+9Some of my customers are using the ad blocker uBlock and it seems to be blocking at least the In-App Hub from rendering in our product (i suspect it might be blocking other engagements as well).
Do we have any solutions or recommendations we can provide customers using uBlock or other blockers, so that they can allow-list or unblock what’s needed for PX resources and engagements?
Best answer by link_black
Thanks or posing to PX Community
Yes, and uBlock is likely blocking more PX things too.
First off, if a user does want to be tracked by PX (or any other tracking tool) then there is nothing that anyone can do to force them to be tracked. Below is my typical response when customers ask this question:
------------
Ad Blockers / Cookies /And JavaScript
Below are the reasons why a web application user would/could not be tracked by Gainsight PX:
****This ASSUMES that your development team has installed the necessary PX Tag code and PX Identify code successfully inside your application(s) for all your users.****
Gainsight PX is not on any “blacklists” so our URLs, cookies, and/or JavaScript would not be blocked by any Ad Blocker software’s default settings. However, we have learned that our PX "aptrinsic.com" domain is included in the very popular uBlock Origin browser plugin's default privacy settings ... along with Google, Pendo, Facebook, Adobe, Mixpanel, Segment.io, Walkme, etc., so I guess we are in pretty good company.
PX relies on client side cookies for user/session identification and client side JavaScript for tracking and displaying Engagements. Our PX Cookies (apt.sid and apt.uid) are considered first party/class cookies and are tied directly to the domain/subdomain of the currently tracked web application.
The majority of internet users WILL have various ad/cookie/javascript blockers (not always called “ad blockers”) installed as browser plugins either by their corporate policies or through manual installation. These browser plugins can/will prevent tracking or serving Engagements with PX if configured in that way.
Depending on whose numbers you trust, ~30% of all internet users use Ad Blockers and probably ~60% or more of experienced/technical users use them … I think both of these numbers are actually bigger with so many internet security threats, incidents, and personal privacy concerns.
As far as what you can do about this…
It is also a good idea to let your customers know that you are using Gainsight PX to improve their experience and not to spy on them or serve adware through Engagements. I put together a quick PX Community Post about this a long time ago, so you may find it valuable to read and consider.
Here is a similar Community Post from a while back too: https://communities.gainsight.com/product-experience-px-16/are-there-issues-with-gainsight-px-and-adblockers-16588
Happy PX-ing!!
+2Thanks or posing to PX Community
Yes, and uBlock is likely blocking more PX things too.
First off, if a user does want to be tracked by PX (or any other tracking tool) then there is nothing that anyone can do to force them to be tracked. Below is my typical response when customers ask this question:
------------
Ad Blockers / Cookies /And JavaScript
Below are the reasons why a web application user would/could not be tracked by Gainsight PX:
****This ASSUMES that your development team has installed the necessary PX Tag code and PX Identify code successfully inside your application(s) for all your users.****
Gainsight PX is not on any “blacklists” so our URLs, cookies, and/or JavaScript would not be blocked by any Ad Blocker software’s default settings. However, we have learned that our PX "aptrinsic.com" domain is included in the very popular uBlock Origin browser plugin's default privacy settings ... along with Google, Pendo, Facebook, Adobe, Mixpanel, Segment.io, Walkme, etc., so I guess we are in pretty good company.
PX relies on client side cookies for user/session identification and client side JavaScript for tracking and displaying Engagements. Our PX Cookies (apt.sid and apt.uid) are considered first party/class cookies and are tied directly to the domain/subdomain of the currently tracked web application.
The majority of internet users WILL have various ad/cookie/javascript blockers (not always called “ad blockers”) installed as browser plugins either by their corporate policies or through manual installation. These browser plugins can/will prevent tracking or serving Engagements with PX if configured in that way.
Depending on whose numbers you trust, ~30% of all internet users use Ad Blockers and probably ~60% or more of experienced/technical users use them … I think both of these numbers are actually bigger with so many internet security threats, incidents, and personal privacy concerns.
As far as what you can do about this…
It is also a good idea to let your customers know that you are using Gainsight PX to improve their experience and not to spy on them or serve adware through Engagements. I put together a quick PX Community Post about this a long time ago, so you may find it valuable to read and consider.
Here is a similar Community Post from a while back too: https://communities.gainsight.com/product-experience-px-16/are-there-issues-with-gainsight-px-and-adblockers-16588
Happy PX-ing!!
+9Thanks for the speedy and detailed answer,
+2To Link's point, there's only one dependable way to mediate it without end user participation, and that's to proxy the services. If you set up a forward proxy for the esp.aptrinsic and web-sdk.aptrinsic endpoints, then all of those requests (aside from fonts and images) would appear to the traffic filtering mechanism in the extension to come from your product domain. The doc on that is here: https://support.gainsight.com/PX/Security_and_Compliance/Enablement/Enable_PX_Tracking_with_Proxy_Server
We use this technique to get PX tracking and engagements through implicit-deny domain-based traffic filters on customer networks. Aside from rotating certs, all of the effort is in the initial configuration. Once the PX tag is pointed to your proxied domains, aptrinsic.com only applies to a few odds and ends like the in-app editor, but nothing your end users will interact with.
+9Thanks,
But it’s probably something we’ll want to implement as our usage matures. I appreciate the advice.
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