Tracking cookies?

Lately, I've noticed that quite a few threads appear to have tracking cookies in them. All of them by new members with less than 5, or so, posts. Most are new threads. Some are starting to appear in established threads. They all have code like this at the end, which you can see if you <QUOTE> the message:

Content warning: NOT AN IMAGE

Third party cookie, I am set up to delete them automatically. I would advise everyone to do so. I use CC cleaner, it automatically deletes any cookie after I close unless it's in my white list.

Those aren't "cookies", which are placed on on your computer. They're "hidden GIFs" (generic term for invisiblee images, of which .png files are one type), which are used to boost SEO by generating traffic to the image host site. Yes, please report them.

Jon, thank you. Just curious, what is SEO?

GeoKras, SEO is search engine optimization. It refers to strategies for getting one's website near the top of the list on Google and other search engines. There are honest ways to do this, and legitimate businesses use them. There are ways that are not so honest, such as sneaking a link to one's site onto an unrelated message board.

Thank you, OhLook.