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
Getting more issues recently from mobile browsing on Tvtropes
Still just awesome like that
![[up]](https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/smiles/arrow_up.png "[up]"){kind=icon}
To be fair, let's be honest, imvu ads in general are some of the creepiest crap on the internet.
I just had a tab open to Never-Forgotten Skill, and noticed that it had been redirected to another site. After I hit the Back button, it got redirected again, but to a different site from the first one. Didn't get the first site I got redirected to, but the second one was a mouthful; see under this note .
I am getting the Lemode-mgz redirect, too. I found a thread about it on another site. http://www.allspark.com/forums/topic/112424-lemode-mgz-redirect/ Looks like it's definitely an ad problem.
Just logged in after getting home from work. Like, every other page I go to takes me right to an ad site.
Mikon :3
Got some lemode ad on Warren Buffet.
Transcender of Gender
I'm having the same problem as while on mobile. Every time I go to a new page it re-directs me first to track.securevoluum and then to lemode-mgz.
Basically canon
Disabled Flash because a credit card ad was slowing my browsing to a crawl, immediately get redirected to some site plugging a weight-loss thing (probably a scam judging by their method of advertising). It had "moms" in the name, but that's all I can remember.
pearlina brainrot affects millions of people worldwide. if you or a loved one are suffering from pearlina brainrot, call 1-800-GAY-NERDS
Flash ads are the source for sound in ads too.
I've been getting the lemode-mgz redirect too, but something new that happened just now is that Chrome actually blocked it and gave me a phishing warning about the site. Unfortunately, that didn't save me from being forcibly redirected there anyway a minute later.
hey i dunno, why don't you tell me
Got redirected to here just now. Good gods, is that a long url.
I'm getting the occasional redirect ad myself.
You cannot firmly grasp the true form of Squidward's technique!
Just had the same thing happen to me on Tickld. This is a problem with the google ads. I can't pin down which ones it is, because when I go back to the page it loads a different random ad.
Basically canon
Here's the redirect ad I got:http://lemode-mgz.com/fd/10145/special-report.html?voluumdata=vid..00000001-6c75-40da-8000-000000000000__vpid..9eb40000-985b-11e4-8b6b-090d52761e62__caid..421c6fa2-56dc-4806-b48a-6b536e9f021f__lid..17f94b93-1095-40de-8b90-7bc32fbd5051__rt..R__oid1..7e81ef4e-fedf-4dc7-97f0-6fcc5e13341d__oid2..07281f7f-72c1-4967-9d21-a4c128902b17__var1..adwynne__var2..us__var3..1__var4..728-90__var5..1420850539085__var6..http%3A%2F%2Fgoogleads%5C.%5Cg%5C.%5Cdoubleclick%5C.%5Cnet%2Fpagead%2Fads%3Fclient%3Dca-pub-6610802604051523%26format%3D728x90%26output%3Dhtml%26h%3D90%26slotname%3D9723796451%26adk%3D866267835%26w%3D728%26lmt%3D1420850535%26flash%3D0%26url%3Dhttp%3A%2F%2Ftvtropes%5C.%5Corg%2Fpmwiki%2Ftopics%5C.%5Cphp%26dt%3D1420850534784%26bpp%3D73%26bdt%3D1222%26shv%3Dr20150106%26cbv%3Dr20141212%26saldr%3Daa%26correlator%3D2974380104019%26frm%3D20%26ga%5C_%5Cvid%3D1672970560%5C.%5C1412785735%26ga%5C_%5Csid%3D1420850536%26ga%5C_%5Chid%3D1204603198%26ga%5C_%5Cfc%3D1%26u%5C_%5Ctz%3D-360%26u%5C_%5Chis%3D12%26u%5C_%5Cjava%3D1%26u%5C_%5Ch%3D900%26u%5C_%5Cw%3D1600%26u%5C_%5Cah%3D860%26u%5C_%5Caw%3D1600%26u%5C_%5Ccd%3D24%26u%5C_%5Cnplug%3D0%26u%5C_%5Cnmime%3D0%26dff%3Dtimes%20new%20roman%26dfs%3D16%26adx%3D198%26ady%3D154%26biw%3D1583%26bih%3D783%26eid%3D317150304%26oid%3D3%26ref%3Dhttp%3A%2F%2Ftvtropes%5C.%5Corg%2Fpmwiki%2Fpmwiki%5C.%5Cphp%2FMain%2FCanonImmigrant%26rx%3D0%26eae%3D0%26fc%3D8%26docm%3D11%26brdim%3D0%2C77%2C-8%2C-8%2C1600%2C%2C1616%2C876%2C1600%2C783%26vis%3D1%26abl%3DCS%26ppjl%3Df%26fu%3D0%26bc%3D1%26ifi%3D1%26xpc%3DCEZKsvhTuE%26p%3Dhttp%3A%2F%2Ftvtropes%5C.%5Corg%26dtd%3D1248&account=adwynne&campaign=us&adgroup=1&banner=728-90&it=1420850539085&refurl=http://googleads.g.doubleclick.net/pagead/ads?client=ca-pub-6610802604051523&format=728x90&output=html&h=90&slotname=9723796451&adk=866267835&w=728&lmt=1420850535&flash=0&url=/pmwiki/topics.php&dt=1420850534784&bpp=73&bdt=1222&shv=r20150106&cbv=r20141212&saldr=aa&correlator=2974380104019&frm=20&ga_vid=1672970560.1412785735&ga_sid=1420850536&ga_hid=1204603198&ga_fc=1&u_tz=-360&u_his=12&u_jav
Another redirect: http://consumernews247.com/brains/indexdisc.html?voluumdata=vid..00000003-f5c5-46ae-8000-000000000000__vpid..9eb40000-985b-11e4-8dc9-881eb9370eea__caid..ac94a34b-c0d9-47a8-b3b6-5e60883b640f__lid..da961621-033b-470c-a2e8-ae58a5352e33__rt..R__oid1..38bf1f34-0eb3-40ff-8ea6-5e6f9a12359d&it=1420850915968&refurl=https://googleads.g.doubleclick.net/pagead/ads?client=ca-pub-6610802604051523&format=728x90&output=html&h=90&slotname=6630729251&adk=2146628551&w=728&lmt=1420850913&flash=0&url=https://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/posts.php?discussion=14207444490A65280600&page=23#552&dt=1420850910305&bpp=120&bdt=1136&shv=r20150106&cbv=r20141212&saldr=aa&prev_fmts=728x90&correlator=5969726422036&frm=20&ga_vid=1672970560.1412785735&ga_sid=1420850912&ga_hid=1298666808&ga_fc=1&u_tz=-360&u_his=25&u_java=1&u_h=900&u_w=1600&u_ah=860&u_aw=1600&u_cd=24&u_nplug=0&u_nmime=0&dff=times%20new%20roman&dfs=16&adx=198&ady=1697&biw=1583&bih=783&eid=575144604,317150304&oid=3&ref=https://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/conversations.php?topic=0000000000000000000000f3&rx=0&eae=0&fc=8&docm=11&brdim=0,77,-8,-8,1600,,1616,876,1600,783&vis=1&abl=CS&ppjl=f&fu=16&bc=1&ifi=2&xpc=nAFZDHt0vL&p=https://tvtropes.org&dtd=3167. This one is definitely a scam, since the Forbes page it shows in the "article" doesn't exist.
edited 9th Jan '15 4:59:38 PM by Midna
pearlina brainrot affects millions of people worldwide. if you or a loved one are suffering from pearlina brainrot, call 1-800-GAY-NERDS
Trans Siberian Anarchestra (it/they)
I'm getting the consumernews redirect with the absurd URL length also.
The Revolution Will Not Be Tropeable
Hi
This lemode-mgz redirecting ad is a Google issue; no idea when they'll get off their asses and do something about it, unfortunately. 
edited 9th Jan '15 6:34:57 PM by Willbyr
I didn't feel like downloading Adblock, but for now, I've turned off Javascript for this site, which also prevents the ads from loading. Of course, it also breaks a lot of other site functions, but the frequency with which I was running into those redirects was just unbearable (and who knows how long it will take for them to get the boot, since the admins have their hands full dealing with other issues at the moment).
Yeah, turning Adblock back on is my absolute last-resort option, only to be used when the ads start directly interfering with site usability. Unfortunately, chronic redirecting ads fall under that banner. note
I'm also getting near constant redirects- it's every two or three pages, to the same pages as everyone else. I'm on mobile so i can't really do anything about it, and it's making the site almost unusable.
Rocks fall, everyone miraculously survives.
Basically canon
Maybe this doesn't fit here, but I keep getting American Express Business card ads that cause my browser to slow to an absolute crawl (on a dual-core system even).
pearlina brainrot affects millions of people worldwide. if you or a loved one are suffering from pearlina brainrot, call 1-800-GAY-NERDS
I'm also getting lemode and consumernews redirects. I'm just happy I'm not alone on this.
I'm also getting the full page redirect can't go back ads. It got so bad I could barely send in this problem for reporting. Most of the ads I've gotten are on weight loss. I can't believe this is a Google problem... How long has it been going on? I don't remember it happening with the Old TV tropes, so it must be recent. Since Google finance is a lot of pages, I'm thinking they're not going to let something like this stick around...
Lost in Space
It's Google. These bad ads are showing up all over the 'net.
"It's Occam's Shuriken! If the answer is elusive, never rule out ninjas!"
I got auto-redirected to this ad from my thread watchlist page;
http://consumernews247.com/sc/gm722-2310/special-report.html?voluumdata=vid..00000001-ea1a-4906-8000-000000000000__vpid..e81c1800-96c0-11e4-843d-3d623c0fbd80__caid..ac94a34b-c0d9-47a8-b3b6-5e60883b640f__lid..dc63c1f0-1ae7-4119-bddb-b378eaf238f9__rt..R__oid1..5cb0a8d0-df5b-41cf-a42e-ebadde0525e8__oid2..36af88d0-f29a-4e5a-b385-11eccf7225d1&it=1420672755851&refurl=http://googleads.g.doubleclick.net/pagead/ads?client=ca-pub-6897902191714833&output=html&h=90&slotname=2787977511&adk=2355658236&w=728&ea=0&flash=0&url=https://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/thread_watch.php&dt=1420672754949&bpp=8&bdt=597&shv=r20141209&cbv=r20141212&saldr=sa&correlator=3308715572491&frm=23&ga_vid=605230574.1390195571&ga_sid=1420672683&ga_hid=356571723&ga_fc=1&u_tz=-300&u_his=5&u_java=1&u_h=1080&u_w=1920&u_ah=1040&u_aw=1920&u_cd=24&u_nplug=0&u_nmime=0&dff=times%20new%20roman&dfs=16&adx=353&ady=110&biw=1435&bih=955&isw=728&ish=90&ifk=2417958709&eid=317150304&oid=3&ref=https://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/topics.php&rx=0&eae=2&fc=8&docm=11&brdim=664,179,311,0,1920,,1468,1040,728,90&vis=1&abl=CS&ppjl=f&fu=4&bc=1&ifi=1&dtd=60
The Living Guildpact rules that coffee is an acceptable substitution for rest as specified in subsection … whatever.