Why are many redirected from www.landoverbaptist.org to www.paysforsurveys.com?

[Revtim]

Lately, when I try to go to amusing Christian spoof site www.landoverbaptist.org, I get redirected to www.paysforsurveys.com.

With Google, I see that others also have this problem.

This happens to me both under Windows (after AdAware and SpyBot cleaning), and also when I boot Mandrake Linux, so I can safely assume it’s not some malware on my machine.

GaWd kindly found this text for me from the landover site:

(October 26, 2003) We are hearing reports that foreign visitors to our site are being redirected to electronic bookstores and people offering to pay to take surveys. We are not affiliated with these sites and advise you not to deal with them; they may be front organizations for cults. Although our technical staff is still looking into this issue, we strongly suspect that anti-Christian and anti-American governmental agents outside the U.S. are trying to keep our message from being heard in their lands. If you have suggested our site to a foreigner and he says he can’t get through to it, warn him that he and his family are living under the scrutiny of an authoritarian regime and are in immediate spiritual – and possibly physical – danger!

Clearly satire, but also clearly they know this is happening, since they mention “people offering to pay to take surveys”. And FWIW, I’m not a foreign visitor, I’m in Florida. (make your own Florida joke here)

What is actually happening here? None of my Google findings explained it.

[Smeghead]

Did this just start happening today? Could be a (somewhat odd) April Fool’s Day joke.

[Tapioca_Dextrin]

This has been going on for a while (at least a couple of weeks). I thought it was only non-US people had problems.

You should see their sight today, bearing in mind that tomorrow is April 2nd

[Revtim]

@Smeghead

Did this just start happening today? Could be a (somewhat odd) April Fool’s Day joke.

It’s been weeks, probably months.

@Tapioca Dextrin

You should see their sight today, bearing in mind that tomorrow is April 2nd

I’d friggin’ love to, but…

[Revtim]

OK, bizarrely, it’s not redirecting anymore, on either Windows or Mandrake Linux.