Avatar
adfly is easy! Just click the damn SKIP AD button and don't click the ad!
2
11/02/2019 12:00 am
Level 39 : Artisan Narwhal
Proff_C
Proff_C's Avatar
It doesn't go to Adfly
1
11/02/2019 4:12 am
Level 27 : Expert Skinner
ImYourEnder
ImYourEnder's Avatar
Click the skip ad button on an adfly site, you mentioned adfly.
2
11/02/2019 5:50 am
Level 39 : Artisan Narwhal
Proff_C
Proff_C's Avatar
The one i mentioned isn't as straight forward as some.....it redirects so many times in seconds it's hard tell...i've notified the uploader, but maybe they are sitting back raking in their 1/20 th of a cent per view...and looking forward to retirement..
1
11/01/2019 11:44 pm
Level 17 : Journeyman Farmer
RainbowTea
RainbowTea's Avatar
I agree, i've got friends who dont know how downloads work and what to look out for and then they end up getting malware downloaded somehow or adware.
1
11/02/2019 12:19 am
Level 39 : Artisan Narwhal
Proff_C
Proff_C's Avatar
lol...yeah...when my mum got her computer she very nearly had her credit card details stolen by one of those fake Microsoft pop-ups...she phoned me AFTER, she had given it to them...but then decided to check with me if it was legit...NOOOO!...as luck would have it she mixed up the numbers on her credit card..they were contacting her about that...so i talked her through how to remove the programme, install security etc and notify her bank...just in case....close call...she's a bit more wary now...
2
11/01/2019 3:00 pmhistory
Level 2 : Apprentice Network
kebe3
kebe3's Avatar
"they want you to install a Search Hijacker App from Google Chrome" Sites like Adfly and Shortest do not do that. Maybe the people paying for ads on their sites are, but not them. Should sites like Adfly have stricter rules on what advertisers can advertise? Yes. But I guess they have to make money somehow. Also, it's not like you have to install anything to get to what you want to download. Just click the Skip Ad button.

Link shorteners with ads is the main way a lot of creators on this site make $. If these link shorteners are banned, there would be a lot less motivation for these creators to make content. And this causes a cycle of less content being made and due to that, less people on the site.
1
11/01/2019 11:15 pm
Level 39 : Artisan Narwhal
Proff_C
Proff_C's Avatar
The example i'm using is the Windfall Haven download....it doesn't go to Adfly...bit hard to tell where it goes with redirects....but cannot just skip ad, without an ' Intsall this programme to proceed' request....try it yourself and let me know if you can get past it...i'm not looking to install anything that comes up as a threat though...i understand there are honest links out there..but it would be nice if PMC could regulate a little...
11/01/2019 1:51 pm
This reply was removed by the poster or a moderator.
2
12/05/2019 2:03 pm
Level 65 : High Grandmaster Demolitionist
busterdogtnt
busterdogtnt's Avatar
Use Tor, Tor is completely anonymous and you can see darker websites
2
12/05/2019 1:10 pm
Level 9 : Apprentice Architect
cakedon
cakedon's Avatar
I like the new MS Edge based on chromium. It's very good. And you can have collection bookmarks!
2
11/01/2019 5:16 pm
Level 57 : Grandmaster Artist
5teven
5teven's Avatar
This was the most bs message ever regarding websites like adf.ly or such since they display/work pretty much the same in every browser also unless you have a *really old* pc (or too many addons) it should not be slow either.

that said i dont have *any* anti virus or adblock (the only thing i do is a occasional virus check every few months which so far is always completely result-less) and i have absolutely no issues being redirected on such websites, it literally says wait 5 sec then click skip, if people are too stupid to read then they perhaps should not use a pc at all.
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