Anybody else not being able to access deals from comparison sites?

[#1]

They seem to be all using URL redirection via dobleclick.net which is not working for me (I get HTTP Error 400). This has been going on for at least a week.

I was able to access the deal I want (with Virgin) by copying/pasting and decoding the redirection URL by hand, but I was wondering has anyone noticed this?

[#2]

Perhaps you should post some URLs of sites that don't work for you to see if anyone else has a problem ?

- otherwise we would only be guessing what you might be looking at !

[#3]

https://www.4g.co.uk/sim-only/

https://www.moneysupermarket.com/mobile-phones/sim-only/

https://www.uswitch.com/mobiles/compare/sim_only_deals/

and possibly others

[#4]

All working for me

[#5]

Thanks. It could be my adblock, although I added them to the exceptions, but will double-check.

To clarify, have you tried clicking on the deals? The ones that take you to the operatros' sites.

[#6]

I have "Adblock Plus" enabled,  and it has blocked something on all of those sites - but each comparison site seems to show complete information as you can see in my screenshots above

[#7]

I think you misunderstood.

I am not talking about the sites themselves, but the redirections after you click on a deal.

I see the same sites just fine.

After clicking on a deal, they redirect to an URL like this:

https://ad.doubleclick.net/ddm/clk/482521700;289139292;j?https%3A%2F%2Fwww.virginmedia.com%2Fmobile%...

which is not working

It's as if it's an issue with doubleckick.net

edit: the url seems to be removed automatically from my post, but I think you get the idea

[#8]

@pkw, the link you've posted to doubleclick is giving me a 400 error on both my Plusnet connection and another one, but following your earlier links to the other sites and clicking on the deals gets me through to the sites that it should.  I tried quite a few, including one to Virgin Media as that was referenced in the doubleclick link.

[#9]

I tried again, and on all three sites,  I can click on the button next to the deal, and get to the next page showing the details, and I've gone all the way through to the checkout.

This on my Plusnet connection but non-Plusnet DNS

[#10]

From all three of your comparison sites I get through to this (same for each) -

[#11]

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@pjmarsh wrote:

@pkw, the link you've posted to doubleclick is giving me a 400 error on both my Plusnet connection and another one, but following your earlier links to the other sites and clicking on the deals gets me through to the sites that it should.  I tried quite a few, including one to Virgin Media as that was referenced in the doubleclick link.

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That is very curious, as what you're saying is the link I posted gives you 400 but the exact same link from the site works.

I'm still at a loss what's causing it but I don't think I'm going to investigate it further.

[#12]

The culprit turned out to be a Chrome extension called ClearURLs. I had installed it for tidying up URLs from Amazon for easy sharing on Whatsapp etc, and forgot I even had it.

[#13]

LOL !

At least you discovered what was causing your problem.

.