Mousetrapping and Pagejacking

What is Mousetrapping?

• Mousetrapping is a technique that forces a user to remain on a specific Web site by not allowing the user to leave the site.
• When the user tries to leave the site by closing the browser window or going to a new URL, the site that is mousetrapping will automatically open a new browser window with its URL or not allow the browser to go to the new URL.
• Some mousetraps wil only open a limited number of new browser windows and eventually will let the user leave the site.
• Other mousetraps will not stop opening new browser windows and the only way to get out is to press "Ctrl+Alt+Del" to end the task or reboot the computer.
• Most sites that "mousetrap" a user are pornographic sites
• Mousetrapping is one of the most extreme marketing tactics on the Web.
• The goal is to extract maximum value from one-time visits, typically by bombarding visitors with a never-ending supply of traffic-exchange banners and pay-per-click links
• Mousetrapping comes in many varieties.
• The most mild form of mousetrapping involves disabling the "Back" button.
• More aggressive forms of mousetrapping include disabling of key browser features and continuous loading of pop-up ads.

What is Pagejacking?

• Pagejacking is the activity of stealing content from a Web site and copying it into another Web site in order to tap some of the original site's traffic to the copied Web pages.
• Pagejackers rely on search engines to spider the contents of the illegitimate site and index the results so that the copied site will appear in the search result rankings along with the original site's rankings.
• Users can be tricked into thinking the illegitimate site is the one they are searching for, and once they visit the site they may be subjected to mousetrapping.
• Like mousetrapping the majority of sites that are made to get page jacked are pornograhic sites
• Pagejacking does not mean taking over a page on the original site. In fact, the original site can be completely unaware that the theft has occurred.
• The stolen pages are copies or near-copies of the original pages. The stolen pages are then submitted to the search engines in an attempt to duplicate the rankings of the original pages.
• After the pages are submitted, the stolen pages are switched in favor of pages which earn revenue for the thieves.
• To further complicate matters, sometimes cloaking is involved.
• While very large, elaborate schemes have been uncovered, pagejacking is not the sole province of the technically proficient. Many would-be-thieves are of a decidedly low-tech variety.