Something interesting with msn.com
Ok, so what is interesting about msn.com?
Well, nothing really… It is actually to do with something with the URL: http://rad.msn.com … The page states “This is the default test page for the Advertising Delivery System (ADS) indicating you have successfully pinged an individual IIS Server by IP”.
What is it? It is an adserver, if you can’t read 
Attempting to find more information about it, I noticed the response header…
It linked me to: http://global.msads.net
The website has a logo that says “Microsoft AdvertisingTechnicalOperations” – Ahh… Interesting title.
It then goes on to say… “You have successfully hit the default page for an ADS.MSN.COM server (MGB01)”. Oh, even more interesting…
Wait, I remember reading some MS blogs which used the letters “MGB” as well. What were they? Oh, yes, that’s right… The Microsoft Global Briefing. What that has to do with ad servers puzzles me. But eh, my brain has too many little facts stored in every single corner. Maybe it needs to be “re-indexed” and “optimised” Nah, probably nothing in common… But just you know, it’s an interesting fact.
I guess those are the Ad Servers used by MSN.com and related websites (such as hotmail.com etc…).
What was the other interesting thing I found in this hunt? Somebody mentioned something about ADSAdClient31.dll… So, as a curious individual, I decided to take a look… Tapped into the address bar…
http://r a d s . m s n . c o m/ADSAdClient31.dll …
I’m guessing again, but that’s probably their ad-serving module…
Ok, and now to jump off another related tangent as seems to do these days on blog posts/comments…
Don’t like seeing those advertisement banners? Well, one solution is to block all the offending URLs that host the ads. You can find out how at the following website hosted by the guys over at ssw.com.au – http://www.ssw.com.au/SSW/kb/KB.aspx?KBID=Q453237 (The second part is the most relevant, in regards to editing the HOSTS file). I used to edit my file quite often when I saw a new ad (especially the viral like ones that can be quite annoying. Such as the “Internet Casino” ones that you see popup when you goto some websites to download old shareware games. (Yes, ok, I do like to go back to the old games at times…). Some old games are quite fun! But they aren’t exactly all very old… GameHippo.com is a nice site. No ads there…).
I setup the hosts file during the days in which I was still using the dialup connection, but I recently loaded it onto my dads’ computer (It’s never nice to have parents see too many ads and popups all the time…). So, his machine now has WinXP SP2 as well as the HOSTS file blocking all the ad servers that I’ve come across during the years since I knew about the particular technique and from an initial set of servers listed somewhere (found it via google a few years ago).
So offer the above tips to anyone still stuck on dialup, or would like to find a nice simple way to block adverts.
Oh, and I really really detest the flash ads that popup (but not as a popup) over all your onscreen text and content. They really get irritating after awhile.
Ah well, I guess advertisers need to find a way to get your attention, and earn some money.
And the popup blockers also need something to do, so it works both ways 
The developers get paid to 1) create the ads 2) another developer gets paid to block the ads.
I remember there was an Add-In for IE5.5 that allowed for 1) Not load images on the page 2) Zoom-In Images 3) Zoom-Out Images…
Wonder if there is anything like that for IE6. And if there isn’t, does the old one still work? Anybody?
July 26th, 2004 at 10:36 pm
A nice but a long method in my view William. I simply use Firewall, which has Adblocker inbuilt in it and it will detect the ads by itself and block them. Very useful for people on slow connections. Also with firewall you can block the contents from a particular IP if you want and you can back up the whole configuration and take it somewhere else (mostly this is possible).
July 26th, 2004 at 10:41 pm
Hi Tejas, yeah it is sort of a long method. But then, it’s only a single file. That’s all it is. There were already a whole list of IPS/domains that were blocked in the list that I obtained a few years ago. No additional software required (always a good thing). Now, I could easily set it up on the router, however, that’ll take awhile to do (currently blocking a lot of addresses).
But yeah, in general… Just went off tangent a few times in the post (as i’m probably known to do often…).
February 11th, 2005 at 03:00 pm
I Use Firefox to block the dlls in msn and hotmail, but ive been using the hosts file for about a year and it works great for blocking ads and spyware. That old package add in for zooming in and out adds a BHO that still works in IE6 to allow you to zoom in and out and create a list of images. But why are you using IE6 anyway? …FIREFOX
April 20th, 2005 at 02:24 am
RE: no loading images
Not certain if it is available in IE6 however… I would check Accessibilty (blind) features are loaded. And check registry tree for changes it makes to see what it is doing differently.
Just linked into this article on rad.msn.com/Ads.dll sorry if already answered or blog old
April 28th, 2005 at 03:00 am
Great…
June 11th, 2005 at 08:07 pm
While reading my proxy statistics, I have noticed that hits on rad.msn.com go together with the usage of MSN messenger. I am guessing this rad.msn.com delivers ads you see on the bottom of your MSN messenger windows.
June 12th, 2005 at 10:16 pm
mb meezee: Indeed it is. The ADSAdClient31.dll file is responsible for pulling down adverts from the rad.msn.com server onto your system. From either web pages or other related services you may have installed on your system.
December 24th, 2005 at 12:28 pm
I’m getting this download popup for this ad dll ever since I upgraded to Firefox 1.5. I have several spwyare programs protecting me, including Webroot Spy Sweeper, but they don’t seem to care to block it or something? what’s going on with that…it’s annoying especially since I get this download request infrequently. many days sympatico.msn.ca (ny mews homepage) is fine and other days it is not!!!
January 19th, 2006 at 01:06 am
Mr. Friendly, I am getting the same ‘popup’ using the latest FIREFOX. It is hella anoying! Anyone know a fix, it’s driving me crazy. Gotta run, heading to the pub here in Dublin! Uncle Seamus
January 19th, 2006 at 01:07 am
Uncle Seamus here again, sorry for the second posting, forgot to click the little followup comments via email box. if you know a fix, please help me replying to this message. U S
January 28th, 2006 at 09:48 am
Hello,
The popup could in most probability be triggered by some Rogue Javascript code.
Try disable / block one of the scripts by viewing the source and it should do the trick.
January 28th, 2006 at 09:49 am
Oh have you also tried to just right click the popup and block that URL entierly ?
March 18th, 2006 at 02:58 am
Had the same problem with adsadclient31.dll popup. simce upgrading firefox to 1.5 when I tried to access hotmail it would ask me to confirm my password. When trying to access through IE or MSN did not ask for confirmation. Ran a quick scan on Windows Deefender and it found a hijacker. I eliminated it and it seems to have solved the problem.
April 5th, 2006 at 12:53 pm
Hello, I have a problem with my hotmail account, I was wondering if maybe you could tell me what to do.
Everytime I open my hotmail inbox, a notice comes up that says:
“You have chosen to open
ADSAdClient31.dll
which is a: Application Extention
from: http://rad.msn.com”
and then it asks what Firefox should do with the file
It asks if I should open it with something or save it to a disk.
I’ve tried both but nothing really happens. Should I open it with a specific program?
Thanks! I hope this made sense.
April 5th, 2006 at 01:23 pm
Oh wait I totally fixed it!
Here’s what you need to do:
1. Download and install the free Adblock plug-in for Firefox from here:
https://addons.update.mozilla.org/extensions/moreinfo.php?application=firefox&version=1.0&os=Windows&id=10
2. Restart Firefox
then…
3. Tools / Extensions / Adblock
Right-click then choose Options
4. Click in New filter and type:
http://rad.msn.com/adsadclient31.dll
You can then read Hotmail without the MS prompts.
It seems quicker as well, probably because there are fewer ads getting in the way!
May 29th, 2006 at 01:35 pm
Does anyone know how to get rid of this ad client in Opera?
October 12th, 2006 at 07:01 am
Getting rid of it is much more simple.
In your file: “host. ”
add an entry:
rad.msn.com 127.0.0.1
the ‘host. ‘ is under c:\windows\system32\drivers\etc
Hehe i came to the same conclusion as this blog text by using MS owns HTML tool called Fiddler, nice to for detecting spam i must say. Its an html inspector realy good as its also from MS
October 23rd, 2006 at 04:29 pm
Just use adblock with the following filter:
http://rad.msn.com/*
January 9th, 2007 at 06:16 am
Added all these entries to my hosts file and haven’t been bothered since:
127.0.0.1 rad.msn.com#added by me MSN Adclient DLL dl popup
127.0.0.1 arc1.msn.com#added by me MSN Adclient DLL dl popup
127.0.0.1 arc2.msn.com#added by me MSN Adclient DLL dl popup
127.0.0.1 arc3.msn.com#added by me MSN Adclient DLL dl popup
127.0.0.1 arc4.msn.com#added by me MSN Adclient DLL dl popup
127.0.0.1 arc5.msn.com#added by me MSN Adclient DLL dl popup
January 9th, 2007 at 06:18 am
Carrissa, adding to hosts is global and will block any browser be it Opera, FF, or IE
January 18th, 2007 at 08:09 am
I get this ADSAdClient31 on rad.msn.com
I’ve got Spyware Blaster, AD-Aware and Spybot Search & Destroy together with ZoneAlarm (free). In ZA list of programmes, there is “Run a DLL as an App” that has Allow in the Trusted area. I don’t remeber ticking it but when I try to change to Block, ZA message pops up to say “applying custom settings to system programmes could cause serious problems” ZA recommends do not change. Any opinions please as to whether or not this is damaging?
Also, within my control panel, I have an icon for JavaTM that has a control panel of its own. Not sure how it got there (might have been children accidentally when using disney channel?). I understand this might be damaging. Any opinions, please and is there a safe way to get rid of it. I’ve blocked it in ZA.