AJAX is changing the content of file_get_contents - php

Question

I am using AJAX to load content into a placeholder, the PHP code uses file_get_contents to get the page I want, then gives it back to the AJAX response which puts it into my placeholder. The problem I am having is that the content that is being grabbed is actually being altered, like html tags are being put where they didn't exist.. Here is the code:
function getPreview() {
var indexe = ajax.length;
ajax[indexe] = new sack();
var form = document.getElementById('form');
ajax[indexe].setVar("prevsub", form.ebay_preview_submit.value);
ajax[indexe].method = 'POST';
ajax[indexe].requestFile = "../admin/model/catalog/getEbay.php";
ajax[indexe].onCompletion = function(){ createPreview(indexe) };
ajax[indexe].runAJAX();
}
function createPreview(indexe) {
var obj = document.getElementById('preview_ph');
obj.innerHTML = ajax[indexe].response;
}
so everything gets put inside of this placeholder:
<div id="preview_ph" ></div>
Here is the PHP that does the grabbing:
if(isset($_POST['prevsub'])){
$template_viewer = http://localhost:8888/admin/view/template/ebay/template_viewer.php';
$file_got = file_get_contents($template_viewer);
echo $file_got;
}
And here is a snippet of what It is supposed to be vs what it is adding in there...
Supposed to be:
Sign up for Newsletter</a> </div></td>
But instead it is altered:
Sign up for Newsletter</a></td></tr>
Another, supposed to be:
bidding! </span>
</div>
</td></tr>
But gets altered to:
bidding! </span>
</div>
</td></tbody>
It alters the content 7 total times from the page its grabbing... Any explanation for this?
The page, opens up in a browser perfectly, it is seriously getting altered by AJAX or file_get_contents in some way, and I am completely baffled...
Thanks for your help!

Answer 1

To me, this looks like the browser is sanitizing the HTML at the time of the .innerHTML operation. That is an act of self-defense, because the HTML you output is clearly not valid, is it?
The end result would look like
<div id="preview_ph" >
Sign up for Newsletter
</a> <--- broken
</div> <--- broken
</td> <--- broken
</div>
that code would break the DOM, so the browser has to try and fix it as best as it can.
Why are you outputting those closing tags through AJAX?