diff --git a/bubble-server/src/main/java/bubble/ApiConstants.java b/bubble-server/src/main/java/bubble/ApiConstants.java
index 70b56700..379f2d14 100644
--- a/bubble-server/src/main/java/bubble/ApiConstants.java
+++ b/bubble-server/src/main/java/bubble/ApiConstants.java
@@ -253,6 +253,7 @@ public class ApiConstants {
     public static final String EP_UPGRADE = "/upgrade";
     public static final String EP_LOGS = "/logs";
     public static final String EP_FOLLOW = "/follow";
+    public static final String EP_FOLLOW_AND_APPLY_REGEX = "/followAndApplyRegex";
 
     public static final String DETECT_ENDPOINT = "/detect";
     public static final String EP_LOCALE = "/locale";
diff --git a/bubble-server/src/main/java/bubble/resources/stream/FilterHttpResource.java b/bubble-server/src/main/java/bubble/resources/stream/FilterHttpResource.java
index 3525f5ea..d68c43a0 100644
--- a/bubble-server/src/main/java/bubble/resources/stream/FilterHttpResource.java
+++ b/bubble-server/src/main/java/bubble/resources/stream/FilterHttpResource.java
@@ -34,13 +34,12 @@ import bubble.service.stream.StandardRuleEngineService;
 import com.fasterxml.jackson.databind.JsonNode;
 import lombok.Getter;
 import lombok.extern.slf4j.Slf4j;
+import org.apache.commons.lang3.ArrayUtils;
 import org.cobbzilla.util.collection.ExpirationEvictionPolicy;
 import org.cobbzilla.util.collection.ExpirationMap;
 import org.cobbzilla.util.collection.NameAndValue;
 import org.cobbzilla.util.http.HttpContentEncodingType;
-import org.cobbzilla.util.http.HttpUtil;
 import org.cobbzilla.util.network.NetworkUtil;
-import org.cobbzilla.util.string.StringUtil;
 import org.cobbzilla.wizard.cache.redis.RedisService;
 import org.glassfish.grizzly.http.server.Request;
 import org.glassfish.jersey.server.ContainerRequest;
@@ -64,15 +63,16 @@ import static bubble.service.stream.StandardRuleEngineService.MATCHERS_CACHE_TIM
 import static com.google.common.net.HttpHeaders.CONTENT_SECURITY_POLICY;
 import static java.util.Collections.emptyMap;
 import static java.util.concurrent.TimeUnit.*;
-import static javax.ws.rs.core.HttpHeaders.CONTENT_LENGTH;
+import static org.apache.http.HttpHeaders.*;
 import static org.cobbzilla.util.collection.ArrayUtil.arrayToString;
 import static org.cobbzilla.util.daemon.ZillaRuntime.*;
 import static org.cobbzilla.util.http.HttpContentTypes.APPLICATION_JSON;
 import static org.cobbzilla.util.http.HttpContentTypes.TEXT_PLAIN;
 import static org.cobbzilla.util.http.HttpUtil.applyRegexToUrl;
-import static org.cobbzilla.util.json.JsonUtil.COMPACT_MAPPER;
-import static org.cobbzilla.util.json.JsonUtil.json;
+import static org.cobbzilla.util.http.HttpUtil.chaseRedirects;
+import static org.cobbzilla.util.json.JsonUtil.*;
 import static org.cobbzilla.util.network.NetworkUtil.isLocalIpv4;
+import static org.cobbzilla.util.security.ShaUtil.sha256_hex;
 import static org.cobbzilla.util.string.StringUtil.trimQuotes;
 import static org.cobbzilla.wizard.cache.redis.RedisService.EX;
 import static org.cobbzilla.wizard.model.NamedEntity.names;
@@ -446,8 +446,17 @@ public class FilterHttpResource {
     public Response flushCaches(@Context ContainerRequest request) {
         final Account caller = userPrincipal(request);
         if (!caller.admin()) return forbidden();
+
+        final int connCheckMatcherCacheSize = connCheckMatcherCache.size();
         connCheckMatcherCache.clear();
-        return ok(ruleEngine.flushCaches());
+
+        // disable redirect flushing for now -- it works well and it's a lot of work
+        // final Long redirectCacheSize = getRedirectCache().del_matching("*");
+
+        final Map<Object, Object> flushes = ruleEngine.flushCaches();
+        flushes.put("connCheckMatchersCache", connCheckMatcherCacheSize);
+        // flushes.put("redirectCache", redirectCacheSize == null ? 0 : redirectCacheSize);
+        return ok(flushes);
     }
 
     @DELETE @Path(EP_MATCHERS)
@@ -690,40 +699,68 @@ public class FilterHttpResource {
         return ok_empty();
     }
 
-    private final Map<String, String> redirectCache
-            = new ExpirationMap<>(1000, DAYS.toMillis(3), ExpirationEvictionPolicy.atime);
+    public static final String REDIS_PREFIX_REDIRECT_CACHE = "followLink_";
+    @Getter(lazy=true) private final RedisService redirectCache = redis.prefixNamespace(REDIS_PREFIX_REDIRECT_CACHE);
 
     @POST @Path(EP_FOLLOW+"/{requestId}")
+    @Consumes(APPLICATION_JSON)
     @Produces(TEXT_PLAIN)
     public Response followLink(@Context Request req,
                                @Context ContainerRequest ctx,
                                @PathParam("requestId") String requestId,
-                               JsonNode followSpec) {
+                               JsonNode urlNode) {
         final FilterSubContext filterCtx = new FilterSubContext(req, requestId);
+        final RedisService cache = getRedirectCache();
+        final String url = urlNode.textValue();
+        final String cacheKey = sha256_hex(url);
+        final String cachedValue = cache.get(cacheKey);
+        if (cachedValue != null) return ok(cachedValue);
+
+        final String result = chaseRedirects(url);
+        cache.set(cacheKey, result, EX, DAYS.toMillis(365));
+        return ok(result);
+    }
 
-        // is this a request to parse regexes from a URL?
-        if (followSpec.has("regex")) {
-            return ok(redirectCache.computeIfAbsent(json(followSpec), k -> {
-                final String url = followSpec.get("url").textValue();
-                final String regex = followSpec.get("regex").textValue();
-                final Integer group = followSpec.has("group") ? followSpec.get("group").asInt() : null;
-                final List<NameAndValue> headers = new ArrayList<>();
-                for (String name : req.getHeaderNames()) {
-                    final String value = req.getHeader(name);
-                    headers.add(new NameAndValue(name, value));
-                }
-                final List<String> matches = applyRegexToUrl(url, headers, regex, group);
-                return matches == null ? null : StringUtil.toString(matches, "\n");
-            }));
+    public static final String CLIENT_HEADER_PREFIX = "X-Bubble-Client-Header-";
 
-        } else if (followSpec.isTextual()) {
-            // just a regular follow -- chase redirects
-            return ok(redirectCache.computeIfAbsent(followSpec.textValue(), HttpUtil::chaseRedirects));
-        } else {
-            final String json = json(followSpec);
-            log.error("followLink: invalid json (expected String or {regex, url}): "+json);
-            return notFound(json);
+    public static final String[] EXCLUDED_CLIENT_HEADERS = {
+            ACCEPT.toLowerCase(),
+            CONTENT_TYPE.toLowerCase(), CONTENT_LENGTH.toLowerCase(),
+            CONTENT_ENCODING.toLowerCase(), TRANSFER_ENCODING.toLowerCase()
+    };
+
+    @POST @Path(EP_FOLLOW_AND_APPLY_REGEX+"/{requestId}")
+    @Consumes(APPLICATION_JSON)
+    @Produces(APPLICATION_JSON)
+    public Response followLinkThenApplyRegex(@Context Request req,
+                                             @Context ContainerRequest ctx,
+                                             @PathParam("requestId") String requestId,
+                                             FollowThenApplyRegex follow) {
+        final FilterSubContext filterCtx = new FilterSubContext(req, requestId);
+        final RedisService cache = getRedirectCache();
+        final String followJson = json(follow);
+        final String cacheKey = sha256_hex(followJson);
+        final String cachedValue = cache.get(cacheKey);
+        if (cachedValue != null) return ok(cachedValue);
+
+        // collect client headers
+        final List<NameAndValue> headers = new ArrayList<>();
+        for (String name : req.getHeaderNames()) {
+            if (name.toLowerCase().startsWith(CLIENT_HEADER_PREFIX.toLowerCase())) {
+                final String value = req.getHeader(name);
+                final String realName = name.substring(CLIENT_HEADER_PREFIX.length());
+                if (ArrayUtils.indexOf(EXCLUDED_CLIENT_HEADERS, realName.toLowerCase()) == -1) {
+                    headers.add(new NameAndValue(realName, value));
+                }
+            }
         }
+        headers.add(new NameAndValue(ACCEPT, "*/*"));
+        final List<Map<Integer, String>> matches
+                = applyRegexToUrl(follow.getUrl(), headers, follow.getRegex(), Arrays.asList(follow.getGroups()));
+        if (log.isWarnEnabled()) log.warn("followLink(" + follow.getUrl() + ") returning: " + json(matches));
+        final String result = matches == null ? EMPTY_JSON_ARRAY : json(matches);
+        cache.set(cacheKey, result, EX, DAYS.toMillis(365));
+        return ok(result);
     }
 
     @Path(EP_ASSETS+"/{requestId}/{appId}")
diff --git a/bubble-server/src/main/java/bubble/resources/stream/FollowThenApplyRegex.java b/bubble-server/src/main/java/bubble/resources/stream/FollowThenApplyRegex.java
new file mode 100644
index 00000000..3fed138b
--- /dev/null
+++ b/bubble-server/src/main/java/bubble/resources/stream/FollowThenApplyRegex.java
@@ -0,0 +1,16 @@
+/**
+ * Copyright (c) 2020 Bubble, Inc.  All rights reserved.
+ * For personal (non-commercial) use, see license: https://getbubblenow.com/bubble-license/
+ */
+package bubble.resources.stream;
+
+import lombok.Getter;
+import lombok.Setter;
+
+public class FollowThenApplyRegex {
+
+    @Getter @Setter private String url;
+    @Getter @Setter private String regex;
+    @Getter @Setter private Integer[] groups;
+
+}
diff --git a/bubble-server/src/main/resources/bubble/rule/RequestModifierRule_icon.js.hbs b/bubble-server/src/main/resources/bubble/rule/RequestModifierRule_icon.js.hbs
index 52706e65..7c5c3ed7 100644
--- a/bubble-server/src/main/resources/bubble/rule/RequestModifierRule_icon.js.hbs
+++ b/bubble-server/src/main/resources/bubble/rule/RequestModifierRule_icon.js.hbs
@@ -87,9 +87,12 @@ function {{JS_PREFIX}}_create_button(labelKey, labelDefault, onclick, labelForma
     return btn;
 }
 
-if (typeof {{PAGE_PREFIX}}_icon_status === 'undefined') {
+{{JS_PREFIX}}_follow_url = '/__bubble/api/filter/follow/{{BUBBLE_REQUEST_ID}}';
+{{JS_PREFIX}}_follow_and_apply_regex_url = '/__bubble/api/filter/followAndApplyRegex/{{BUBBLE_REQUEST_ID}}';
+
+{{JS_PREFIX}}_url_chasers = {};
 
-    let {{PAGE_PREFIX}}_url_chasers = {};
+if (typeof {{PAGE_PREFIX}}_icon_status === 'undefined') {
 
     {{PAGE_PREFIX}}_screenWidth = function () { return window.innerWidth || document.documentElement.clientWidth || document.body.clientWidth };
 
@@ -232,10 +235,10 @@ if (typeof {{PAGE_PREFIX}}_icon_status === 'undefined') {
     });
 }
 
-function {{JS_PREFIX}}_chase_redirects (a, removeParams) {
+function {{JS_PREFIX}}_chase_redirects (a, removeParams, regex, groups, callback) {
     const initial_href = a.href;
-    if (initial_href in {{PAGE_PREFIX}}_url_chasers) {
-        a.href = {{PAGE_PREFIX}}_url_chasers[initial_href];
+    if (initial_href in {{JS_PREFIX}}_url_chasers) {
+        a.href = {{JS_PREFIX}}_url_chasers[initial_href];
         return;
     }
     if (a.className && a.className.indexOf('{{JS_PREFIX}}_followed') !== -1) return;
@@ -247,20 +250,38 @@ function {{JS_PREFIX}}_chase_redirects (a, removeParams) {
 
     a.rel = 'noopener noreferrer nofollow';
 
-    fetch('/__bubble/api/filter/follow/{{BUBBLE_REQUEST_ID}}', {method: 'POST', body: JSON.stringify(initial_href)})
-        .then(response => response.text())
+    let is_regex = (typeof regex !== 'undefined');
+    const follow_body = !is_regex ? initial_href :
+        {
+            'url': initial_href,
+            'regex': regex,
+            'groups': (typeof groups === 'undefined' || groups === null ? null : groups)
+        };
+    const request_opts = {
+        method: 'POST',
+        headers: {'Content-Type': 'application/json'},
+        body: JSON.stringify(follow_body)
+    }
+    const follow_url = is_regex ? {{JS_PREFIX}}_follow_and_apply_regex_url : {{JS_PREFIX}}_follow_url;
+    console.log('>>>>>>>>>>>> requesting follow_url ('+follow_url+') with request_opts: '+JSON.stringify(request_opts));
+    fetch(follow_url, request_opts)
+        .then(response => is_regex ? response.json() : response.text())
         .then(data => {
-            if (data && (data.startsWith('http://') || data.startsWith('https://'))) {
-                if (typeof removeParams === 'undefined' || removeParams === null || removeParams) {
-                    const qPos = data.indexOf('?');
-                    a.href = qPos === -1 ? data : data.substring(0, qPos);
+            if (is_regex) {
+                callback(data);
+            } else {
+                if (data && (data.startsWith('http://') || data.startsWith('https://'))) {
+                    if (typeof removeParams === 'undefined' || removeParams === null || removeParams) {
+                        const qPos = data.indexOf('?');
+                        a.href = qPos === -1 ? data : data.substring(0, qPos);
+                    } else {
+                        a.href = data;
+                    }
+                    {{JS_PREFIX}}_url_chasers[initial_href] = a.href;
+                    // console.log('chase_redirect: rewrote '+initial_href+' -> '+a.href);
                 } else {
-                    a.href = data;
+                    console.warn('chase_redirects: ' + a.href + ' returned non-URL response: ' + data);
                 }
-                {{PAGE_PREFIX}}_url_chasers[initial_href] = a.href;
-                // console.log('chase_redirect: rewrote '+initial_href+' -> '+a.href);
-            } else {
-                console.warn('chase_redirects: '+a.href+' returned non-URL response: '+data);
             }
         })
         .catch((error) => {
diff --git a/bubble-server/src/main/resources/bubble/rule/social/block/site/FB.js.hbs b/bubble-server/src/main/resources/bubble/rule/social/block/site/FB.js.hbs
index cd2938b7..058c6513 100644
--- a/bubble-server/src/main/resources/bubble/rule/social/block/site/FB.js.hbs
+++ b/bubble-server/src/main/resources/bubble/rule/social/block/site/FB.js.hbs
@@ -32,7 +32,7 @@ Element.prototype.appendChild = function() {
                 const block = {{JS_PREFIX}}_should_block({{JS_PREFIX}}_blocked_users, node)
                 if (block) {
                     // log('>>> BLOCKING via appendChild: '+block);
-                    {{JS_PREFIX}}_appendChild.apply({{JS_PREFIX}}_jail, arguments);
+                    return {{JS_PREFIX}}_appendChild.apply({{JS_PREFIX}}_jail, arguments);
                 }
             }
         }
@@ -40,7 +40,7 @@ Element.prototype.appendChild = function() {
         console.log('>>> error inspecting: e='+e);
     }
     try {
-        {{JS_PREFIX}}_appendChild.apply(this, arguments);
+        return {{JS_PREFIX}}_appendChild.apply(this, arguments);
     } catch (e) {
         console.log('>>> error calling document.appendChild: arg[0].tagName = '+node.tagName+' e='+e);
     }
diff --git a/bubble-server/src/main/resources/bubble/rule/social/block/site/LI.js.hbs b/bubble-server/src/main/resources/bubble/rule/social/block/site/LI.js.hbs
index d38f958a..c4922e96 100644
--- a/bubble-server/src/main/resources/bubble/rule/social/block/site/LI.js.hbs
+++ b/bubble-server/src/main/resources/bubble/rule/social/block/site/LI.js.hbs
@@ -1,8 +1,21 @@
 {{JS_PREFIX}}_supports_keywords = true;
+{{JS_PREFIX}}_idle_interval = 5000;
 
 const {{JS_PREFIX}}_site_host = location.protocol + '//' + window.location.hostname + '/';
 
+const {{JS_PREFIX}}_jail = document.createElement('div');
+{{JS_PREFIX}}_jail.style.display = 'none';
+
 function {{JS_PREFIX}}_apply_blocks(blocked_users) {
+    const adBanner = Array.from(document.getElementsByTagName('iframe')).find(i => i.className && i.className === 'ad-banner');
+    if (typeof adBanner !== 'undefined') {
+        let adParent = adBanner.parentNode;
+        if (adParent != null) {
+            adParent.innerHTML = '';
+            adParent.style.display = 'none';
+        } else {
+        }
+    }
     const articles = Array.from(document.getElementsByClassName('feed-shared-update-v2'));
     if (articles === null || articles.length === 0) {
         console.warn('No articles found, not filtering');
@@ -11,7 +24,21 @@ function {{JS_PREFIX}}_apply_blocks(blocked_users) {
     {{JS_PREFIX}}_consider_block(articles, blocked_users);
 }
 
-function {{JS_PREFIX}}_author_from_href(href) {
+function {{JS_PREFIX}}_is_valid_author_name(name) {
+    return !(name.startsWith('ACoAA') || name.length >= 38);
+}
+
+function {{JS_PREFIX}}_author_from_href(linkId, callback) {
+    if (typeof linkId === 'undefined' || linkId === null || linkId.length === 0) {
+        console.log('author_from_href: invalid link ID: '+linkId);
+        return;
+    }
+    const link = document.getElementById(linkId);
+    if (link === null) {
+        // console.log('author_from_href: link with ID '+linkId+' not found');
+        return;
+    }
+    const href = link.href;
     if (typeof href === 'undefined' || href === null) return null;
     let h = href.startsWith({{JS_PREFIX}}_site_host) ? href.substring({{JS_PREFIX}}_site_host.length) : href;
     const qPos = h.indexOf('?');
@@ -19,14 +46,51 @@ function {{JS_PREFIX}}_author_from_href(href) {
         h = h.substring(0, qPos);
     }
     if (h.endsWith('/')) h = h.substring(0, h.length - 1);
-    if (!h.startsWith('in/') && !h.startsWith('company/')) {
-        return null;
+    let profile_type = null;
+    if (h.startsWith('in/')) {
+        profile_type = 'in/';
+    } else if (h.startsWith('company/')) {
+        profile_type = 'company/';
+    } else {
+        // console.log("author_from_href: skipping (not in/ or company/) href: "+href);
+        return;
     }
     const slashPos = h.indexOf('/');
-    const name = h.substring(slashPos);
-    if (name.length > 35 && name.indexOf('-') === -1 && name.indexOf('_') === -1) return null;
-    console.log("author_from_href: found "+name+' from '+href);
-    return name;
+    const name = h.substring(slashPos+1);
+    if ({{JS_PREFIX}}_is_valid_author_name(name)) {
+        // console.log("author_from_href: found " + name + ' from ' + href);
+        callback(linkId, name);
+    } else {
+        // only chase a link once
+        let linkClass = link.className;
+        const chaseClass = '{{JS_PREFIX}}_link_chased';
+        if (linkClass && linkClass.indexOf(chaseClass) !== -1) {
+            return;
+        } else {
+            link.className = link.className ? link.className + ' '+chaseClass : chaseClass;
+        }
+
+        {{JS_PREFIX}}_chase_redirects(link, true, '/voyager/api/identity/profiles/([^/]+)/privacySettings', [1], function (matches) {
+            if (typeof matches.length !== 'undefined') {
+                for (let i=0; i<matches.length; i++) {
+                    const match = matches[i];
+                    if (!('1' in match)) continue;
+                    const updated_name = matches[i]['1'];
+                    if ({{JS_PREFIX}}_is_valid_author_name(updated_name)) {
+                        const realLink = document.getElementById(linkId);
+                        if (realLink === null) {
+                            console.log('author_from_href: link with id '+linkId+' seems to have disappeared from the document');
+                            return;
+                        }
+                        link.href = {{JS_PREFIX}}_site_host + profile_type + updated_name;
+                        console.log('author_from_href: updated link.href from '+href+' to: '+link.href);
+                        callback(linkId, updated_name);
+                        return;
+                    }
+                }
+            }
+        });
+    }
 }
 
 function {{JS_PREFIX}}_remove_article_from_dom(article) {
@@ -61,6 +125,8 @@ function {{JS_PREFIX}}_create_block_control(article, authorName, articleLink) {
     return blockSpan;
 }
 
+function {{JS_PREFIX}}_hash_url(url) { return btoa(url).replaceAll('=', ''); }
+
 function {{JS_PREFIX}}_consider_block(articles, blocked_users) {
     if (articles && articles.length && articles.length > 0) {
         for (let i=0; i<articles.length; i++) {
@@ -72,30 +138,65 @@ function {{JS_PREFIX}}_consider_block(articles, blocked_users) {
             }
             const articleLinks = Array.from(article.getElementsByTagName('a'));
             for (let j=0; j<articleLinks.length; j++) {
-                const articleLink = articleLinks[i];
-                console.log('consider_block: examining articleLink with href='+articleLink.href);
-                const author = {{JS_PREFIX}}_author_from_href(articleLink.href);
-                if (author === null) continue;
-                if (author in blocked_users) {
-                    {{JS_PREFIX}}_tally_author_block(author);
-                    if (!firstEval) {{JS_PREFIX}}_untally_allow();
-                    {{JS_PREFIX}}_remove_article_from_dom(article);
-
-                } else if (firstEval) {
-                    const authorSpans = Array.from(articleLink.getElementsByClassName('feed-shared-actor__name'));
-                    if (authorSpans.length === 0) {
-                        continue;
+                const articleLink = articleLinks[j];
+                if (typeof articleLink === 'undefined' || articleLink === null || typeof articleLink.href === 'undefined') {
+                    console.log('consider_block: skipping invalid articleLink: '+JSON.stringify(articleLink));
+                    continue;
+                }
+                if (typeof articleLink.id === 'undefined' || articleLink.id === null || articleLink.id.length === 0) {
+                    articleLink.id = {{JS_PREFIX}}_uuidv4();
+                }
+                const href = articleLink.href;
+                if (href === null || href.trim().length === 0) continue;
+
+                let examinedClass = articleLink.className;
+                const seenClass = '{{JS_PREFIX}}_link_examined_'+{{JS_PREFIX}}_hash_url(href)+'_'+articleLink.id;
+                let seenBefore = false;
+                if (examinedClass && examinedClass.indexOf(seenClass) !== -1) {
+                    seenBefore = true;
+                } else {
+                    articleLink.className = articleLink.className ? articleLink.className + ' '+seenClass : seenClass;
+                }
+
+                {{JS_PREFIX}}_author_from_href(articleLink.id, function (linkId, author) {
+                    if (author === null) return;
+
+                    const realLink = document.getElementById(linkId);
+                    if (realLink === null) {
+                        console.log('consider_block: link with id '+linkId+' seems to have disappeared from the document');
+                        return;
                     }
 
-                    let b = {{JS_PREFIX}}_create_block_control(article, author, articleLink);
-                    if (b !== null) {
-                        console.log('consider_block: inserting span='+b.id+' for article by '+author);
-                        authorSpans[0].parentNode.appendChild(b);
-                        {{JS_PREFIX}}_tally_allow();
-                    } else {
-                        console.log('consider_block: create_block_control returned null for author '+author)
+                    // console.log('consider_block: examining linkId with author='+author);
+                    if (author in blocked_users) {
+                        {{JS_PREFIX}}_tally_author_block(author);
+                        if (!firstEval) {{JS_PREFIX}}_untally_allow();
+                        {{JS_PREFIX}}_remove_article_from_dom(article);
+
+                    } else if (!seenBefore) {
+                        let appendToSpan = null;
+                        let authorSpans = Array.from(realLink.getElementsByClassName('feed-shared-actor__name'));
+                        if (authorSpans.length > 0) {
+                            appendToSpan = authorSpans[0];
+                        } else {
+                            appendToSpan = Array.from(realLink.getElementsByTagName('span'))
+                                .find(s => s.getAttribute('dir') === 'ltr' || s.getAttribute('data-entity-type'));
+                            if (typeof appendToSpan === 'undefined') {
+                                console.log('consider_block: found no span to attach block control for author: '+author);
+                                return;
+                            }
+                        }
+
+                        let b = {{JS_PREFIX}}_create_block_control(article, author, realLink);
+                        if (b !== null) {
+                            console.log('consider_block: inserting span='+b.id+' for article by '+author);
+                            appendToSpan.parentNode.appendChild(b);
+                            {{JS_PREFIX}}_tally_allow();
+                        } else {
+                            console.log('consider_block: create_block_control returned null for author '+author)
+                        }
                     }
-                }
+                });
             }
         }
     }
diff --git a/bubble-server/src/main/resources/packer/roles/mitmproxy/files/bubble_api.py b/bubble-server/src/main/resources/packer/roles/mitmproxy/files/bubble_api.py
index e16d3ac1..7ffaea77 100644
--- a/bubble-server/src/main/resources/packer/roles/mitmproxy/files/bubble_api.py
+++ b/bubble-server/src/main/resources/packer/roles/mitmproxy/files/bubble_api.py
@@ -469,6 +469,10 @@ def health_check_response(flow):
         flow.response.stream = lambda chunks: [b'OK\n']
 
 
+def include_request_headers(path):
+    return '/followAndApplyRegex' in path
+
+
 def special_bubble_response(flow):
     name = 'special_bubble_response'
     path = flow.request.path
@@ -478,7 +482,7 @@ def special_bubble_response(flow):
 
     uri = make_bubble_special_path(path)
     if bubble_log.isEnabledFor(DEBUG):
-        bubble_log.debug('special_bubble_response: sending special bubble request to '+uri)
+        bubble_log.debug('special_bubble_response: sending special bubble '+flow.request.method+' to '+uri)
     headers = {
         'Accept': 'application/json',
         'Content-Type': 'application/json'
@@ -489,12 +493,22 @@ def special_bubble_response(flow):
         response = async_stream(client, name, uri, headers=headers, loop=loop)
 
     elif flow.request.method == 'POST':
-        loop = asyncio.new_event_loop()
-        client = async_client(timeout=30)
+        if include_request_headers(flow.request.path):
+            if bubble_log.isEnabledFor(DEBUG):
+                bubble_log.debug('special_bubble_request: including client headers: '+repr(flow.request.headers))
+            # add client request headers
+            for name, value in flow.request.headers.items():
+                headers['X-Bubble-Client-Header-'+name] = value
+            if bubble_log.isEnabledFor(DEBUG):
+                bubble_log.debug('special_bubble_request: NOW headers='+repr(headers))
+
         data = None
         if flow.request.content and flow.request.content:
             headers[HEADER_CONTENT_LENGTH] = str(len(flow.request.content))
             data = flow.request.content
+
+        loop = asyncio.new_event_loop()
+        client = async_client(timeout=30)
         response = async_stream(client, name, uri, headers=headers, method='POST', data=data, loop=loop)
 
     else:
diff --git a/utils/cobbzilla-utils b/utils/cobbzilla-utils
index ea72ac4a..dfafe62c 160000
--- a/utils/cobbzilla-utils
+++ b/utils/cobbzilla-utils
@@ -1 +1 @@
-Subproject commit ea72ac4a1619c4f5915047650cdd18b8a6202681
+Subproject commit dfafe62c7eb3413cf1210e40e551094458f4d9d0