[thelist] The case of the missing referrer :)

[Michael Efford]

---- Original Message -----
From: "Madhu Menon" <webguru at vsnl.net>
To: <thelist at lists.evolt.org>
Sent: Wednesday, August 28, 2002 6:01 PM
Subject: [thelist] The case of the missing referrer :)


> I usually check out a site that is in my http_referer list. Once in a
> while, there will be a site that has absolutely NO link to my site, and
> doesn't seem connected in any way either. Now, I know some people
> intentionally fake it so that you visit their site, which usually sells
> some search engine services. But I've got referrals from personal sites
and
> government sites etc., which is weird. For instance, one of my referrals
> was from www.ieee.org
>
> I don't know why this happens. Perhaps someone can help. Is this some
> browser bug?


It's a Mac thing.  I'm not sure which browsers do it, but I get a lot of the
same thing happening, and I have confirmed it with a collegue who uses a
Mac.  The referer is basically the site that the person was looking at
before they were looking at yours (whether they clicked on a link, used a
bookmark, or typed it in manually etc).  It can be quite revealing
sometimes!

Regards,
Michael Efford.


_________________________________________
m i c h a e l  e f f o r d : : f r e e l a n c e  w e b  d e s i g n e r
michael at michaelefford.com.au  :: http://www.michaelefford.com.au