Contents:

Web Bug FAQ
Bugnosis General FAQ
Bugnosis 1.3 FAQ
Bugnosis 1.1 FAQ


Web Bug FAQ

What exactly is a Web Bug?

A Web bug is a graphic on a Web page or in an e-mail message designed to monitor who is reading the page or message. Web bugs are often invisible because they are typically only 1-by-1 PIXELS in size. In many cases, Web bugs are placed on Web pages by third parties INTERESTED in collecting data about visitors to those pages.

What information is sent to a server by a Web bug?

The IP address of the computer that fetched the Web bug
The URL of the page that the Web bug is located on
The URL of the Web bug image, which contains the information to be communicated between the Web page visited and the site collecting the data
The time the Web bug was viewed
The type of browser that fetched the Web bug image
A previously set COOKIE value

(Although this might not seem like much, these items can be used to spread information between multiple Web sites. Click here for a more detailed explanation.)

What are some of the uses of a Web bug on a Web page?

Web bugs can be used to provide an independent accounting of how many people have visited a particular Web site. Web bugs are also used to gather statistics about Web browser use at different sites on the Internet.

In addition, advertising networks can use Web bugs to collect information on what sites a person is visiting to create a personal profile. The personal profile is stored in a database server belonging to the ad network and identified by the browser cookie of the network. The profile determines what banner ad one is shown at a later time.

A more detailed outline of the uses of Web bugs appears under Advanced Topics.

Why are they called Web bugs?

A "bug" is a SMALL eavesdropping device. It's not a euphemism for a programming error.

Rather than the term "Web bugs," the Internet advertising community prefers the more sanitized term "clear GIFs." Web bugs are also known as "1-by-1 GIFs," "invisible GIFs." and "BEACON GIFs."

Are all invisible GIF images Web bugs?

No. Invisible GIF files are also used for alignment purposes on Web pages. A Web bug will typically be loaded from a different Web server than the rest of the page, so they are easy to distinguish from alignment GIF files.