Your AdSense client ID is viewable anytime you use AdSense code no matter if you insall it through a mod, through vB or by hacking the template its self. What's the problem with an admin tool collecting data you already publish to the world for use in publishing it back to the world? An AdSense ID is hardly useful to anyone but the account holder.

The feature is currently in its very basic stage, ofcourse meant for newbies, so after testing it I disabled vbulletin access from my adense account as I am more than happy editing Ad templates myself.

Strange thing was that even after disabling access, my adsense pub-id was still showing as associated in vbulletin members area. I opened a support ticket and thanks to the staff, they removed it in 5 minutes, saying that at this time it can only be done manually at their end.

Exactly the same happened to me before! When I was using vb latest version 3.7.3 ( in that time ) just I was told to open ticket ... The vb support and vbulletin moderators insist on " There is no security bug on vBulletin default !! "

After that I found the security bug and report it .....Now I see the same sentences as above ...

One more thing vbulletin.com/org never used 3.7.2 or 3.7.3 ..3.7.5 versions !

Please take a look at this matter . Collecting your customer private data because of new features on 3.8 version make the customers confidence on vBulletin weak ...

Thinking about this tow thing ( denying the bugs + asking unnecessary data ) is not good for us as customers...

Hello Marco ,

As your post makes it clear you know a lot of information about this adsense option , can you please kindly respond to http://www.vbulletin.com/forum/showp...&postcount=189

i can answer you on both situations in your reply there...

a: even if IB claim they have no way to use that information at their own profit, they do. they have a deal with Google to release this engine on vBulletin... the deal is simple: "we release an integration, you help us spread the word" ... if ANY IB guy will say the opposite, i will have to spread the word myself that they lie -- for one reason, All of Google DEALS are made the same way, i know about it, i dealth with Google a lot of times on vBlog, Wordpress and some other scripts.

b: they announce it's a deal with Google to have an integration, it's indicated in the announcement. Why in hell would they work with the guys at Google if the script itself is a 3 lines script that was released on vb.org about 3 years ago ?!... they have to make commercial agreements. Jelsoft never copied a hack for no reason.

well i applied for the hell of it and upon registering it did ask about the account details.allowing vb to access to access code and performance..see for yourself.


http://img220.imageshack.us/img220/3369/gmancj0.gif
http://img220.imageshack.us/img220/g...if/1/w1002.png

I just dont like the idea that i have to give them a percentage when the price of vb to renew went up or the purchase....:o

good link:

thanks Puerto, this shows up that the script is doing what i told from the minute ...

you have to know how to block these ads revenues though... any noob would not even have an idea he can change that...

they provide this solution for noobs, and they are proud of it... sure, because real coders know how it works

lol..i noticed it and fixed it:up:

Did you look at the percentage? We take 0.0% percent of the revenue you generate. However if you generate money in the first 180 days, then Google pays us a fee. That is all we get out of it.

By the way, any website owner can implement the same thing on their site using the Adsense API. It isn't a special deal between Google and vBulletin.

it's not a special deal, but i don't see why it was added "hiddenly" to the latest version, as there was already a dozen of similar solutions. Jelsoft added it to save time for newbies who do know nothing about coding... so you cheat on their back... funny fact now...

Yes , any website owner can do that but you are missing the important point Wayne.

Internet Brands own vBulletin , Internet Brands are competitor of many vBulletin customers.

Internet Brands include a new option to vBulletin , which will allow them to track customers adsense statistics and they never care to inform their customers about this important part at all. Which is a very important privacy problem.

I am not missing any point.

Its an OPT-IN program. If you feel that there is not enough information than do not opt-in. It really is as simple as that. It isn't required to associate a Google Publisher ID to use vBulletin 3.8.0. The functionality isn't even included unless you opt-in before downloading. You still have complete control over your own Google Account and you can Opt-Out at any time.

By choosing to associate your account, data is only shared based on what Google provides under their privacy policy. Which is agreed to when someone signs up for that program. You can re-read it here:
http://www.google.com/privacypolicy.html

Google still controls all the data about your account. If you Opt-in then you agree to share it.

You make it sound like you can't even use vBulletin 3.8.0 unless we get your publisher ID. Even if you gave it, you still have control over it and it isn't associated until you give vBulletin.com access through your Adsense account manager.

yep, i did see the percentage! it's a new account that i created, but my thing is after the site start generating revenue, then vb gets whatever percentage it was agreed upon or however that works.And that's my issue...:down:

Yeah.. the agreed upon percentage is what is being shown to you. Not what has been earned to date.

In return for you opening an Adsense account through vBulletin.com we agree that revenue should be shared with 100% going to the website owner and 0.0% going to Jelsoft. In return, Google agrees to pay us a referrer fee based on the amount of money you make in the first 180 days. This fee ranges between $5.00 and $250.00 per customer that opens an account. At no time do we take any of the actual adsense revenue that you accrue.

This is actually specified on the Google Adsense page within the member's area when you go to create a new account or associate an existing one.

the point is not the %... if Jelsoft want to receive 1% of the revenues, or 10, they can change the deal... actually if it would've been announced that "FOR THE DEAL, JELSOFT will receive 1% of your own revenues as a deal with Google" i would be ok with that... the point is not the %, but the tracking of information, InternetBRAND will receive... not Jelsoft -- which is now a slave to IB, something i do not care either...

Then don't use the integrated Adsense... It is as simple as that. Go to Google.com and create your own Adsense account and copy and paste the code that Google gives you into Advertising templates.

Wayne ,

Why not all these key privacy information not made into announcement ? This is my main concern.

If nobody will noticed it , you had no intention to inform your customers. Thats not the correct way to deal with your customers and Jelsoft never acted like this in past.

Tell us if you need a Public Relation consultant, i'm all up for the task... ROFL!

/me runs behind Mert to be protected from any projectile coming from the Jelsoft HQ!

Because the privacy of the Adsense account is controlled by Google and your Adsense Account manager. You would have to ask them what information they share with referring websites. Looking at the Adsense API, it isn't much. We can tell how much revenue your ads make when they are placed on our websites. That is about it.

Anyway, I am done as everything is laid out in the agreements when you sign up. Need more information then you can contact the main offices of Jelsoft.

I agree this is borderline sleezy

strangely, when i see a post with "agree" at first, i always think the word "nexialys" would come next.. lol

btw, i hate betas, so welcome official release!

just one question.

1. Can I still download 3.8 upgrade without signing up to adsense?

Edit: I just read the thread at .com that it is an opt-in thing. And the files will only be included if people choose to opt-in. Ignore this post.

Edit: Okay, I have another question. What is stopping Jelsoft in the future from adjusting Partners share of revenue? to say 10%. They are stating now they are not taking or making any revenue from anyone that opts-in but never stated in the future if this will be the case? Also, because the staff at .com have emphasized that this feature is for people who are new to websites that don't know what they are doing and jelsoft decide to take a slice of the percentage won't this affect existing members who decided to opted in from the start and decide they don't want to share their revenue and opt out?

For people who arent aware of the in and outs of setting this if jelsoft decide to take a slice of the percentage it's worrying to think that many people that opted in will be looking for other alternatives and loose revenue and are left in the lurch because they don't know what the heck they are doing which jelsoft have claimed for the reason of setting this feature the way they did.

borderline? no.. 100%.

I think borderline would better way to describe it, it's quite clear what it does.

Would all you quit whining, moaning, defending and hating this adsense crap and answer BozzaJos question...quoted above...

The next concern is what are the more things that hidden behind new releases ?

I never thought Jelsoft do such things hiddenly in order to get more money !!

The confidential of customers on your company is NOT important for you ??

What kind of deal is this ?

wow - I was wondering why this super new feature that there hasn't been many requests for was suddenly implemented.

This is how it feels to be monetized!

i'm sure there was no real need to implement it, that's why it's an opt-in... but due to the number of download of all these AdSense hacks on vb.org, i would say Jelsoft needed a solution, and IB found it... Jelsoft itself would be too small to have a need for this integration, it is time consuming,,,

It would be sleazy if they took any of YOUR revenue. It would be sleazy if you where required to have an Ad Sens account to download 3.8. As it is, it's entirely optional, and not really any different that what you have to do to set up an adsense account to begin with.

Seems you guys are looking for deceptiveness around ever corner.

--------------- Added [DATE]1231593343[/DATE] at [TIME]1231593343[/TIME] ---------------

Since 3.7 is will see End of Life fairly soon, will vB.org be upgrading to 3.8 in the near future?

Some people (some more than others ;) ) Just like to stir up the pot about everything. I honestly don't see what the big deal is about this. If you don't want to use the new feature you don't have it, it's pretty simple.

There seems to be this consensus that if a new version comes out, and if it doesn't actually loose features, then it must be a secret plot to either steal people information.

What are you talking about buddy ? you think vb staff will earn money from our ads ? I think they require that info to get access to our account ... thats all .. ( thats what i think .. please correct me if i m wrong )

I know what the secret plot is! Obama is working with Google, Jelsoft and other forum companies to take a cut out of all the ad profits to save the stock markets. It makes sense!

Don't forget Jelsoft's secret connections to William Ayers.

If i have access to hundreds of boards adsense statistics ( keywords , high paying adds etc ) , i can build the most succesfull forum out there for advertisement revenue very easily with a little investment. Internet Brands's main revenue is from advertisement. When you put these 2 factors next to each other you can clearly see that the strategy has nothing to do with helping members.

Plus the important factor me and other members are complaining about is , Internet Brands tried to hide this very important truth. Which is a huge privacy concern as everyone trusted Jelsoft ( at least till IB took the control ) . They may not read the Google warning so they would not be aware of such important thing.

They surely can try to make affliate money. There is nothing wrong about it . But they should at least tell the customers the truth of it. Trying to hide is not a trustworth company act.

If it was hidden, you would have never figured it out in such a short period of time, nor would the staff have even responded to questions about it. You see, real deception involves carefully concealing information so that it takes a great deal of investigation and time to uncover. This wasn't hidden, it just wasn't written out in big letters because they don't consider it a big deal. Not broadcasting is not the same as hiding. And I'm of the same opinion that this isn't anywhere near as big a deal as some are making it out to be.

i figured it out because i'm aware of the behind the scene... a newbye would never imagine such structure...

vb will now potentially make more money out of adsense referrals than they will out of selling their software. That's a big deal and they way it was flown under the radar was at the very least disingenuous.

making money from aff or refs is not a problem, i do not care if they profit from the engine... the point is to manipulate the information without the regular users knowing. they say "do not use it if you are not happy"... the point is that the ones using it are not aware of the structure, that's why us, good guys, report this situation so everybody is aware of the hidden structure.

Jelsoft just have to make a change in the announcement and everybody will be happy...

This is doubftul. The largest referral is lower than the average sell price to a new customer. Maybe if someone bought only the leased license and did great advertising the first six months but this would be an exception, not the rule.