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
Now a lurker. Thanks for everything. | he/him
Interestingly the "Don't use Adblock" popup isn't appearing for me even though I have uBlock Origin on. (Don't worry, I only have it on because the site isn't responsive otherwise. If that gets sorted out I'll turn it back off.)
TRS Queue | Works That Require Cleanup of Complaining | Troper Wall
A procrastination in of itself
Yeah, the site becoming non-responsive when Adblock is disabled has also hit me again. The previous time it hit me is mentioned in this thread, then it went away and I was able to turn Adblock off, but it’s started up again.
"And the Bunny nails it!" ~ Gabrael "If the UN can get through a day without everyone strangling everyone else so can we." ~ Cyran
Obsessively adds images to character pages.
I'm still experiencing my problem by the way, is that gonna be fixed?
"Unite GUN/BAZOOKA/LAUNCHER/TANK!"
Big Catch, Sparkle Edition
I've had issues, but I dunno if it's because of my computer itself or not. My computer is... not the best.
Current Project: Incorruptible Pure Pureness
A procrastination in of itself
It’s gone away for me for now, but if nothing has been changed than I’m probably just getting lucky with the ads I draw.
"And the Bunny nails it!" ~ Gabrael "If the UN can get through a day without everyone strangling everyone else so can we." ~ Cyran
Obsessively adds images to character pages.
Still happening for me
"Unite GUN/BAZOOKA/LAUNCHER/TANK!"
Obsessively adds images to character pages.
Not really sure if this has anything to do with ads, but the bottom of my mobile pages extend waaaaaaaaaaaay past the "switch to mobile version" thing.
"Unite GUN/BAZOOKA/LAUNCHER/TANK!"
Johto Champion
I didn't get a screenshot of it, but on mobile an ad for HBOMax leading to https://www.hbomax.com/grw-rbw?utm_id=cm|25684492|2414963|302375370|165363017&dclid=COf9wMDQ4fUCFXoT-QAdhPYO1g took up most of the page with only a small image at the top and the rest blank, and it also had a fake Close Ad x that instead opened the ad page.
Edited by Torchic65101 on Feb 2nd 2022 at 12:27:29 PM
Believe in yourself!
Johto Champion
Got another ad with the same bad design. The malicious ad blocks long-pressing/right-clicks, and doesn't appear in the browser history, but the URL that briefly appeared was from a site called doubleclick. Again, the x/close icon is fake and only opens the ad. Same for the info icon.
Getting an ad for REDBUBBLE that has nudity in it.
Health sure is versatile. It's possible to be both light-headed and dim-witted. At the same time, no less.
Came here to report the same Redbubble ad. Been seeing it a lot today.
Found a Youtube Channel with political stances you want to share? Hop on over to this page and add them.
Obsessively adds images to character pages.
This ad is forcing the page to scroll to it and takes up a ton of space.
This screenshot isn't the full ad, by the way.
"Unite GUN/BAZOOKA/LAUNCHER/TANK!"
Obsessively adds images to character pages.
Oh, and the blocks full of nothing is still happening.
"Unite GUN/BAZOOKA/LAUNCHER/TANK!"
Obsessively adds images to character pages.
Now there are white blocks full of nothing. Can someone please fix this?
"Unite GUN/BAZOOKA/LAUNCHER/TANK!"
Now a lurker. Thanks for everything. | he/him
I just got a white block of nothing myself.
TRS Queue | Works That Require Cleanup of Complaining | Troper Wall
Lucas the Dreamer
I get a tower of blank under ads on pretty much any page.
Why waste time when you can see the last sunset last?
Local Egregious Plant
I always get white nothing blocks too! And they sometimes flicker when I swipe over them on mobile, which is what I most often use to browse the site.
Troper Wall, sandbox, and I'm trying to kill typos.
I'm getting blocks of nothing, too. And also constant reminders to whitelist tvtropes when I've already done it. That pop up is getting real fucking annoying.
There is no more text after an ad. It cuts off. And why an ad for ky jelly? Gross!
A procrastination in of itself
I’ve always found that even with the site white-listed my Adblock still prevents certain ads coming through, specifically the hijack ones (they only show up if I fully disable my Adblock). So my assumption has been that when I get a blank white block my Adblock has picked up that a particular ad is especially nasty/dangerous and blocked it for security reasons.
"And the Bunny nails it!" ~ Gabrael "If the UN can get through a day without everyone strangling everyone else so can we." ~ Cyran
CG for short
This is a bizarre one to say the least. Hours ago, I was about to use the site on my laptop just fine. Then, all of the sudden, I'm unable to use it. My screen says that I can't access it because my laptop time is off. I changed the time and time zone, didn't work. Reset my laptop, but now it said I can't use it because it's not safe. Took a bit to find out that under the advanced button, I can access the site.
So I managed to get in, however the site looks completely old school now. Like the background is pure white and the text are written in a font that's probably used in late 90's websites. I'm writing this post on old school TVT and I tried adding pictures to this post but I'm unable to, so I'll go ask some friends on Discord (who can access the site just fine) to post the pictures here.
Victor of HGS S320 | "There's rosemary, that's for remembrance. Pray you, love, remember."
CG for short
UPDATE: One more reset and an attempt on Firefox later... I managed to get on regular TV Tropes. Now, I'll just post the pictures here myself.
EDIT: Not only that, it's still not working properly on Chrome or Microsoft Edge.
Edited by Cutegirl920fire on Feb 16th 2022 at 8:12:57 AM
Victor of HGS S320 | "There's rosemary, that's for remembrance. Pray you, love, remember."
uwu
Apparently, websites trying to leak my data keep popping up on pages in this site. I can't access pages like the Cut List for long because these sites keep trying to appear there.
Edited by Excessive-Menace on Feb 17th 2022 at 11:12:40 AM
THE GOLDEN AGE WILL RETURN AGAIN!
Anyone else getting grey boxes for advertisements on this site since earlier today despite having Adblock on? They are really annoying, since they take up a ton of space in the sidebar and follow you as you scroll down.
Edited by CookingCat on Feb 18th 2022 at 6:06:46 AM
Ditto on the site becoming unresponsive for no discernible reason.
The Danse Macabre Codex