Let’s Talk Clean Surfing

It’s usually the #1 complaint about a traffic exchange. Annoying sites that cause problems while surfing. So what are the methods to keeping surfing clean? Like the ranking exchanges post, I’ll try to cover the pros and cons to each.

Manually Reviewing Sites

This is the simplest check to incorporate into an exchange. Have the owner or support team review sites before allowing them to be shown.  The obvious pro is the owners can do a much better job of checking websites, or can they?

The biggest con I see is the people checking the website. If they don’t know how to fully check the site, then there is no point in them checking it. Normally the smaller exchange owners fall in this category, because they are newer. As an exchange gets bigger, the problem sites become more sophisticated and harder to detect,  so the people checking websites need to learn how to detect these problems.

Automated Website Scanners

The best method in my opinion, is to have a script check the websites automatically and instantly. These can find problem sites faster, usually better, and don’t require additional staff.

The con is huge, however. These scripts need constant tweaking to be effective. Just like anti-virus programs download updates daily, these scripts need to be updated frequently. If the owner can’t do it, then it will only be effective for so long. Another con is false positives, but with a good script those can be a small problem and easily fixed.

Final Note 

There is a flaw in both methods: The website can be changed after being scanned! So how does this come into play? The sites need to be scanned on a regular basis. Not just once added. With StartXchange websites are re-scanned if they get reported automatically, and manually investigated if nothing is found. This gives us the best of both worlds.