[tor-talk] So much for using ixquick and Startpage: Now broken w/Tor

[l.m]

It's not broken. They explain clearly that the concurrent use of
ixquick/startpage by multiple Tor users at a given exit relay can
trigger automated abuse blocking. They're right. It could be abuse.
The same reason Google does it. Why is this a surprise? The problem
with Google is the connection sometimes 'spills' over to new circuits
which puts you into an infinite loop of entering captchas. This makes
Google just block some exit relays entirely for a time because of
repeated failed captchas. Google really wants to make money so if they
set a cookie for one of your circuits, and ask for a captcha, which
then 'spills' to a new circuit, and you just choose a new
identity--well it shouldn't be a surprise they decide to block a bunch
exits for lost revenue. Just try your search on startpage/ixquick with
a new identity.

--leeroy bearr

On 11/7/2014 at 4:30 PM, "Soul Plane"  wrote:On Fri, Nov 7, 2014 at
9:50 AM, Öyvind Saether  wrote:

> https://startpage.com/do/search is also broken.
>
> It is interesting how they decided that today (the day after those
> darknet raids) would be a good day to ban Tor-users.
>

Does anyone know anyone at startpage, maybe you should CC them this. I
just
tried the startpage search box in Iceweasel in Tails and I receive a
message directed at Tor users whenever I try to search. I will paste
the
message below. Unfortunately it does not appear just once, it appears
every
time and I can't get search results that way. I wouldn't mind
answering a
captcha once in a while but I don't know how much that's going to help
them
against bots since bots apparently use opencv and tricks to break
captchas.

Here is the message, it's long:

Welcome Tor Users!

We are happy to welcome you to Startpage, the world's most private
search
engine. Startpage now serves well over 2 million searches per day,
making
us the biggest private search service on the Internet.

Like Tor, Startpage was private long before privacy was cool. We have
a
fourteen-year company track record, and we are the only search engine
that
can back up our privacy promises with third-party certification.

Here are just a few of our powerful, privacy-protecting features:

    We do not record anything about you — not your IP address, not
your
search queries, and we never use tracking cookies.
    We provide 100% Google results — We submit your search
anonymously to
Google and return their results to you in total privacy.
    We encrypt all traffic — using HTTPS, so even your ISP can't
snoop on
your searches.
    We offer a powerful free proxy — that lets you anonymously view
third-party websites with every search.
    We're third-party certified and independently audited — by
EuroPrise
and Certified Secure, so you can take our privacy promises to the
bank.

We love Tor!

We believe in the Tor project and its privacy mission and we applaud
your
efforts to pursue serious Internet privacy.

As you know, Tor recently included Startpage as the default search
engine
in the new Tor Browser Bundles. Thank you! We're honored to be
associated
with all of you like-minded, hard-core privacy fanatics.
Just One Small Catch...

However, the avalanche of new Tor users has created an issue with the
algorithm we use to detect and reject automated screen-scraping
programs.
When multiple Tor users are searching through the same end node,
Startpage
may wrongly conclude that the searches are coming from a scraper.

The unfortunate result is that Startpage may occasionally not return
results with Tor. But don't panic, we're committed to fixing it.
Here's a Temporary Solution

We are reaching out to the Tor developers to find a permanent
solution. In
the meantime, here is a workaround for Tor users:

    If you use the Tor Browser Bundle:
        Switching to a new Tor identity is easy and fast. Click the
green
onion icon next to your address bar, then click "New Identity" and try
your
search again. In some cases, you may have to switch identities a few
times
for this to work.

We want Tor users to have a great private search experience with
Startpage,
and we appreciate your patience while we develop a long-term solution.
As
you use Startpage, we'd love to hear from you and get your
impressions.

Meanwhile, thanks for supporting the vision of Tor and Startpage and a
completely private Internet!
-- 
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