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
I got redirected to luckyguys.top three times in the span of a minute. Please send help
Jawbreakers on sale for 99¢
I've been getting the luckyguys.top ad so often that it's nearly impossible to use the site without an adblocker. And the redirect happens so fast after loading the page that I can't even tell what ad is doing it.
How sweet it is
Got a different Kendra Scott full-page ad.
she/her | TRS needs your help! | Contributor of Trope Report
now @ worldwidewoomy
I got a graphic The Real Cost video ad on one of the administrivia pages... It was of a guy talking (presumably about why smoking is bad, it was muted), it cuts to a black screen with white text saying “Don’t search it.”, and then a jump cut to nasty, rotted teeth. Not what I wanted to see while eating breakfast.
flag edit: nonbinary flag but Luigi
I saw the happy.luckyxyz ad too. When I clicked a link, it a) opened a new tab with the link and b) redirected my page to show the link.
Constant Schitt's Creek full screen ad. Closing it only works for a minute or two before it comes right back up.
Getting constant redirecting ads for happy.luckydraw.space
![[up]](https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/smiles/arrow_up.png "[up]"){kind=icon}
I'm also constantly getting that ad.
Im still getting ads that redirect me while reading a page, same as the others. I can't disable my adblock for your site as long as the malicious ads go unaddressed. I'm sorry.
Not Sherlock Holmes
Glad to see I’m not the only one who has a problem with the Real Cost ads.
“Now! Let us engage in the art of deduction!”
I just got redirected to some spam page while reading one of the forum pages. I didn't click anything.
I closed the tab immediately after it switched to the other page, so I barely saw it, but there was a pop-up said something like "Windows Phishing Alert."
This may not be enough to go on for action to be taken, but it's now a major source of Paranoia Fuel for me.
I haven't played the particular game that Tango is from, but still... robo kitty. :D
I just got an ad for luckyguys.top
And here, I got it again. I got a link though. http://luckyguys.top/prize/luckyus-ad/lp3.html?c=43z1n811z3dz2&k=15bc1348d28cef986f8ce727adc52330
(Or at least it links to a page that appears when I get the pop-up. The other parts of the ad are too revealing, so I'll PM a mod with the info.)
Edited by Playing_with_boy on Jan 19th 2020 at 7:29:06 AM
I'm Sad Frogerson.
I recently got a redirect ad to http://vip.luckydevil.xyz. Not sure if others have also run into this problem, but I felt I should bring it up just to be safe.
I got fortunatepeople.xyz.
How sweet it is
Got an autoredirect while trying to edit. luckyguys.top being the culprit.
Edited by Berrenta on Jan 19th 2020 at 10:31:08 AM
she/her | TRS needs your help! | Contributor of Trope Report
(she/her)
I am getting the luckyguys alot too. Every 3 pages or so.
Edited by MacronNotes on Jan 19th 2020 at 12:05:16 PM
Macron's notes
So am I - just got one while visiting this thread, in fact. Now they have a wonderful new feature where if you don't spam the back button it loads into a different scam ad site.
Jawbreakers on sale for 99¢
I'm sorry Tien, but I must go all out.
Usually, with sites like those, you want to right-click the back button to bring up a list of the previous 14 pages, and click on the one you want from there.
Johto Champion
I keep getting multiple autoplaying ads from Facebook all on the same page at a time. I don't even use Facebook.
Believe in yourself!
Short-Term Projects herald
Coolmic is shilling hentai on our adspace. The ads themselves are lewd enough, and the works are worse. A list of what I've seen can be found on the main P5 thread.
Contains 20% less fat than the leading value brand!
The Draftsman of Doom
So's toomics. The comics being advertised tend to be NSFW, and the ads themselves are rather sketchy.
Edited by SkyCat32 on Feb 9th 2020 at 10:07:42 AM
Rawr.
Is it normal to now get ads that pop up every time you open a page and which occlude the entire bottom fifth of the browser on desktop until you close them? You can eventually close them to remove the obstruction, but don't they violate the following rule?
Edited by AlleyOop on Feb 22nd 2020 at 4:24:07 AM
Fear me
Ever since this morning I've been getting a popup that covers the right side of the screen. It can be removed, but it's still annoying as it also hides part of the text and the save/post button.
I've been getting the same thing, floats up and down the screen with me.
I just got redirected to "happy.luckyfellow.xyz", which Avast blocked and said was unsafe.
I have an ad-free subscription...