Skip Surveys
Are you trying to reach a file or website, but a survey keeps blocking your progress/path to success? Surveys are a way for marketers to gather information, and many websites use them to make money. If you don't want to enter your information, you'll need to bypass the survey somehow. While bypassing surveys doesn’t always guarantee that you'll reach the content you'll want, it’s better than entering your personal information on a strange website.
Contents
Steps
Using NoScript
- Install the NoScript addon. This browser add-on blocks scripts from running on websites. It won't work on all surveys, but it may work on some of them. The add-on is available for free for Firefox, but is not available for Chrome.
- Click the Firefox button and then click Add-ons. Search for “NoScript” in the search box, and then add NoScript Security Suite to Firefox.
- Block scripts to try to disable surveys. Depending on the way the survey was programmed, you may be able to use NoScript to bypass it. When you load the page, you will see a bar appear on the bottom of the page. Click the Options button to tweak what is being blocked and bypassed.
- There is no guarantee that you will be able to bypass a survey with this method. If the file you are trying to access requires completing the survey, then you won’t be able to get the file.
- There are script blockers available for Chrome, but they aren’t as powerful as the NoScript tool for Firefox.
Extracting Links From the Site
- Visit the site with the survey with Google Chrome. You will need Chrome for the developer tools included in the program. This will allow you to scan the website for all the links it contains, potentially allowing you to find the download link you need without completing the survey.
- Extracting links only works if the link to the download or site you need is on the same page as the survey.
- Right-click on the website. Select Inspect element. This will open the developer tools.
- Click the "Console" tab. This is located on the far end of the tabs at the top of the developer frame.
- Paste the URL retrieval code into the console. Copy and paste the following code into the console and then press Enter:
urls = $$('a'); for (url in urls) console.log ( urls[url].href );
- Look for the link you want. After running the command, you will be presented with a list of all of the links on that website. If the download or page you need is on the site, you will be able to access it by clicking the correct link.
- Links ending in .css or .js are not download links, but links to other elements for the website. These can be ignored.
Using Inspect Element
- Visit a website with a survey. You can use any of the major web browsers to access the Inspect Element function. This will allow you to disable certain elements of a website, potentially including the survey.
- Right-click on the survey. Choose "Inspect Element" from the drop down menu. This will open a developer window at the bottom of the browser. As you move the mouse over different parts of the website, you will see different objects highlighted on the screen.
- Look for “survey” and “overlay” entries. As you highlight different parts, look for the words “survey” and “overlay” in code. These are the elements that are blocking you from the content on the page.
- Right-click on the entries you want to disable. You will need to right-click the entries in the code, as opposed to right-clicking on the objects in the website. Select “Disable element” or “Delete node” to remove that object from the website.
- Repeat this for all survey elements. Besides removing the survey itself, you’ll have to remove the overlay which prevents you from interacting with the content underneath. Removing the overlay will “lighten” the page, allowing you to click objects underneath the overlay.
- Deleting the overlay can cause your scroll bars to be removed. You can work around this by using a mouse with a scrolling function.
Using Fake Information
- Find a fake information generator. If you can't figure out any way to bypass the link, or the site is programmed so that the survey must be marked as completed, you can use fake information to fill the survey out.
- One of the most popular sites is FakeNameGenerator.com, which will allow you to generate a complete fake identity, including name, phone number, address, occupation, and much more.
- Generate an identity. Gather all of the information you will need to fill out the survey.
- Fill out the survey using your fake information. If you need to use a valid email address, Make-an-Email-Address-for-Free with the service of your choice so that you can access your emails and click any links that you may be sent.
- It is the easiest to input random answers.
Tips
- You can try to search Google Chrome, Firefox or Internet Explorer add-ons or extensions to see what other options are available for skipping surveys. Most products are only occasionally helpful, since websites with surveys usually have exceptional programming to get around survey skipping.
Warnings
- In some websites when you try to delete a certain survey, another pop-up bar will appear and show "Survey Bypass Detected".
- If a survey is required to load the content, as opposed to simply covering the content, then bypassing the survey will not work.
- Beware when downloading browser extensions or add-ons that you can download programs that are harmful to your computer.
