Web Hosting Talk : Web Hosting Main Forums : Hosting Security and Technology : Referring URL's

[nox]

I hope this is the correct forum for this question...

In my stat's I recently noticed a 'referrer URL' which was actually another hosting company...(1st time for this)

Does this mean that the actual visitor left the other site to come to mine, OR does it mean that a link of some kind exists at the other site?????

If there is no actual link, then the visitor must have typed my URL in his/her browser, but therefore it would not show as a referrer but as a 'bookmarked' (or whatever they're called) entry.

This is using 'webtrends' which I'm testing on a few pages.

Can anyone enlighten me?

[Dexter]

I've noticed that before with my site. When I run my logs through FastStats I've had supposed referers from porn sites, big name news sites like msnbc, and even microsoft.com once! but they're always a single refered link. It's strage that if these sites had a link to mine I only get one hit from them? and being a programming site I find it even stranger. I think it has to do with some browsers getting screwed up and keeping the current website as the referer even when the user types the url themself or selects a favorites

[nox]

Originally posted by Dexter
I think it has to do with some browsers getting screwed up and keeping the current website as the referer even when the user types the url themself or selects a favorites

I'd say that's the answer...the web host in question was 'quite close' to us in an alphabetical list, so maybe someone was doing just that, going thru' an alphabetical list of hosting providers...

I feel better now, I scoured this other site looking for a link, ever suspicious that some of my site had been ripped and torn, with a rogue link unnoticed by the thief... I guess I was looking for a fight but thankfully didn't find one.

Thanks Dexter.