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
Goku Black
Why am I getting these large adds that take up most of screen about something called second life. What even is that ?
"That's right mortal. By channeling my divine rage into power, I have forged a new instrument in which to destroy you."
now @ worldwidewoomy
So I just set up my new iPhone 12, and already TVT seems to hate it because I got this full-screen insurance ad on the edit ban thread. https://postimg.cc/v4NGWL1Q
A procrastination in of itself
Yeah it’s not really safe to browse TV Tropes on mobile without either ad-block or an ad-filter.
Which is a dam shame.
“And the Bunny nails it!” ~ Gabrael “If the UN can get through a day without everyone strangling everyone else so can we.” ~ Cyran
Is anyone else getting risque-ish Diesel adverts with guys posing provocatively in underwear? I don't think they're exactly SFW.
TRS Wick Cleaning
How sweet it is
Got this autoredirect just now when browsing:
https://bleckhost.club/translate/l2/?clickid=wkc3kkvgisf20ou3i4e4bb5m&af_siteid=20bcf600-85fb-44d4-91fa-8c2ed9593aba&af_c_id=3041c669-0cd3-49e7-a880-8a8c2ba24551&c=23.06%2FCelebrity%2FZeropark%2F%206%20source%20ios&af_click_lookback=7&model=iPhone&brand=Apple&app=phoneGuard
she/her | TRS needs your help! | Contributor of Trope Report
How sweet it is
And not only did I get ![[up]](https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/smiles/arrow_up.png "[up]"){kind=icon}
again, another attempt at viewing the same page autoredirected me to:
https://imageriallyiodine.club/?td=track.8pigtails.com&data2=w0ibe721cp195fv3i1ptis88&city=Dallas&cep=54xGtSiYLVH0EOxWLYDD0afP17KoBgfJc09uGiLJU9bRvk3NtCSJ47eMWMSGTm31hWfQ0c1n6A5TaiO2lrVs3KA7ujhDElQBh6D0amYVlqyQ2w7E2FDVvuH2Amwd7MJ0Uc-iOGZEGBJgfyYuPE-y-GuAggFSVmsmamsntvX4k80HBMJzDoLpon_nZYVDqRnncqtjuIeM9ZXPG-ZAP-joWRAIVEc4pN5ru10WDQDdCnv5VpRdgj3jNg0qXWzif160iAT1ikZTgqzp6L5Niusq9v3thUz4N_2Qzcm4Sjs4t3fBc-AgDvH-bQP7j4kgHtzRyS9wcmtQgjbLIDkk-38Mj3r2OLN7Ok-vBcRshPtNvm2Yc3-fwukDQWFh7T8ysMCa5btUGNZfer8WrA3Uu7VzmjHtOT-xPOQFqvqt3z81Kt1aPyvZxMuuc8ze9zqHV8pGpI31CdOwOqZchotAVHXjHeUpTHGMd91Xv10FIm6ud4thzqbIqXtQliaa_eTQL65P&lptoken=161007f461f962ab4559&companyid=d10epv46tvtropes-org&pubid=d10epv46tvtropes-org&pixel=1607614444mb13988903326#
she/her | TRS needs your help! | Contributor of Trope Report
Yeah, I've been getting some really fishy "your phone has been infected with two viruses" messages when browsing TV Tropes on mobile.
Rock'n'roll never dies!
Anonymous Contributor
When I browse TV Tropes on InPrivate (incognito) mode, I get full screen ads for Humana and Samsung.
Edited by KPyall on Dec 11th 2020 at 4:06:42 AM
I watched The Simpsons, therefore, I'm a simp, son.
It's not a big issue, but every so often I'll get this side bar ad for Hunnington Bank that lags everything so bad I have to restart the browser.
Jawbreakers on sale for 99¢
"Yo Smithy!"
Same problem as KPyall above: browsing on InPrivate (the Microsoft Edge equivalent of Incognito mode) and I keep getting fullscreen ads. They do have a button to X out of them in the top right, but it's still a very sizable interruption.
"Come on! Let's get this show on the road."
Big Catch, Sparkle Edition
Got randomly logged out. In trying to log back in I was hit with a full-screen mobile ad.
Currently Working On: Incorruptible Pure Pureness
How sweet it is
Got a full screen mobile ad as well when viewing a page when not logged on.
Culprit ad is from Circle K.
she/her | TRS needs your help! | Contributor of Trope Report
How sweet it is
When trying to edit a page, got this autoredirect:
https://landapp.xyz/translate/l2/?clickid=wlfcfolkkdmcs894i6bs0bbe&af_siteid=20bcf600-85fb-44d4-91fa-8c2ed9593aba&af_c_id=3041c669-0cd3-49e7-a880-8a8c2ba24551&c=23.06%2FCelebrity%2FZeropark%2F%206%20source%20ios&af_click_lookback=7&model=iPhone&brand=Apple&app=zipes
Edited by Berrenta on Dec 23rd 2020 at 10:50:26 AM
she/her | TRS needs your help! | Contributor of Trope Report
How sweet it is
And another autoredirect.
https://appconm.com/landers/falcon-apstr-m/index.php?lang=en-US&lpkey=16e3088a830b12ef75&uclick=b7k2sygh&uclickhash=b7k2sygh-b7k2sygh-sc0-0-usxs-zwa5-zwa4-c24203
she/her | TRS needs your help! | Contributor of Trope Report
Very Spooky
Just got this autoredirect to a “your phone in inflicted with viruses” scam while browsing on mobile:
https://landapp.xyz/translate/l2/?clickid=w0487aor0qp0sta42g78i7c4&af_siteid=20bcf600-85fb-44d4-91fa-8c2ed9593aba&af_c_id=3041c669-0cd3-49e7-a880-8a8c2ba24551&c=23.06%2FCelebrity%2FZeropark%2F%206%20source%20ios&af_click_lookback=7&model=iPhone&brand=Apple&app=SmartClean
Edited by jandn2014 on Jan 2nd 2021 at 4:26:39 AM
back lol
now @ worldwidewoomy
Was hit with this redirect that claimed my phone had 17 viruses after visiting adult websites... because apparently the Dethroning Moment subpages are porn now. Lmao.
flag edit: nonbinary flag but Luigi
How sweet it is
Another one...
https://protection-privex.com/landers/tf/?ad_id=new&click_id=1ergf711juh99&_subid=1ergf711juh99&_token=uuid_1ergf711juh99_1ergf711juh995fedf8d7463e97.17125511#
she/her | TRS needs your help! | Contributor of Trope Report
Semain Calm
On mobile Chrome incognito mode, when I'm reading articles, I keep getting redirect spam ads claiming I'm the five billionth search and trying to give me "prizes".
Here's an example of the urls I'm redirected to.
and the public won't dwell on my transmission cause it wasn't televised.
Very Spooky
![[nja]](https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/user_ninja_2074.png "[nja]"){kind=small}
(ignore this)
Edited by jandn2014 on Jan 2nd 2021 at 4:26:56 AM
back lol
Can you just ban the .club and the .xyz domains? Another redirect spam ad meaning more time needed to run back to website data to delete whatever it's trying to do.
https://pippercarpogonia.club/?td=track.8pigtails.com&data2=wfsm7s8lmktd5eh4imelgfmc&cep=0XLALhqr_qck3h1ZmnaeaIHIsgcpwZw6BEs0Tj_0chKTg_GrW_WkC4WOpQP8fD7g9JIMiYS6szU7KPbBhx2Z9rf0aDB2QT8jsPbXC_c7Bpm1-mWy3Sq6orq3XSIZlXFKatNWnbhY61ftjt2WxcrKkhMr-P-bTL6zAGMs0rrxD3NiIMzdXO5PkexvXGH-6lzY7YOXsUdlbFeBb2QPZlvlYBmDNIx39qsIRCMGelzibsDiI8xMac5ePTBdyBDjzxVlPXxE1wTqKlc7OziF5Crb2fKB9VHQ8o5EAz3lTrDZ6V_TX8rBfhTtbGZsJM_ek7ZEB0UScwCrxRnWIM5A9OCXRg3VrQOL6nT_xkT5m0M6hw7hjKLlVb2-CmW7dbikzelgqlwzynw1yWO4YP7jRT24C8gRkuXOql-BWrijQhBvl84GGbFCWiwS7_6XMBA0jvHTDcOfs8Mnz8ovAwqZuZ3aB-gmgGVDlEuJwd_wk00LETC1zCgf-ehT63evsU6hM-Ix&lptoken=168509496863531254ff&companyid=d10epv46tvtropes-org&pubid=d10epv46tvtropes-org&pixel=1609683554mb16395775822
Edited by BF10 on Jan 3rd 2021 at 6:22:23 AM
Part-Time Omen of Death
I am getting some sidebar ad for Suddenlink and/or Altice Mobile that is so wide it blocks part of the text on the page. (It has this Uncanny Valley puppet girl cutting her strings or something.)
Stupid doomed timeline...
I'm getting assorted sidebar ads that expand outward to cover the text too. Not sure if it's the same format as , but it's making the site unreadable.
Part-Time Omen of Death
I'm now getting the same type of expanding sidebar ads as I mentioned above for The Masked Dancer, and they are coming more frequently.
I don't mind having ads in general, but these actively interfere with my use of the site.
Stupid doomed timeline...
Also getting expanded sidebar ads that cover a substantial portion of the text (as per several ). These are for CSL Plasma and appear to be duplicates of the bottom banner ad. I also do not generally mind ads, at least not on my laptop, but these make it hard to read the actual content on the page. (Relevant page: Hit So Hard, the Calendar Felt It).
Thx, careless