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 think I see the problem here. Try something else?
Edited by Malady on May 4th 2023 at 4:54:47 AM
Disambig Needed: Help with those issues! tvtropes.org/pmwiki/posts.php?discussion=13324299140A37493800&page=24#comment-576
Now a lurker. Thanks for everything. | he/him
I don’t know if this is the right place to report this but I subscribed to the ad-free package and I’m still getting ads on mobile. Is this a glitch?
TRS Queue | Works That Require Cleanup of Complaining | Troper Wall
the Retromancer
Now a lurker. Thanks for everything. | he/him
So, despite having an ad-free package, I am not only getting ads on mobile, I am now getting a massive (I think steak) ad that fails to load/reload and crashes over and over and my phone tells me "A problem repeatedly occurred on [page]" ([page] substituting the page it's on).
I hope the admins can fix this—it's making the site unusable.
Edited by themayorofsimpleton on May 9th 2023 at 10:52:15 AM
TRS Queue | Works That Require Cleanup of Complaining | Troper Wall
I'm getting this annoying Boar’s Head ad on mobile that covers the entire screen, and I've had it pop up multiple times on the same page even though I didn't even reload the page.
Y'ALL JUST GOT SHREKT
Now a lurker. Thanks for everything. | he/him
![[up]](https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/smiles/arrow_up.png "[up]"){kind=icon}
I think that's the one.
Basically canon
Mid-sentence ad on Late Export for You:
"This also meant that the hot hatch version, the Fiesta ST, and its larger Focus ST sibling (a Spiritual Successor to the last hot hatch version sold in North America, the Focus SVT) - and especially the even more legendary and long-sought-after Focus RS (sold in Europe and Australia since 2000, with its third generation sold for just three model years in North America from 2016-18 Advertisement:
ADVERTISING
) - all managed to hit Ford’s home turf for the first time."
pearlina brainrot affects millions of people worldwide. if you or a loved one are suffering from pearlina brainrot, call 1-800-GAY-NERDS
BLADE Pathfinders
I can back up ads popping up in the middle of paragraphs, as I don't think this is supposed to happen on Private Military Contractors/Real Life:
Edited by jdeo1997 on May 15th 2023 at 4:15:00 AM
Silence is golden, noise is platinum. Keelah se'lai
AI with access to the console
an ad which led to this link just randomly took up the screen past a certain point and was just all i could see beyond it. scrolling all the way to the bottom would show the index and that was it.
I look to the stars... but that's mostly because there isn't anything else interesting
This ad, which just kinda took up the entirety of my screen.
Couldn't even read the rest of the article.
Not even stars last forever.
(she/her)
^ Messaged the admins about that one.
Macron's notes
Thank you. Also happy to see I'm not the only one with this issue.. This has been happening often today.
Edited by ZuggaluggalocoroG on May 20th 2023 at 10:22:09 AM
Not even stars last forever.
The Draftsman of Doom
Dvandemon
I've had ads scroll themselves on mobile to take up the whole screen. I've had some that take over the whole screen the moment they're scrolled over. Like it pops up an ad for the ps5 across the whole screen and if I scroll through multiple trying to get to the bottom of the page they stack so I have to click close out multiple times. I've had scrolling interrupted because they're an interactive ad and swiping over them is shifting a slide or whatever.
Lately, I'm not sure if it's a problem with ads or folders but it seems like folders are empty or unresponsive if they're just before an ad. So mostly I'm missing out on any content that ends up next to one.
Basically canon
Oh man, don’t tell me those horrible ps5 ads are back
pearlina brainrot affects millions of people worldwide. if you or a loved one are suffering from pearlina brainrot, call 1-800-GAY-NERDS
Basically canon
Still getting mid-sentence ads. This fine specimen comes to us from Super Mario Bros.
ADVERTISING
and was the first console 2D Mario since Super Mario World, all of which were strong enough for the game to sell itself as a new experience as well.
Always seems to happen on subpages
Edited by Midna on May 29th 2023 at 10:15:40 AM
pearlina brainrot affects millions of people worldwide. if you or a loved one are suffering from pearlina brainrot, call 1-800-GAY-NERDS
I wanna be a cowboy, baby
Keep getting this ad about top 30 "inappropriate" cartoons on KarmicDeath.Fan Works. The ads lead to here, and is reportable to Google but apparently that's not doing much.
ETA: i got screenshots
Edited by worldwidewoomy on May 29th 2023 at 5:22:57 AM
Stan GaruKaru for clear skin
Been getting certain ads that automatically center into whatever page I'm browsing. Follows my browser too as I scroll. I can close it out but it's distracting and really annoying.
The Scrappy of the Trope Pantheon, God of Thumps
I have a 403 issue that involves my VPN. I use a Mcafee VPN and I believe it updated yesterday and when I go on TVT on any browser (switched to both US and Canada locations), it shows the 403 error. I could reload to the site if I turn it off but Im typing this on public wifi right now and I dont feel secure without the VPN. Is this just a Mcafee VPN issue or any VPN too?
Pantheon server for all who click here. Freaking lost $410 and I am hunting down for a nuke to reign down.
I'm Sad Frogerson.
I got an ad lately that redirected me to "https://strongpcprotect.com/mcafee-safe-browsing/?clkid=0359fxsy9whrn3y39b" that my anti-virus labeled as a potential malware site.
I looked up that one online, yup it's a virus site.
Edited by ZuggaluggalocoroG on Jun 2nd 2023 at 8:34:43 AM
Not even stars last forever.
he/him | Image Pickin' regular
Not sure if this belongs here or in the bugs query, but there's an ad after the A to E folder on Chick Tracts which apparently prevents me from seeing any of the tropes in that folder on mobile. This is what it looks like after clicking the "open/close all folders" button.
Edited by rjd1922 on Jun 4th 2023 at 9:36:50 AM
Keet cleanup
Basically canon
Still getting mid-paragraph ads
pearlina brainrot affects millions of people worldwide. if you or a loved one are suffering from pearlina brainrot, call 1-800-GAY-NERDS
This ad for Zyn Nicotine Pouches shows up at the bottom of the screen and blocks content. It also doesn't have any way to close it nor does it have a "Report advertisement" link. Don't know if this counts as a misbehaving ad, but a banner ad that can't be closed or reported normally is a huge red flag to me.
The website has basically become impossible to navigate on mobile because of this giant snus tobacco advertisement that takes up nearly the entire screen, doesn't seem to have an X anywhere to close it, and blocks out all text except for a sentence or two. It pops up after scrolling down 20-30% of the page and doesn't seem to go away unless I refresh the page. It seems to show up on the vast majority of pages I try to read, but some I've seen it on include:
https://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/VideoGame/Norco
https://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Series/Roseanne
https://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Film/REC
It does go away when I turn off Javascript for the page in chrome, but then I obviously can't reveal spoilers or click tabs open with javascript off. It's the same advertisement every time: