Here's my first guess:

Do you use Kaspersky security software? There is a feature called "Anti-Banner" that replaces some requested items with a 1-pixel GIF.

But I don't know why that would be limited to requests from Firefox... ??

jscher2000 said

Here's my first guess: Do you use Kaspersky security software? There is a feature called "Anti-Banner" that replaces some requested items with a 1-pixel GIF. But I don't know why that would be limited to requests from Firefox... ??

Nope. No Kaspersky. I'm running vanilla Firefox so I don't have any extra add-ons/extensions/plugins. Also saw that Kaspersky/Ad-blocking stuff when browsing for this issue, but I really don't have any anti-banner/adguard stuff installed. Weird.

Can you right-click (or Ctrl+click) on the GIF > View Image Info, and see its address? Images internal to Firefox normally have an address starting with chrome:// or resource://, not sure about extensions.

If the pixel is too small, you could try right-click (or Ctrl+click) on a blank area of the page > View Page Info, then check the Media panel for information on the image. Page Info also is available on the Tools menu.

Really appreciate you helping out!

I can't get an address to the gif, but I've captured a bunch of screenshots of the page info here: https://drive.google.com/drive/folders/1HB2AXC7qhn3LxyN2cU_O5yKN8V3g-7M8?usp=sharing

Let me know if you have problems viewing or if you need additional info.

Firefox is changing my URL!

Pasted URL (replaced the numbers and link): https://tearsheet.v.fwmrm.net/##/advertising/campaign/tear_sheeting/set_cookie?id=###&url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.site.com%2Ftv-shows%2Furl&duration=2880&commercial_pattern_id=&instant_load=true

Output URL displayed with the optout GIF page: http://cue.v.fwmrm.net/ad/optout?clean=true&cr=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.site.com%2Ftv-shows%2Furl

(edit: corrected the gdrive link)

The address:

http://cue.v.fwmrm.net/ad/optout

corresponds to a link in the Freewheel privacy policy (http://freewheel.tv/privacy-policy/) that says

"Click here to replace your unique FreeWheel cookie with an opt-out FreeWheel cookie."

Why would that come up?

The file/script you are requesting seems to be named "set_cookie" (before the ? marking the beginning of the query portion of the address). Is there anything your Firefox that might not allow cookies to be set normally?

Please check:

(1) Privacy settings: Websites say cookies are blocked - Unblock them

(2) Remove existing cookies for fwmrm.net

While viewing any page on the site, try either:

• right-click (on Mac Ctrl+click) a blank area of the page and choose View Page Info > Security > "View Cookies"
• (menu bar) Tools > Page Info > Security > "View Cookies"
• click the padlock or "i" icon in the address bar, then the ">" button, then More Information, and finally the "View Cookies" button

In the dialog that opens, fwmrm.net should be pre-filled in the search box at the top of the dialog so you can remove that site's cookies individually.

Then try your original link again. Any improvement?

(3) Any extensions that modify cookie handling in Firefox? I know you said you don't have any, but just in case...

You can view, disable, and often configure or remove extensions on the Add-ons page. Either:

• Command+Shift+a (Windows: Ctrl+Shift+a)
• "3-bar" menu button (or Tools menu) > Add-ons
• type or paste about:addons in the address bar and press Enter/Return

In the left column of the Add-ons page, click Extensions. Then cast a critical eye over the list on the right side. Any extensions Firefox installs for built-in features are hidden from this page, so everything listed here is your choice (and your responsibility) to manage. Anything that might affect cookies or trackers? If in doubt, disable (or remove).

Any improvement?

Gee, thanks for the detailed help!

I found one boo-boo from my end - I recently reinstalled Firefox and forgot to change the History settings. It was on "Remember history" instead of "Use custom settings ...". I switched back to "Accept third-party cookies to Always / until they expire".

Cleared cache, history, site data from the beginning of time at least 3 times and restarted Firefox. Tracking protection is off.

Confirming absolutely no Add-ons. Charles etc. were disabled and removed earlier. My only extension is the Javascript gnubbyd for my security key. If all else fails, I'll try disabling that later. 2 plugins: OpenH264 Video Codec, and the Widevine Module. Both are probably there by default.

I have no idea why Firefox would redirect to the FreeWheel replacement cookie site. Again, this isn't happening with other browsers. The page I'm requesting should have a cookie stored to be able to activate/deactivate the tearsheet.

I tried safe mode (all add-ons disabled) - still no luck :(

I added a couple more screenshots showing the network activity, if that's of any help. https://drive.google.com/drive/folders/1HB2AXC7qhn3LxyN2cU_O5yKN8V3g-7M8?usp=sharing

I'll try a fresh install tomorrow and try it unsynced. Thanks again for the awesome help!

Misc info! Response cookies locale value en path / _ro value Candidate-Ads=21235135;Internal-Call;Opt-Out;Testing-Placement;;Target-Server=intearsheet.v.fwmrm.net;Reload-Ads=#### domain .fwmrm.net path / expires 2018-01-04T23:26:22.000Z Request cookies _ro Candidate-Ads=21235135;Internal-Call;Opt-Out;Testing-Placement;;Target-Server=intearsheet.v.fwmrm.net;Reload-Ads=#### locale en _freewheel_session_id dcb8c4ed736275812c129ab69646ea6b

Safe mode on Info: Application Basics

Name: Firefox Version: 57.0.3 Build ID: 20171226083017 Update Channel: release User Agent: Mozilla/5.0 (Macintosh; Intel Mac OS X 10.12; rv:57.0) Gecko/20100101 Firefox/57.0 OS: Darwin 16.7.0 Multiprocess Windows: 1/1 (Enabled by default) Web Content Processes: 2/4 Stylo: true (enabled by default) Google Key: Found Mozilla Location Service Key: Found Safe Mode: true

Crash Reports for the Last 3 Days

All Crash Reports

Firefox Features

Name: Activity Stream Version: 2017.11.07.1100-7f4e3634 ID: activity-stream@mozilla.org

Name: Application Update Service Helper Version: 2.0 ID: aushelper@mozilla.org

Name: Firefox Screenshots Version: 19.2.0 ID: screenshots@mozilla.org

Name: Follow-on Search Telemetry Version: 0.9.6 ID: followonsearch@mozilla.com

Name: Form Autofill Version: 1.0 ID: formautofill@mozilla.org

Name: Multi-process staged rollout Version: 3.05 ID: e10srollout@mozilla.org

Name: Photon onboarding Version: 1.0 ID: onboarding@mozilla.org

Name: Pocket Version: 1.0.5 ID: firefox@getpocket.com

Name: Shield Recipe Client Version: 76.1 ID: shield-recipe-client@mozilla.org

Name: Web Compat Version: 1.1 ID: webcompat@mozilla.org

Extensions

Name: gnubbyd Version: 0.9.61 Enabled: false ID: gnubby-team@google.com

Graphics

Features Compositing: Basic Asynchronous Pan/Zoom: wheel input enabled; scrollbar drag enabled; keyboard enabled; autoscroll enabled WebGL 1 Driver WSI Info: - WebGL 1 Driver Renderer: WebGL is currently disabled. WebGL 1 Driver Version: - WebGL 1 Driver Extensions: - WebGL 1 Extensions: - WebGL 2 Driver WSI Info: - WebGL 2 Driver Renderer: WebGL is currently disabled. WebGL 2 Driver Version: - WebGL 2 Driver Extensions: - WebGL 2 Extensions: - GPU #1 Active: Yes Vendor ID: 0x8086 Device ID: 0x0d26

Diagnostics AzureCanvasAccelerated: 0 AzureCanvasBackend: skia AzureContentBackend: skia AzureFallbackCanvasBackend: none TileHeight: 1024 TileWidth: 1024 Decision Log HW_COMPOSITING: blocked by runtime: Acceleration blocked by safe-mode OPENGL_COMPOSITING: unavailable by default: Hardware compositing is disabled WEBRENDER: opt-in by default: WebRender is an opt-in feature unavailable by runtime: Build doesn't include WebRender

Media

Audio Backend: audiounit Max Channels: 2 Preferred Channel Layout: stereo Preferred Sample Rate: 44100 Output Devices Name: Group Headphones: AppleHDAEngineOutput:1B,0,1,1:0 Input Devices Name: Group External Microphone: AppleHDAEngineInput:1B,0,1,0:1

Important Modified Preferences

accessibility.typeaheadfind.flashBar: 0 browser.cache.disk.capacity: 358400 browser.cache.disk.filesystem_reported: 1 browser.cache.disk.hashstats_reported: 1 browser.cache.disk.smart_size.first_run: false browser.cache.disk.smart_size.use_old_max: false browser.cache.frecency_experiment: 4 browser.places.smartBookmarksVersion: 8 browser.sessionstore.upgradeBackup.latestBuildID: 20171226083017 browser.startup.homepage: about:home browser.startup.homepage_override.buildID: 20171226083017 browser.startup.homepage_override.mstone: 57.0.3 browser.tabs.remote.autostart.2: true browser.urlbar.daysBeforeHidingSuggestionsPrompt: 0 browser.urlbar.lastSuggestionsPromptDate: 20170814 browser.urlbar.maxRichResults: 12 browser.urlbar.timesBeforeHidingSuggestionsHint: 0 dom.apps.lastUpdate.buildID: 20161019084923 dom.apps.lastUpdate.mstone: 49.0.2 dom.apps.reset-permissions: true dom.ipc.processCount.web: 4 dom.push.userAgentID: 29293c79a1a1433e812cee21fbd3edf8 extensions.lastAppVersion: 57.0.3 font.internaluseonly.changed: true media.benchmark.vp9.fps: 186 media.benchmark.vp9.versioncheck: 2 media.gmp-gmpopenh264.abi: x86_64-gcc3 media.gmp-gmpopenh264.lastUpdate: 1510255303 media.gmp-gmpopenh264.version: 1.7.1 media.gmp-manager.buildID: 20171226083017 media.gmp-manager.lastCheck: 1514823627 media.gmp-widevinecdm.abi: x86_64-gcc3 media.gmp-widevinecdm.lastUpdate: 1507735841 media.gmp-widevinecdm.version: 1.4.8.1008 media.gmp.storage.version.observed: 1 media.webrtc.debug.log_file: /Users/jdell/Library/Caches/TemporaryItems/WebRTC.log network.cookie.prefsMigrated: true network.predictor.cleaned-up: true places.database.lastMaintenance: 1514823670 places.history.expiration.transient_current_max_pages: 104858 plugin.disable_full_page_plugin_for_types: application/pdf plugin.importedState: true plugins.ctprollout.cohort: test plugins.ctprollout.cohortSample: 0.506470 privacy.history.custom: true privacy.sanitize.timeSpan: 0 privacy.trackingprotection.introCount: 20 privacy.trackingprotection.pbmode.enabled: false security.disable_button.openCertManager: false security.disable_button.openDeviceManager: false security.sandbox.content.tempDirSuffix: {2e492ac7-3dc9-bb4f-86d6-d696f2bf3f43} services.sync.declinedEngines: services.sync.engine.prefs.modified: true services.sync.lastPing: 1514919173 services.sync.lastSync: Tue Jan 02 2018 15:11:53 GMT-0800 (PST) storage.vacuum.last.index: 1 storage.vacuum.last.places.sqlite: 1512671036

Important Locked Preferences

Places Database

JavaScript

Incremental GC: true

Accessibility

Activated: false Prevent Accessibility: 0

Library Versions

NSPR Expected minimum version: 4.17 Version in use: 4.17

NSS Expected minimum version: 3.33 Version in use: 3.33

NSSSMIME Expected minimum version: 3.33 Version in use: 3.33

NSSSSL Expected minimum version: 3.33 Version in use: 3.33

NSSUTIL Expected minimum version: 3.33 Version in use: 3.33

Experimental Features

Sandbox

Content Process Sandbox Level: 3 Effective Content Process Sandbox Level: 3

If you compare the Request headers for the original address in Firefox and Chrome, do you notice any difference? There often are differences in the "Accept" header but I don't think those are important.

I'd also be tempted to change the user agent so Firefox masquerades as Chrome to see whether that makes any difference.

Sorry, I didn't have enough time to do additional troubleshooting. Thanks for the help though. I'll probably look into this ad blocking deeper when I get the chance.

I uninstalled Quantum and re-installed the older 56.0.2. Everything's working fine now. I guess the latest Firefox update works wayyy too well with their ad blocking...