On the presence and removal of stubborn code I never added to listings.

[imajgin]

I’ve been working on refreshing over 1000 listings for the last week. In the process of doing that, I discovered that a number of listings have a whole bunch of code added to the end of the html in the description area of the pages where we edit listings.

I did not put that stuff there. I don’t recall ever subscribing to an app that would put that stuff there. It looks as though it is related to translations and I see that ebay has or had a translator app that could be downloaded. But I do not recall downloading that app. Anyway, as I revised our listings, I keep finding this added on code (which is discovered when I click the link on the Edit pages for checking on whether the description is Mobile Friendly). The code was not on all of our listings fortunately. It may have been on 30 listings or a few more than that. I wasn't keeping count.

This code is tough to remove! It would come back despite being removed repeatedly. On the listing it is visible on the listing page when the listing is active. It is usually visible in the html section of the pages where I can edit html but not always. It is sneaky and often is not visible in the html and shows up again after a listing is revised and the listing is active again. Several listings that were edited while working in the Bulk Editor still had the code embedded in them after I had closed the Bulk Editor and had to be opened individually and have the code removed again before they apparently were fixed. (I will not be surprised if I get more messages from ebay regarding what they are calling “Contact Info” and unpermitted external links that I have not put into the listings!)

I have received some messages from ebay in recent days, while working on my revisions, regarding having unallowed contact information in our listings. This code is what is causing ebay to “think” there is contact info in our listings. We have no contact information in our listings. We have this garbage code which I did not put there and which keeps reappearing.

As of right now, I think that I have removed all of it but I would not be surprised if it turns up again. Currently when I run the “With Contact Info” search, it is showing 0 listings with “Contact Info”. But within this last week it has shown 0 before and then sent me another message about the alleged “Contact Infor” which is this garbage code. This is maddening.

I tried to upload some screen grabs of what I’ve been seeing. However, the upload is not working so can't do it. I can paste in some of the text of the code. There have been 2 versions. One is much longer than the other.

Here is code from the shorter one:

"GMTDetect languageAfrikaansAlbanianArabicArmenianAzerbaijaniBasqueBelarusianBengaliBosnianBulgarianCatalanCebuanoChichewaChinese (Simplified)Chinese (Traditional)CroatianCzechDanishDutchEnglishEsperantoEstonianFilipinoFinnishFrenchGalicianGeorgianGermanGreekGujaratiHaitian CreoleHausaHebrewHindiHmongHungarianIcelandicIgboIndonesianIri**bleep**alianJapaneseJavaneseKannadaKazakhKhmerKoreanLaoLatinLatvianLithuanianMacedonianMalagasyMalayMalayalamMalteseMaoriMarathiMongolianMyanmar (Burmese)NepaliNorwegianPersianPolishPortuguesePunjabiRomanianRussianSerbianSesothoSinhalaSlovakSlovenianSomaliSpanishSundaneseSwahiliSwedishTajikTamilTeluguThaiTurkishUkrainianUrduUzbekVietnameseWelshYiddishYorubaZuluAfrikaansAlbanianArabicArmenianAzerbaijaniBasqueBelarusianBengaliBosnianBulgarianCatalanCebuanoChichewaChinese (Simplified)Chinese (Traditional)CroatianCzechDanishDutchEnglishEsperantoEstonianFilipinoFinnishFrenchGalicianGeorgianGermanGreekGujaratiHaitian CreoleHausaHebrewHindiHmongHungarianIcelandicIgboIndonesianIri**bleep**alianJapaneseJavaneseKannadaKazakhKhmerKoreanLaoLatinLatvianLithuanianMacedonianMalagasyMalayMalayalamMalteseMaoriMarathiMongolianMyanmar (Burmese)NepaliNorwegianPersianPolishPortuguesePunjabiRomanianRussianSerbianSesothoSinhalaSlovakSlovenianSomaliSpanishSundaneseSwahiliSwedishTajikTamilTeluguThaiTurkishUkrainianUrduUzbekVietnameseWelshYiddishYorubaZuluText-to-speech function is limited to 200 charactersOptions : History : Feedback : DonateClose"

And here is just a partial piece of the much much longer 2nd one:

<div id="SL_balloon_obj" alt="0" style="display: block;"><div id="SL_button" class="SL_ImTranslatorLogo" style="background: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0) url(&quot;moz-extension://6217570d-16db-474e-ae94-9020952c3f64/content/img/util/imtranslator-s.png&quot;) repeat scroll 0% 0%; display: none; opacity: 1;"></div><div id="SL_shadow_translation_result2" style="display: none;"></div><div id="SL_shadow_translator" style="display: none;"><div id="SL_planshet"><div id="SL_arrow_up" style="background: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0) url(&quot;moz-extension://6217570d-16db-474e-ae94-9020952c3f64/content/img/util/up.png&quot;) repeat scroll 0% 0%;"></div><div id="SL_Bproviders"><div class="SL_BL_LABLE_ON" title="Google" id="SL_P0">G</div><div class="SL_BL_LABLE_ON" title="Microsoft" id="SL_P1">M</div><div class="SL_BL_LABLE_ON" title="Translator" id="SL_P2">T</div></div><div id="SL_alert_bbl" style="display: none;"><div id="SLHKclose" style="background: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0) url(&quot;moz-extension://6217570d-16db-474e-ae94-9020952c3f64/content/img/util/delete.png&quot;) repeat scroll 0% 0%;"></div><div id="SL_alert_cont"></div></div><div id="SL_TB"><table id="SL_tables" cellspacing="1"><tbody><tr><td class="SL_td" width="10%" align="right"><input id="SL_locer" title="Lock-in language" type="checkbox"></td><td class="SL_td" width="20%" align="left"><select id="SL_lng_from" style="background: rgb(255, 255, 255) url(&quot;moz-extension://6217570d-16db-474e-ae94-9020952c3f64/content/img/util/select.png&quot;) no-repeat scroll 100% 0px;"><option value="auto">Detect language</option><option value="af">Afrikaans</option><option value="sq">Albanian</option><option value="ar">Arabic</option><option value="hy">Armenian</option><option value="az">Azerbaijani</option><option value="eu">Basque</option><option value="be">Belarusian</option><option value="bn">Bengali</option><option value="**bleep**">Bosnian</option><option value="bg">Bulgarian</option><option value="ca">Catalan</option><option value="ceb">Cebuano</option><option value="ny">Chichewa</option><option value="zh-CN">Chinese (Simplified)</option><option value="zh-TW">Chinese (Traditional)</option><option value="hr">Croatian</option><option value="cs">Czech</option><option value="da">Danish</option><option value="nl">Dutch</option><option value="en">English</option><option value="eo">Esperanto</option><option value="et">Estonian</option><option value="tl">Filipino</option><option value="fi">Finnish</option><option value="fr">French</option><option value="gl">Galician</option><option value="ka">Georgian</option><option value="de">German</option><option . . .

It goes on for a very long distance. Then here is what is at the end of it:

Text-to-speech function is limited to 200 characters</div><div id="SL_Balloon_options" style="background: rgb(255, 255, 255) url(&quot;moz-extension://6217570d-16db-474e-ae94-9020952c3f64/content/img/util/bg3.png&quot;) repeat scroll 0% 0%;"><div id="SL_arrow_down" style="background: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0) url(&quot;moz-extension://6217570d-16db-474e-ae94-9020952c3f64/content/img/util/down.png&quot;) repeat scroll 0% 0%;"></div><table id="SL_tbl_opt" width="100%"><tbody><tr><td width="5%" align="center"><input id="SL_BBL_locer" checked="1" title="Show Translator's button 3 second(s)" type="checkbox"></td><td width="5%" align="left"><div id="SL_BBL_IMG" title="Show Translator's button 3 second(s)" style="background: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0) url(&quot;moz-extension://6217570d-16db-474e-ae94-9020952c3f64/content/img/util/bbl-logo.png&quot;) repeat scroll 0% 0%;"></div><br></td><td width="70%" align="center"><a href="moz-extension://6217570d-16db-474e-ae94-9020952c3f64/content/html/options/options.html?bbl" target="_blank" class="SL_options" title="Show options">Options</a> : <a href="moz-extension://6217570d-16db-474e-ae94-9020952c3f64/content/html/options/options.html?hist" target="_blank" class="SL_options" title="Translation History">History</a> : <a href="moz-extension://6217570d-16db-474e-ae94-9020952c3f64/content/html/options/options.html?feed" target="_blank" class="SL_options" title="ImTranslator Feedback">Feedback</a> : <a href="https://www.paypal.com/cgi-bin/webscr?cmd=_s-xclick&amp;hosted_button_id=GD9D8CPW8HFA2" target="_blank" class="SL_options" title="Make a small contribution">Donate</a></td><td width="15%" align="right"><span id="SL_Balloon_Close" title="Close">Close</span></td></tr></tbody></table></div></div></div>

[berserkerplanet]

That code does not look like it eBay's.

It looks like it's from a Firefox, or Seamonkey, o other Mozilla extension/addon like the Google or other translator addon. There is a PayPal donate link in there (typical of some addons) and many references to extension files and resources.

This makes it look pretty certain you use Firefox (or other Mozilla browser) and you need to look at what addons and plugins you have installed in that browser. (Very similar to the LastPass Password vault browser plugin issue that has cropped up over the years where the Lastpass plugin corrupts listings with chunks of JavaScript)

[wiccanwands]

The code is an IM Translator code and on my listings it was not visible on the preview nor on the actual listings but I found it in the HTML code. The strange thing is that I do not have the IM Translator add on with FireFox.

[berserkerplanet]

Yeah, now that you put a name to it, I was able to google the IM translator and what I saw fits perfectly with the code posted above. The PayPal donate button id exactly matches the id on the donate button on the addon homepage.

It is highly unlikely eBay has anything to do with this, and both you and OP need to take a close look at your systems for malware or something else that might be adding the code.

As with the Lastpass debacle, code being added doesn't mean it is complete and functional scripts, and even if a complete script were added, eBay might be neutering it as they no longer allow active content.

[imajgin]

I noticed IMTranslator in the code too. I use IMTranslator and use Firefox. If it were being added somehow to my listing html by IMTranslator, then it seems it would have added it to all of my listings. Not to just a few. In over 1,000 listings, it showed up in about 30 or so. And if it did that, I don't understand how it did it. I wouldn't know how to duplicate what it did.

I wondered if the Translator app that ebay has listed as one of their apps was connected to IMTranslator and if, somehow, ebay inserted the code for the translator into some listings at some point in the past. I could not find any common denominator in the listings where it existed. They were older listings and newer listings.

It was difficult to remove as it sometimes would not show up in the html of the Edit page and I would find that it was still there when I finished editing and would go to check the listing where I saw. I would find it again in the active listing showing as visible on the listing page. Then I would revise and remove the code again.

Currently I have run the "With contact info" search of all of my listings and it comes back with zero found. So I may have gotten it all out. But in the past when I checked eBay's assessment of my listings, prior to the recent updating that I was doing, eBay showed nothing in my listings. Then when editing my listings over the last week, I found about 30. And then they were recalcitrant about leaving.

In the past I had run into some of this code when editing listings and would remove it from the html. I didn't know what it was. It did not consistently appear. I didn't give it any thought until this past week when it was a PITA to remove and when ebay sent me messages regarding eliminating "contact info".

I have an iMac. I use Firefox most of the time. I could use Safari instead when I edit listings. I really don't think I have malware.

[imajgin]

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@wiccanwands wrote:
The code is an IM Translator code and on my listings it was not visible on the preview nor on the actual listings but I found it in the HTML code. The strange thing is that I do not have the IM Translator add on with FireFox.

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The code was inconsistent as far as where it was visible although, as far as I could tell, I could always see it in the listings when they were active listings. I could see it in Preview sometimes and sometimes not. I could sometimes see it in the html code and then sometimes not. I found the code in the shorter form on some listings and the longer form on other listings which is very very very long.

I am not convinced that the presence of the code in some listings is due to my using the IMTranslator extension in my browser because it is in only a relatively few listings compared to the number of listings that we have. But, just in case, I have disabled the IMTranslator extension in my browser for now.

[berserkerplanet]

•I have disabled the IMTranslator extension in my browser for now.

That sounds like the best course of action. Clean up all the listings with the translator disabled, and see if the code fragments reappear.

That is pretty much what the bug in the Lastpass addon was doing. Injecting chunks of Lastpass code (non- functional chunks) in some seller's listings (don't know if it was all, but it wouldn't have to be). Should not have been injecting anything, but had some bad interaction with the eBay listing editor. Seller would edit out the garbage, and Lastpass would stick it right back in. Only solution there was to disable the Lastpass browser plugin until Lastpass fixed it.

[imajgin]

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@berserkerplanet wrote:
•I have disabled the IMTranslator extension in my browser for now.

That sounds like the best course of action. Clean up all the listings with the translator disabled, and see if the code fragments reappear.

That is pretty much what the bug in the Lastpass addon was doing. Injecting chunks of Lastpass code (non- functional chunks) in some seller's listings (don't know if it was all, but it wouldn't have to be). Should not have been injecting anything, but had some bad interaction with the eBay listing editor. Seller would edit out the garbage, and Lastpass would stick it right back in. Only solution there was to disable the Lastpass browser plugin until Lastpass fixed it.

---

The listings were all cleaned up by Sunday evening and have shown as clean since then. Interesting about that Lastpass debacle. Sounds similar. I am wondering if there had been an issue with the IMTranslator  a while ago, occurring perhaps when I was editing and/or creating listings at that time, and then it "stuck" to just those listings until this last week when eBay decided to highlight that code in the listings now and sent me messages about "In Contact" info about the listings with the code after I edited them.  Some time back I've run checks for active code in listings and those searches came up with nothing.

I'll be interested to see if that code returns again. Another responder to this thread who observed code in their html of listings had not used the translator app addon in their browser. If the app is not used as a browser addon or extension, that makes it unlikely that the added code would be due to the addon itself as being the cause of the code in the html of listings. Which is why I suspect that ebay itself had something to do with it.

When I was looking online for reasons for this happening, I did see that a while ago ebay was trying out ways of having the listings be translated into multiple languages. I can imagine that they might have been trying things on listings to make that happen. I can imagine too that they might have done something in connection with IMTranslator.