Skip to main content

Blogger Blogs Redirecting To "deplayer.net "

This week, we are seeing a few reports from anxious bloggers that their blogs are redirecting to mysterious URLs containing the domain "deplayer.net". This is somewhat reminiscent of the "searchinvented.com / smashingfeeds.com" hijacks seen during January 2010, and to the "sendptp.com" hijacks seen during February 2010.

Early reports mention the "Real time hit counter" gadget, seen by some as the "Halifax 2011" countdown gadget, or possibly the "Halloween 2010" countdown gadget, as being the gadget most successfully removed.

It's also possible that the "falling snow" and "Tweet This" gadget code has been upgraded to redirect to "deplayer.net". We also have reports of an "ITunes" accessory, a "Martin Luther King Jr Quotes" gadget, and a "yoga journal" / "yoga pose" gadget being involved this month.

As always, I'll caution you to be wary of any third party gadgets. It appears from some comments received that there is protective code in these newest gadgets, which aggressively blocks use of the "Page Elements" gadget GUI removal. If you try to hit the "Remove" button, or hit "Layout" from the dashboard link, and you are redirected, you have 2 choices.
  1. Use "the Page Elements" wizard from a browser / computer which blocks scripts from all third party domains, outside the Blogger / Google world.
  2. Access the Layout "Edit HTML" wizard directly, and remove the entry for the HTML / JavaScript gadget directly from the template code.


After removing the offending code, don't forget to clear cache, before testing your change!


It appears that some malware may be included in some gadgets installed by the Blogger "Add a Gadget" wizard. If you find removing any Blogger gadgets to provide you any relief, please report your findings in my article Some Hijack Malware Is Being Claimed To Be Blogger Provided. Your details, provided there, would be greatly appreciated.


>> Top

Comments

Joe Cannon said…
what do you mean when you say "page Elements" where is it in IE and FireFox?
Nitecruzr said…
Joe,

"Page Elements" is a Blogger wizard. It's a tab from the dashboard Layout link, and can be accessed from the navbar link "Customise".
Joe Cannon said…
Thanks I had to use IE and set the security settings to HIGH. I then went to my blog and clicked Layout. Then I was able to remove the visitor counter and the redirecting to deplayer.net stopped. My blog works again.
thanks for all your help!
Joe
Anonymous said…
We had the same issue. I deleted the most recent widget/gadget that I added and went from there. Works perfectly now.

You shouldn't even need to mess with the HTML code or basic layout if you simply delete the most recent widget.

Thanks for posting this helpful info!!
Crazii Rabbit said…
Thank you for this post! I was really worried my blog would have to be deleted and I worked so hard on it! www.catcareguides4u.blogspot.com
Alex F said…
For what it's worth, I encountered the same problem with a gadget called "NeighborCity Mortgage," a mortgage calculator.
J'Lyn Chapman said…
On the "high" security mode, I can't see the button to remove the counter, but when not on "high" security mode, I get redirected out of my blog. I tried to delete it using the HTML, but that's not working either. Nothing happens. I get rid of the box, but somehow the counter remains. Can you help?
Nitecruzr said…
J'Lyn,

You're going to have to set all Blogger / Google domains as Trusted, then hope that the malware that you need to remove isn't part of the Blogger Gadgets library.
Albert Torcaso said…
I deleted an app called Newser and now I appear fine. Can one of you see if it works for you and if it does not please let me know.

Albert
www.humanitymatters.org is my real site please let me know if I am still attacked?
Philippos said…
Hi..
My blog was being redirected to another site (very annoyingly) and I traced it to the "real time hit counter". Rather than edit the HTML, I went to the page elements page & found the offending widget, but when I edited it (to remove it) the page went to the redirect site aarrgggghhh. Solution :
Let it redirect
then backspace (to take you back)
right click hit stop (now doesn't redirect)
hit the delete widget box
Gone !!

yee haa ..... what a pain !!
thanks. fixed now and wasnt too painful. thought i lost a lot of work. deplayer.net came from a google map widget i added long ago which has just started to redirect. i removed the offending widget in the html edit.
Joe Cannon said…
Albert I checked and your blog works :)
joe
www.Joe-cannon.blogspot.com
No Bad Movies said…
Hi to anyone out there that will read this. I am experiencing a very aggressive re-direction problem on my blog. People have told me to delete any widgets or gadget I have implemented, but I don't even have enough time to even sign into my blog. If you would like to see what I mean please visit my blog oscatrtracker.blogspot.com. It's like the second my blog is pulled up, it's already re-directing. I can't even get to my layout page. I'm sensing someting more serious, but this is confusing because other than my blog, my computer works just fine. I have no problem visiting any other site. If anyone has any advise I'd be much appreciative.
No Bad Movies said…
Help from anyone that will read this...I am experiencing a re-direction in a aggressive manner. Many people have told me to delete widgets and gadgets, but as soon as I log in, my blog is re-directed. I don't even get enough time to go to my layout section. If you want to see what I mean, my blog address is oscartracker.blogspot.com. I would be very appreciative with any positive advise. This is very frustrating ! I was thinking a virus got inside my blog, but my computer is fine and I have no problems visiting any other site. I need to eradicate this as I am very behind on my work.
Trees said…
Thank you so much, I just removed the Real Time Hit counter from my layout and everything seems fine again.
Surferosh said…
thanks for the tip.. i had to use Chrome and remove the offending malware.. what a totally annoying piece of code.. i wonder why some people like to ruin other's lives and experiences !
pinestine said…
I had this problem with my Realtime Hit Counter. Removing the gadget "the usual way", by deleting it in the layout, did not work. So I had to edit the HTML-code. It wasn't that hard, even though my HTML skills are pretty limited. I use a Mac, so there was no malware or trojan alert. I just used my ususal Firefox browser with all scripts enabled.

@moviefreak; I couldn't get to my blog the usual way either, so I took the back route from my google account, which lets you see a list of all your blogs an stuff. you can edit your settings from there.

I'm glad this helped, so thanks for posting this :)
I found the offending gadget to be "Real Time Hit Counter". I removed the gadget in the edit layout section of my blog. Problem solved.
Thanks for this article!

littleapplebigapplebites.blogspot.com
Same issue with the Realtime Hit Counter. Thanks for your post; it did the trick!
Amanda said…
Philippos, It goes too damn fast to right click and hit stop! I'm DYING here! I know NOTING about HTML or code, or anything! All I know is when you click "remove" It should go away!

Popular posts from this blog

Adding A Link To Your Blog Post

Occasionally, you see a very odd, cryptic complaint I just added a link in my blog, but the link vanished! No, it wasn't your imagination.

Embedded Comments And Main Page View

The option to display comments, embedded below the post, was made a blog option relatively recently. This was a long requested feature - and many bloggers added it to their blogs, as soon as the option was presented to us. Some blog owners like this feature so much, that they request it to be visible when the blog is opened, in main page view. I would like all comments, and the comment form, to be shown underneath the relevant post, automatically, for everyone to read without clicking on the number of comments link. And this is not how embedded comments work.

What's The URL Of My Blog?

We see the plea for help, periodically I need the URL of my blog, so I can give it to my friends. Help! Who's buried in Grant's Tomb, after all? No Chuck, be polite. OK, OK. The title of this blog is "The Real Blogger Status", and the title of this post is "What's The URL Of My Blog?".