Flash Banner Ads in Library

[dirx808]

When did the Flash banner advertisements get added to the Winamp Library, specifically the Shoutcast Radio page? How can I get rid of them? It seems like this just started today. I was very happy with the clean interface of the shoutcast browser, and now I have these cheap looking ads dancing on my screen, and I have to wait for it to play through before the library list shows up. I don't care about FOX TV shows, or Motorola phones, or my credit score. I will never click on these ads. When I turn on SC-radio, I just want to listen to music, not surf. This is very annoying. I have been using Winamp for ten years, and have always appreciated the freedom from advertisements in this fine freeware program. If the professional version of Winamp removes these ads, I will gladly pay for it 5 times for all my computers. As far as I can tell from the product description, the only benefits to the pro version is better CD recording features. Since I use CD architect and Wavelab, I have no use for consumer grade CD writing. Please state how to avoid another stream of unwanted advertisements. This is really sad, and I want to continue to support Winamp. Please don't resort to this type of dirty financing. It is insulting to the users. I will upgrade to pro if that works, if not I'd settle for a hack. I don't want to switch software, but I cannot accept this.

Solution
http://forums.winamp.com/showthread.php?t=280976

[DJ Egg]

Hmm, not sure what you mean, but there's no flash banner ads in Shoutcast Radio.
Maybe you've got some spyware/adware hijack or something?

[dirx808]

I hope this is the case. I am running system checks now. This is happening on at least two machines and both are well locked down. Windows is up to date and I using Winamp5.32. Do you have any adblocking software running? I used the Flash Uninstaller and they've turned into animated image files. Anyone else seeing this?

[JoeComputer123@]

The banner ads are there now.

God, can we not escape them? Everywhere you look, it's advertising screaming some obscure message. It's distracting, annoying, and throws your train of thought right off the tracks.

I just spent 30 minutes looking for how to turn it off and searching the forums. I had to STOP enjoying Winamp/Shoutcast so I could try to give you a chance to recover from this by having a way to turn it off (no, listening to Shoutcast while angrily searching for a way to turn the ads off is NOT what I call "enjoyment").

I'm not finding one. Please point it out if there is one.

Why does everyone always bombard everyone with cries for money? Has greed really replaced your passion for Winamp?

The banner ads say, "Yes."

I REALIZE you can't work for free, thus the non-free versions of Winamp and advertising on the website. How freakin' greedy do you have to be??

I used to not care if there were other streaming music systems like Winamp. Winamp was great, I had no reason to look elsewhere.

Now I do.

I'm so disappointed.

[dirx808]

My system is clean, everything is updated. I have never installed Flash because of the huge reduction in advertising that I get without it. The Winamp browser appears to have a Flash plugin built into it. Where else did it come from? The Macromedia uninstaller got rid of the Flash ads, but the banner space shows up as soon as I open the library browser, then fills with a GIF ad. The Winamp Remote page is even worse. Lots of these ads match the ones found on Winamp.com. I'm still investigating...speakers muted.

[JoeComputer123@]

Thanks for the hint regarding flash. I'm gonna get rid of that momentarily.

[abc23]

This is how I solved the problem with those ads:
You could try to install an ad-blocking proxy (like Privoxy-it´s open source-sourceforge-privoxy) and set the default proxy in Internet-Explorer to 127.0.0.1 and the port to the one set in privoxy´s options screen.
The ads disappear and shoutcast is beautiful again.

[DJ Egg]

Hmm, strange.

Could someone please post a screenshot of these flash ads?
Attaching a HijackThis log might also prove useful (info)

For now, try the following (I'll probably get shot for this, but hey)

For Win2k/XP/2003, go to: "c:\windows\system32\drivers\etc" folder
and open the file "hosts" (no extension) in Notepad (eg. rt-click > send to/open-with > notepad)

Or you can use eg. HijackThis > Misc Tools > Hosts File Manager > Open in Notepad

Add the following line (under "code") and save (copy & paste from here)

code:
127.0.0.1  twx.doubleclick.net

This will remap the ad site used on winamp.com to your localhost,
resulting in the ads not being found, and therefore they can't be shown.

Note that I tried removing that entry from my hosts file, restarting winamp, but I still don't see any ads in Online Services > Shoutcast Radio. I also looked in Shoutcast TV, Winamp Music, AOL Videos, and didn't see any ads there either (sorry, I don't bother with any of the other ones, though it wouldn't surprise me if there's ads in Winamp Remote, MusicNow, In2TV, Games - though I'm not even gonna bother enabling them to find out).

Maybe it's because I've also got *.doubleclick.net in the Restricted Sites zone in Internet Explorer > Options > Security? I've had doubleclick.net in there for years (automatically added by one of Spybot SD or SpywareBlaster).

Note, the ad sever may be different for other countries.
But you know how to look in the Internet Explorer cache (Temporary Internet Files folder) and open/search the html in Notepad, yes?

[JonnyMac]

Getting it here also. I have the sneaky feeling the ads are only appearing in the United States side.

[DJ Egg]

Oh man, that truly sucks

You poor US'ers ;-)

Does my workaround solution block the ads? Or are they coming from a different ad server?

[JonnyMac]

I have not tried it yet. Look back at this post for a pending update.

[edit]
Update

Yup, it works. Also, I was able to successfully map it to 127.0.0.1 without errors. However, as seen in the screenshot only SHOUTcast is under Online Services, so I don't know if other online services are affected.

@ Koopatrooper
duly noted
[/edit]

[Koopa]

Originally posted by JonnyMac
Getting it here also. I have the sneaky feeling the ads are only appearing in the United States side.

You are wrong, same here and i live in middle europe.

[MeanStang]

yeah i just noticed the ads in the media library. they are the same ad that is shown on Shoutcast.com please get rid of these ads.

[bipip]

These banner ads are definitely DISGUSTING. And one must see these same ugly banners on the top of this forum also :-((

I don't think this is a problem with Winamp itself, but rather with SHOUTcast, who feed these ads along with their lists... Anyway very disappointing.

[DJ Egg]

I take it that you didn't see the solution in my post above then?

[bipip]

Sure I did see it. I even tried it and it works, thanks :-) But to me it is more a workaround than a solution - clearing the symptoms, not the cause, you know...

My post was rather aimed at some marketing/sales managers at SHOUTcats/NullSoft/AOL whatsoever who probably think they've had a great idea streaming these banners into the Media Library. But I assume they dont care too much about what's being discussed here...

[dirx808]

DJ Egg's solution brings back the clean browser. Occasionally I am getting a scripting error though:

Line: 1298
Char: 1
Error: Object expected
Code: 0
URL: http://www.winamp.com/bin/om/sc

That is with both 216.239.59.104 and 127.0.0.1. This only shows up when I first open the browser, or hit the refresh button. Doing searches works fine.

I don't use Internet Explorer for anything other than Windows updates, I use Firefox for everything else. I would have no problem crippling IE further to block this crap. Are there any more security options that would help, or maybe get rid of the scripting error?

Thanks to all who are concerned about this. Now if only we could build a revolt against the rest of The Web, cable TV, terrestrial radio, magazines, city buses...etc. But for now I'll be happy with an ad-free Winamp.

[Edit --> DJ Egg]
Yup. You only need to block twx.doubleclick.net to stop the ads. Blocking ar.atwola.com causes the script errors, so I've removed that from my solution above.

[JonnyMac]

Same here as dirx808. For awhile I was getting good success with 127.0.0.1, then later on periodic object/script errors started popping up. Same with 216.239.59.104 and I even tried 0.0.0.0, but got the same results.

For me the ads are no big deal and are less bothersome than the periodic errors, so I have removed the two entries from the Hosts file.

blah

[MeanStang]

with the host file entries, i only get the script error when i click refresh. but if just click on 'shoutcast radio', it doesnt generate a script error.

[Benski]

It's worth noting one thing:

AOL Radio is kindly providing a significant amount of bandwidth to many of the SHOUTcast stations. They do this to improve the overall quality of the service, and because AOL's status as a Tier 1 ISP means that this can be done for a relative bargain. Unfortunately, this is A LOT of bandwidth, a lot of servers, and a lot of Deppy's time to maintain.

This isn't the case of AOL trying to make money by piggy-backing on other people's internet radio, this is AOL trying to recoup some costs for a very expensive service.

[dirx808]

I understand the cost of operation. I use Winamp/Shoutcast not for the selection of content, but because the software/services have been innovative and reliable for a decade. The competition is miles behind, and the Big Three have already proven their drive is profit, not providing an easily accessible portal to multimedia. Winamp complements an expensive home theater in my living room, and its clean and customizable interface has always fit right in. The sudden appearance of adverts for Classmates.com, Ford Trucks, and RAZR phones really taints an aesthetic I have been tuning for years.

I would purchase the pro version immediately if there was a guaranteed freedom from this clusterbomb-style advertisement. As it stands, I have no incentive to upgrade to the pro version. I am certain many would agree with me, because $25 is a couple of cheeseburgers...but then again that is probably why AOL would rather have the banner ad revenue.

[Tag]

Not only does AOL provide alot of hosting. They also provide the shoutcast.com hosts (15) and db servers(5). Free? Sadly, no.

[sarika]

ok, i think, i switch back to 5.24 ... without ads ... pro doesn´t work without, as i´d seen by a friend of mine

moreover, i thought 'fine, unicode/utf8 at last' *happiness* ... and it turned out to be disappointing too [yes, i know, it does not belong in here, nevertheless] ... files with asian code don´t work any longer, as they did until the upgrade some hours ago. eh???!

[Bishounen]

It's worth noting one thing:

AOL Radio is kindly providing a significant amount of bandwidth to many of the SHOUTcast stations. They do this to improve the overall quality of the service, and because AOL's status as a Tier 1 ISP means that this can be done for a relative bargain. Unfortunately, this is A LOT of bandwidth, a lot of servers, and a lot of Deppy's time to maintain.

It's also worth noting that some of us have PAID already for the software!

I realize that likely none of that money goes to AOL, but understand that when I pay for software I expect, nay, DEMAND an ad-free experience. Why do I think I have the right to demand such things? Well gee... Maybe it's because I BOUGHT that right when I forked over the money for the software!

You didn't even ASK ME if I WANTED the ads! The least you could have done is to give me, the end user, the right to choose between ad-supported AOL radio and No AOL radio. I would have been miffed a bit, but I would have understood had a proper explanation been forthcoming when asked to choose.

You devs need to go back to the drawing board and whip up 5.33, giving us the option of ads with AOL radio or no ads with no AOL radio. Then AOL won't have to fork over any more of their obscene profits to those of us that don't want to be offended with ads.

Oh, by the way, neither Winamp nor AOL will be making any ad-related money off of me anyway, since I will be going back to my previous version of Winamp to avoid the ads. (I keep a store of Winamp installers all the way back to version 4.something) You might want to bring that up at your next staff meeting with the PHB's and bean counters. Let them know that they aren't making any more money, since nobody is actually looking at the ads.

[Raile]

Wow this is total BS.

Congratulations Winamp on being the first program that i have ever PAID for which has advertising!! Goats on steroids and too much sugar jumping round telling me i want to play games?!!! Who the hell comes up with this stuff? Someone needs to take a break from the acid.

I mean WTF. I could understand if i was using a shareware version, but i paid good money for this.

Before now i always used to recomend winamp to people, but this totally puts me off it.

Why is there flash adds in the Dashboard and shoutcast radio? No doubt these adds are also in other unexplored parts of winamp.

OMG i just cant belive that i payed money to have a f**ing hyperactive jumping goat asking me if i want to play games or use wimamp remote! NO I DO NOT!!!

There must be some way to remove this. Although it is total BS that i should have to modify a program that i payed for to remove ads.

BTW i allready tried DJ eggs idea, but it has had no effect on the adds.

[DJ Egg]

For sc radio fix, see here

For dashboard... close winamp, delete ml_dash.dll from the winamp\plugins folder :/


Other than that, I wholeheartedly agree with you, heh.



btw, if you tried my earlier workaround fix from above, but you still see ads, then you must've done something wrong. You should just get a script error at first, and after that the page will load ok, and without the ads.

There's no script errors (or ads) with the newer workaround fix.

[kostelo]

Thanks a lot man for the fix. I had the same problem with shoutcast these days with script errors and I couldn't get shoutcast to load, apart from the annoying ads.
I tried your fix and everything works fine again. Thanx a lot.

[WCFM]

As much as I appreciate Winamp, I worry that the inclusion of ads into Shoutcast will hurt listenership. As for a general solution, I recommend modifying the HOSTS file, which has the pleasant side benefit of removing ads in IE.
As for how you could make money, I suggest looking at Opera and iTunes: expand Winamp beyond the computer, licensing it for mp3 players (I'd love to have an mp3 player that would be that customizable and versatile) or consoles. Also, you can reduce bandwidth costs by supporting torrents...I'm sure if you reward people with constant progress (thanks for the .flac support) you can politely ask people to donate their bandwidth so people can download Winamp faster.

[DJ Egg]

Originally posted by DJ Egg
For sc radio fix, see here

[xorion73x]

This is just the question I raised in Tech... but it is apparently not a problem.

Im going to try the hosts fix, but this whole thing has jaded me even further from considering anything with AOL attached to it. Lucky to have their servers? they can take their servers and shove them where the electrons dont spark.

Never was a happier day than when they lost their #1 slot... here's hoping they keep dropping out to nothing.

[Kim62]

I have the ads, and I'm supposedly using Winamp Pro. I noticed them back before I upgraded to 5.34 when I wasn't being told to register Winamp (I registered already, long story). And I totally agree, this is unacceptable. I don't burn CDs as I don't have a burner, but I have enjoyed the online media, the ones that work, that is. I hope soon all of the online media works, not just some, and lose the ads if we're already paying for Winamp Pro.

[AKAAKUK]

I've been pushed over the edge by this and i've now uninstalled winamp.

I've grown tired of constantly having to change the setup of my system to remove ads. I haven't asked for them and I just don't want them.

Yes, it's just a change to the hosts file, or yes, it's just a proxy that needs to be installed, but as simple as these things are I shouldn't have to, and I'm not going to anymore.

Now my winamp has ads in it. Can't believe it. Maybe before the AOL takeover I might have done something about it, but not any more.

Sorry to everyone who has to read this, I'm hoping someone high up in the winamp chain of AOL sees this and takes note, though I'm not holding my breath. This is not directed at the Winamp user base.

Good night winamp, it's been a great ride.

[Rocker]

bye, drama queen.

[AKAAKUK]

ha

[phunkydizco]

In the new 5.5 beta it's not possible to block the banner with the host file. Is there a new way to do this?

[AmpBerserk]

Even before upgrading to Winamp 5.5 I found out how to block the adds for me. Now on 5.5 it still appears to be working fine:

I added the following site to the "Restricted Sites" section in my Internet Explorer settings. You can find those via "Extras" > "Internet Options" > change to tab "Security" > select "Restricted Sites" and click [Sites]:

http://im.adtech.de

This worked at least for me in Germany. As far as I read in similar threads in this forum, in other countries there might be different servers for the ads. To find those servers I did the following:

Visit the page e.g. http://client.winamp.com/om/sc/

This is the page Winamp visits to display the shoutcast radio selection. Then have a look at the source code of this page. Find the start of the HTML body section (i.e. search for '<body' or '/head'). Pretty much at the beginning of the body section, you will find a short script section directly followed by a noscript tagged line.

Those two lines contain the random banner choice and the ad server URL. For me they looked like this:

code:
<script type="text/javascript">

<!--

document.write('<scr'+'ipt type="text/javascript" src="http://im.adtech.de/addyn|

 3.0|515|1277365|0|1|ADTECH;loc=100;target=_blank;key=key1+key2+key3+key4;

 grp=[group];misc='+new Date().getTime()+'"></scri'+'pt>');

//-->

</script>

<noscript><a href="http://im.adtech.de/adlink|3.0|515|1277365|0|1|ADTECH;loc=300;

 key=key1+key2+key3+key4;grp=[group]" target="_blank"><img 

 src="http://im.adtech.de/adserv|3.0|515|1277365|0|1|ADTECH;loc=300;

 key=key1+key2+key3+key4;grp=[group]" border="0" width="468" height="60"></a></noscript>

So, supposing the server URLs are equal in both lines, than in this example http://im.adtech.de (anything until the first single slash) would be the ad server. Maybe this helps others and maybe it's even simpler than DJ Egg's sc.zip solution.. And hopefully the post won't be deleted for it.

Though, it didn't help me with my Internet Explorer script error popup I was actually trying to get rid of to start with. But since http://client.winamp.com/om/sc/ and http://client.winamp.com/om/tv/ and all the others alike give me a script error message as well, no matter which browser I'm using, I suppose, the error is on the pages and can't be fixed in Winamp nor IE.

Anyway, let me know if this helps anybody.

AmpBerserk

[StarPaw]

No. the Ads will be there until you decide to choose another player. sad but true. It´s AOL . and for those of you who dont know- AOL is EVIL or kind of that

[Edit --> DJ Egg]
Not true. You must be doing something wrong.
Follow the instructions and there'll be no ads.

[Sawg]

How dare they put ads up on pages that offer free media. A company try to recoup costs, how much more evil can you get. Fucking capitalism.

[dumdedum]

well adding ads.aol.co.uk to the restricted sites in ie worked for me, now get a nice empty space where i used to get those annoying adds in the media library (using 5.5)

[Face-1ess]

Hey Guys....

I think, i've got a solution to get these annoying banners away....i'm using 5.5

it'S based on the hosts -file in the ~\WINDOWS\system32\drivers\etc directoy

simply open "hosts" with the editor, and add folowing lines:

code:


127.0.0.1	im.adtech.de

127.0.0.1	img-a2.ak.imagevz.net

127.0.0.1	ad.de.doubleclick.net

127.0.0.1	m.de.2mdn.net

127.0.0.1	www.contentimages.de

127.0.0.1	cover.m2y.siemens.ch

Well..since some of the hosts seem to be from germany, maybe it won't work properly in other countries ...

I'll try to hold this list kind of up-to-date....

For the ones not in germany/not getting the banners away with this list, you can build your own one by finding out the adresses of the banner-servers, and adding them (i did this with the traffic-monitor of my firewall)

PS. i'm not getting any script-errors AND: not only the adds disappeard, there even isn't any empty space =)

PPS. what about building an general list together?

Greets

Face-1ess