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
![[up]](https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/smiles/arrow_up.png "[up]"){kind=icon}
I'm also getting these Pure Farmland ads too, and the fact that they cover the whole screen is just annoying.
now @ worldwidewoomy
So uhh I’ve gotten the fullscreen Pure Farmland ad twice on the same page.
flag edit: nonbinary flag but Luigi
I'm getting a Nancy Drew advertisement that auto-plays video and audio.
You cannot firmly grasp the true form of Squidward's technique!
I'm still getting full screen Shoppers Drug Mart ads.
Advertisement for workout clothes or something that features an autoplaying video of a buxom women exercising.
Fun to watch for me, but not really appropriate for kids, I would say.
The link above is what I got when I clicked the ad.
Health sure is versatile. It's possible to be both light-headed and dim-witted. At the same time, no less.
Holly shit, that's a long URL...
Not intrusive, but is anyone else getting these really graphic and unncessary ads about Infantile Hemangioma featuring pictures of babies with facial injuries (or something)? They're too graphic for TV Tropes IMO.
...
Today I'm getting mobile ads at the top of the screen that glitch and go on too long. They stop me from viewing the page unless I refresh.
Edited by Pichu-kun on Oct 25th 2019 at 4:42:20 AM
Full-screen mobile ads are still happening. Here's one from Bai.
Edit: Changed image link because the imgur links didn't work properly.
Edited by BF10 on Oct 27th 2019 at 8:25:29 AM
...
I'm pretty sure I'm getting them too. They used to appear on the bottom of the screen so they wouldn't bother me, but now they appear on the top and making editing some pages impossible no matter how often I refresh.
now @ worldwidewoomy
So I got this while on the TV Tropes page for Why Fandom Can’t Have Nice Things. I caught a glimpse of it before it went “please rotate your device”, and surprise! It was another Pure Farmland ad.
[Edit: Apparently Imgur thinks the screenshot is porn, lol]
Edited by GalacticDriftwood on Oct 28th 2019 at 1:15:14 AM
flag edit: nonbinary flag but Luigi
Johto Champion
I have been getting the fullscreen Bai ad on almost every page I visit on mobile, sometimes multiple times. When closed, the ad appears as a single period in a large blank space under the Advertisement tag. While I couldn't get the ad's URL due to it functioning by abusing/exploiting Javascript; I was able to long-press and open the X button icon in a new tab and pinpoint the source of the ad as delivered by Celtra.
Believe in yourself!
How sweet it is
Still getting advertisements from Bai that cover up the page on mobile. There is a means to close them, but they're still annoying.
she/her | TRS needs your help! | Contributor of Trope Report
now @ worldwidewoomy
I got a full screen ad for silicone adhesive while on Franchise Killer.
.... And two full-screen ads from Bai on the Heartwarming page for the Hunger Games, and another for Pure Farmland for the page for Idiot Programming. Heck’s going on?
Edit: Got a fullscreen Bai ad three times on Video Game Caring Potential...
Edited by GalacticDriftwood on Oct 30th 2019 at 9:40:07 AM
flag edit: nonbinary flag but Luigi
Not Sherlock Holmes
Looks like Bai’s getting aggressive with their ads. Which is not something an ad should be doing on T Vtropes.
I’d say remove them all.
“Now! Let us engage in the art of deduction!”
Short-Term Projects herald
On a non-Bai note, am I the only one who's seeing ads for Toonmics and their manhuas Close as Neighbors and My Stepmom? Looking at them, they seem like cases of Porn with Plot, the former at least being quite substantial in terms of storytelling. I doubt that the Content Policy would allow them, but at least it'd be a Russian Reversal: rather than advertizers taking issue with lewd content on our end, we'd be taking issue with lewd content on their end! Ain't life funny?
Contains 20% less fat than the leading value brand!
I’ve also been getting a ton of full-page Pure Farmland ads on mobile. It’s to the point where it’ll randomly open a new tab because it’s so sudden, or the page will stop responding sometimes because the ad exit button doesn’t always work right away.
now @ worldwidewoomy
Same here! I’ve been hit three times in a row with fullscreen Pure Farmland ads on some pages.
Not Sherlock Holmes
Yeah, I’m getting the pure farmland beef ads too.
This is getting to be on the same level as the Bai ads now.
“Now! Let us engage in the art of deduction!”
Short-Term Projects herald
General Electric has been doing the same thing now.
Contains 20% less fat than the leading value brand!
The King Without a Kingdom
Even though I use Adblock, this Twitch ad keeps popping up.
Veteran Editor IV
Same here, though I legit pay for the ad-free experience. If TV Tropes really has to sponsor the guy, maybe put a site-wide banner with a link to his livestream.
Edited by Piterpicher on Nov 14th 2019 at 3:30:09 PM
Currently mostly inactive. An incremental game I tested: https://galaxy.click/play/176 (Gods of Incremental)
Perpetually Confused
It's also showing up even if we paid for ad free.
Keep getting Pure Farmland full-screen ads on mobile. https://imgur.com/a/1vKgf8c
flag edit: nonbinary flag but Luigi