We occasionally get reports of ads that trigger antivirus warnings or infect computers that are browsing the wiki. This FAQ is an attempt to consolidate all the information about such things into one thread. Please read the below before reporting any incidents.
This thread may also be used to report ads that violate our policies in other ways, such as being too "adult" or NSFW, automatically playing audio/video, etc.
REPORTING: try to get a screenshot of the console as well as this will help identify where it's coming from.
REDIRECTS: Its very tricky to get the first URL of a redirect trigger because they are designed to hide where it came from. So you need a redirect plug-in
active while the redirect happens so you can find the first URL, not the last. Where you were directed to doesn't help track down the source.
- TV Tropes, as a site, does not contain malware. We are a text-and-image wiki; viruses and malware cannot be uploaded to or embedded in the articles. As always, however, beware of any external link that you don't recognize, since we cannot automatically screen edits or posts for malicious links.
- 99.99% of the time, any suspected malware will be related to the wiki advertising.
- TV Tropes does not directly control the ads that are displayed. We use third-party ad providers and we determine things like the size and placement.
- We instruct our providers not to serve ads that redirect your browser, take control of the screen from you, forcibly scroll your screen, play audio without being clicked on, install malware, "pop up" or "pop over" your screen, or in any other way interfere with your browsing experience.
- We have custom software designed to detect ads that do these things and automatically block them.
- Malicious entities are constantly trying to sneak ads through the providers' networks in violation of these instructions. As providers have little incentive to proactively detect and block them, it's up to websites to report these sorts of problems.
- We rely on our users to report ads that get through these measures.
- Just because you see a particular ad doesn't mean everyone else sees it. Ads are customized by the ad providers to your location (by IP address), the content of the page you're viewing, and your browsing profile, which is tracking data accumulated by third parties over the course of all your internet browsing.
- Just because you get a malware warning or infection that seems related to an ad on TV Tropes does not necessarily mean that it is caused by one of our ads. Pre-existing malware on your computer can intercept ads and replace them with malicious ones.
- Ads containing malware, obviously.
- Misbehaving ads, such as ones that load a pop-up or pop-under, redirect your browser to another page, hijack your screen or automatically scroll it.
- "Adult" or NSFW ads. Scantily clad women alone may or may not qualify, depending on context, but we want this site to be work-safe.
- Ads that automatically play audio — that is, the audio starts without you clicking on the ad first. Video ads are acceptable.
- Note: Political content is not grounds for rejecting an ad. However, an ad that contains or implies hate speech, disinformation, or outright falsehoods may be objectionable enough to be blocked.
- First and foremost, maintain current, updated antivirus software, and keep your operating system and browser up to date with all patches offered by the software vendors. This includes Adobe Flash, Java, and other rich media plug-ins. Turn on your software's automatic updates if they are not already on and act immediately when prompted to install them.
- Never click on pop-ups purporting to have detected a virus, offering to "tune up" your PC, or otherwise inducing you to click on a link that you were not expecting. Any genuine message of this nature would come from your antivirus software and not from a web page.
- Be careful clicking on external links. These are identified with a small icon next to them. Example: Google. TV Tropes does not endorse or control the content of external links and you open them at your own risk.
- Never respond to any email or web page that asks for personal or financial information, including passwords, unless you have verified its identity. No reputable company will ever ask you for your password(s), other than to log in.
- You may choose to opt out of having tracking information collected by ad providers. This does not stop malware but helps you maintain your online privacy. See here for additional information.
- TV Tropes requests that you do not use ad blocking software while visiting us, as this site depends on advertising revenue to operate. If you do run an ad blocker, please add tvtropes.org to its exception list, or consider donating to the site to have certain ads removed.
- We (or the ad provider) place a "Report advertisement" link next to most advertising frames. Clicking on this will generate an automatic report and is the best way to do so. If you cannot click on this link or do not see it, continue for more advice.
- Try to identify the source URL of the suspect ad (see below). You can also use the target URL (if you are redirected), but note that this may be intentionally obfuscated by the ad provider to hide the source.
- Identify the ad provider. Some ads have a small area that links to the ad provider's page (like Google or AOL). In other cases, you can tell from the referral URL or you can look it up in a search.
- Go to the ad provider's contact/abuse page and fill out their form. Below are some links to common providers' abuse pages:
- Scan your computer for viruses. If your antivirus software will not operate (many malicious programs attempt to disable your antivirus software), you can download a scanning tool on a known clean system and run it on your infected machine from a read-only CD-R or flash drive.
- If you suspect that you've been tricked into divulging personal information to a phishing attempt or other fraud, change your passwords to affected sites immediately and contact your bank, credit card companies, and the credit bureaus to request a fraud alert.
- Please note that TV Tropes cannot assist you with the specifics of maintaining your computer. That's your responsibility. You may request general help in the appropriate forums, but please don't post new threads in the forums dedicated to wiki operation (Wiki Talk, Frequently Asked Questions, etc.).
- Sometimes, the wiki administration can get better results from the ad providers in dealing with malicious ads. If you can identify a malicious ad by referral URL, you can post the link in this thread, but please omit the "http" component so it doesn't create a hyperlink that someone might click on inadvertently.
- For image ads, right-clicking (or a long tap on mobile devices) should give you the option to view and copy the URL that clicking on it will send you to.
- For Flash, Java, or HTML 5.0 ads, it may be difficult to identify the source or the URL by right-clicking. In these cases, you need to view the page source to identify the ad so we can report it.
- In Internet Explorer, you can right-click in a blank or text area of any web page, and choose View Source from the context menu. Firefox also has this option. In Chrome, you can use the Inspect Element menu option, which interactively highlights the portion of the page whose code you are hovering over. You can use this to identify the ad frame and its source URL.
- For embedded ads, there will be a "frame" element with a "src" parameter. Drill down until you get to the lowest level. All we need to identify the ad is the "src" URL from that frame.
for more information or to discuss the service.
Edited by kory on Nov 15th 2023 at 10:36:27 AM
What sort of bad time?
"For a successful technology, reality must take precedence over public relations, for Nature cannot be fooled." - Richard Feynman
Zzzzzzzzzz
G Mon: Please send me the info if you haven't already sent to another mod. Thanks.
...if you don’t love you’re dead, and if you do, they’ll kill you for it.
Glad to know this has been noticed by the staff. It got REALLY irritating cause I like to listen to music.
Lost in Space
We were all aware of it, but Eddie was the only one who had the contact information to report the ads to our provider, and he was unavailable for a brief period. We've got it now, so we can get to work.
We don't like to announce when an admin is away, because it tends to encourage vandal attacks.
edited 26th Jun '13 12:01:42 PM by Fighteer
"It's Occam's Shuriken! If the answer is elusive, never rule out ninjas!"
Zzzzzzzzzz
It will, however, help if those of you who reported it can give us links to the ads, and screenshots if possible. The more information we can provide to the ad provider, the faster they can clear out the bad ads.
...if you don’t love you’re dead, and if you do, they’ll kill you for it.
@Madrugada: PM sent.
I encountered this thing the other day
://jalftjow.bounceme.net/index.php?c=Ra EN Oj Eay D F925c Ox P 3 AC C60zajg Aj C Tlc K0li Aa Ktv Khe V Qzm+Yhzf Wz 1 M Pnw 1 S6z Bdyf 5 K I5ejyq Mk WF L1tqn Vyo M=
I am getting those fake download buttons. The last time I accidentally clicked one and led me to a signup page for a movie viewing site. I didn't check whether any files were installed. I can't find the name now as I am not on my own computer.
The ad is for Filmlair.
EDIT: This time, I accidentally clicked on it and led me to a signup sheet of Cinapalace. Very suspicious indeed.
edited 1st Jul '13 11:12:24 PM by MikuruFan
Captain of USS Bajor
This one's not causing any actual harm, but how about the ads that have been popping up recently (for some free-to-play webgame) that are using what is very obviously an Adeptus Astartes? Factor in Games Workshop's somewhat overzealousnote protection of its intellectual property rights, and it begs the question: Can an advertising company be considered Too Dumb to Live?
edited 8th Jul '13 10:01:38 AM by StarSword
The Guy in the Capsule
![[down]](https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/smiles/arrow_down.png "[down]"){kind=icon}
I've seen that ad. A variation of it also uses a mugshot of a medic from Starcraft. Frankly, if I was Eddie, I would notify the ad provider, then Games Workshop's and Blizzard's legal departments.
Lost in Space
It's not our job to enforce copyright rules on our ads. They aren't our ads, they are run by our provider, and we can complain about things like whether they have audio or contain malware, not whether they infringe on someone's IP. Unless we are the IP holder, of course.
"It's Occam's Shuriken! If the answer is elusive, never rule out ninjas!"
Captain of USS Bajor
![[up]](https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/smiles/arrow_up.png "[up]"){kind=icon}
I know that; I was only making conversation. And for the record, I sent a screenshot to GW custserv and they told me legal's looking into it.
edited 11th Jul '13 2:15:10 PM by StarSword
I just another problem. This thing redirected my browser and Norton blocked an intrusion.
//nicotinised.whoilead.com/Gk Ji2d/0cvnK-063wg0/l4HN0qm/Ts0_q0Ya0U3_p70mOl_50l1i_2157rL0X-cny04G/4S0-Vl62-0izM60/jqV/W 0 EQ 2_C0VCN/802AvM0F-tYf0-klgQ02T-Sb 0 S Fb H-0FqKG-0kzlc0Q3KN/0xCNq-0wu1/x0iUN80LH/WC_0D7h21_3edQ0/4hq90n-Sj20o ZF_B0-zdZl0mqS-P 0 Su/el0b/0U00ap-ew02Q2K0c-L 1 I 0_4uty0_Y9a_n13yNr0_2y4H-0Vbh40MLw-L 0 Ht Q 214-Dq U0n Uxf 0 A/8ha/
Dread Sorcerer of Auchtermuchty
I didn't get the address, but adverts for dodgy MMORPG's or strategy MMO's that say "MEN ONLY" are a bit far in my opinion. (Wartune.) Misogny of that level is worse than the Evony adverts.
Keeper of The Celestial Flame
Grand Exhausted Poobah
I just got a so-called "interstitial" ad (i.e. a browser hijack)
Was redirected to the following page:
http://sponsor.adverstitial.com/view/advertisement?loc=79630&adv=2249564&camp=538642&w=300&h=250&rnd=8898730673076168367
Beyond the beaten path lies the absolute end. It matters not who you are... Death awaits you. — Nyx
Captain of USS Bajor
Just ran across another autoplaying Flash video ad. If I see it again I'll give more data.
Lost in Space
I will offer a correction: I don't believe we have any agreement with our provider against auto-playing video, but we do tell them they can't give us anything that plays audio without prompting. I'll confirm this.
"It's Occam's Shuriken! If the answer is elusive, never rule out ninjas!"
Nine thousand nine hundred eighty-two reasons.
Those auto-playing ads never went away for me, but eventually they started only playing sound when you moused over them, until just now. What I just got is the exact same thing as before, with the random video ad followed by a longer thing for visiting Madrid. Upon checking several new pages, I got video ads that autoplayed but were muted unless moused-over, though they weren't the Madrid ones.
Mostly does better things now. Key word mostly. Writes things, but you'll never find them. Or you can ask.
Captain of USS Bajor
I think I got it, because this time it was so bad it crashed Flash. http://choices.truste.com/ca?aid=sojerneu01&pid=sojern01&cid=0328&w=728&h=90&plc=tr&c=sojerneu01cont3&js=2:23
If the ad agreement doesn't ban autoplaying video ads, it damn well should. Those idiotic things eat data like nobody's business.
Lost in Space
I confirmed with Eddie that "Ads should not play video or sound without user interaction".
Please do report any ads that violate that rule here, so we can report them to the ad provider.
"It's Occam's Shuriken! If the answer is elusive, never rule out ninjas!"
I don't know if this is a coincidence, but I think I encountered a video ad that activated when I accidentally moused over it (i.e. I only passed my cursor over it; I did not click). This is the first video ad I've seen in awhile now, so I'll keep you posted.
Lost in Space
Being told it's happening is useful to a certain extent, but having specific examples is even better. If you're using a non-IE browser, most of them have ways to view the code of elements that you are mousing over. IE of course has the slightly less useful "view source" function. In any event, this will reveal the source URL of the ad, which you can post here (without the "http" component).
"It's Occam's Shuriken! If the answer is elusive, never rule out ninjas!"
I wonder how you can find self-playing audio if you have many tabs open. I've encountered something like that but never managed to track it down.
"For a successful technology, reality must take precedence over public relations, for Nature cannot be fooled." - Richard Feynman
The video ads use Flash, so if you're blocking Flash, you would not see them. At the resolution they are running at, the bandwidth consumption should be minimal. They are still an annoyance, though, and against our established terms with the ad provider.
We sympathize with your concerns, but this has caught us at a bad time as far as our ability to deal with them goes. We'll get on it ASAP.
edited 25th Jun '13 7:13:33 AM by Fighteer
"It's Occam's Shuriken! If the answer is elusive, never rule out ninjas!"