GoDaddy Hosting Is Injecting Javascript Into Your Website

GoDaddy is the world’s largest hosting provider; therefore, they wield a significant amount of power over the internet. Many people—including those who own business websites—won’t be happy to learn that GoDaddy is injecting Javascript into websites. Igor Kromin talks about what the Javascript is meant for and why it’s a bad idea.

Troubleshooting Website Issues

Websites sometimes act up. Updates to plugins, encryption certificates, or other software can throw things off. Igor noticed some issues with the admin area of his website. He started troubleshooting by looking at the browser console. Where there any errors listed? The answer is yes. Let’s see what Igor has to say about it.

Igor writes, “There were and among them was an error stating that a JavaScript map file being loaded (and failing) that I did not recognize. This meant that the actual JavaScript file itself was already loaded via my website.”

Igor went on to check some other things: file system, source code, and templates. He didn’t find anything else suspicious; however, he noticed that each page on his website had a script that was being loaded. Igor connected the dots and came to the conclusion that it was GoDaddy that was injecting the Javascript. He learned that script—called Real User Metrics—was being used to collect data with the goal of improving website performance.

Opting out of Real User Metrics

The problem with these javascript injections is that it slows down websites and causes problems. Igor learned this firsthand when he noticed issues in the admin area of his website. Do you have these same issues if GoDaddy is your hosting provider? If so, or even if you’re interested, you’re able to opt out of Real User Metrics.

To do this, you’ll need to log into your hosting account on GoDaddy. Find the ellipsis in the upper right corner and click it. Then, you’ll click ‘Help Us’. See the screenshot below to see what it looks like.

Once you click on ‘Help Us’, a dialogue box will appear. Clicking ‘Opt Out’ will remove Javascript from your website. See the screenshot below.

Featured photo by Pixabay on Pexels

Godaddy Javascript opt out photos are screenshots by Gain Local