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.
Edited by kory on Nov 15th 2023 at 10:36:27 AM
NSFW auto-redirect: https://vip-flirtbooks.com/?u=eddkte4&o=71xbav2&x=1
Link to TRS threads in project mode here.I have the same problem as HalfFaust regards that Disneyland ad.
Edited by TheUnsquished on Apr 11th 2019 at 6:27:08 PM
(Annoyed grunt)Can confirm that full-screen Disneyland ad is very annoying, and sometimes prevents you from flipping your view from horizontal to vertical.
What's precedent ever done for us?I was also running into that ad on mobile.
Edited by Silasw on Apr 12th 2019 at 12:19:35 PM
“And the Bunny nails it!” ~ Gabrael “If the UN can get through a day without everyone strangling everyone else so can we.” ~ CyranSame, literally came up as I'm writing this.
Funny, I get the Texas version. I think it's related to the Dallas airport ads.
Clicking on the link sends me to https://www.traveltexas.com
Edited by crazysamaritan on Apr 21st 2019 at 11:15:43 AM
Link to TRS threads in project mode here.I keep getting a full-screen ad saying "visit Texas" that uses my phone's gyro to make a sort of Augmented Reality thing. Admittedly kind of cool, but very obstructive.
Keet cleanupGot an autoredirect.
she/her | TRS needs your help! | Contributor of Trope ReportThe problem of being forcibly redirected to scam websites that won't let me back out has been replaced with a forced fullscreen ad for "Colorado Lottery". It appears on every page on this site including the forums and the front page. It is faster and less intrusive to enable ad-block (which I normally disable for this site) and deal with the pop-up asking me to disable it. Could you please look into the matter.
Why waste time when you can see the last sunset last?I see other people have been getting the pop up disneyland ad. I've never had a pop up on mobile before and suddenly there's one on nearly every page.
I used to plug my deviantart here but turns out the link was too long.Continuing to get browser hijacks (on a new phone no less). This one wants me to think I won a new phone.
Got this link when I was browsing the Sailor Moon Crystal trivia section.
He/His/Him. No matter who you are, always Be Yourself.A new auto-redirect has infiltrated the site again via the forums:
Edited by Shadao on Apr 20th 2019 at 10:10:58 AM
http://adclick.g.doubleclick.net/pcs/click?adurl=https%3A%2F%2Fbrokerflag.com%2Fpage%2F%3FGP57BBtgoP2VyLqtlPlcMKFKD Auto-redirect caught by my antivirus
Absolute destiny... apeachalypse?Getting a looot of Auto redirects on mobile. Can hardly read anything
And I've got another link while I was browsing the Followed Threads tab: https://upgradegreatakamaiappclicks.top/OKRoOnMYwcmakffet--Afzfswjl7lihpzv8YcP-AR6w?clck=wN1J2A0VFLV5V71MH81O46CQ&sid=0306f361-a30d-4b8d-8a6b-2e2d9987cb3f
He/His/Him. No matter who you are, always Be Yourself.Got hit with an auto-redirect while I browsed my Following page. Swapped tabs, looked back, and I got moved to here (prepended https omitted):
prineseelickwaradows.pro/en/?search=AF VltDF86%15%2F%9B%9FEDB0%88g59D88&list=200000
And another redirect when I was on my following tab: https://sclerotialsector.club/?swim=phelps&brand=Apple&model=iPhone&td=track.magneticfriends.com&cep=tCJTePxTsUQwcvpXT36kMRiuD-K2G-89JzjFo7v4-7ck8WF6Yvi3gjPUT4uvWslGwofMwXUV5IQnhmsi0dcTeCvr_aMYLWh1NLyn0FR-_ZbMJHZUzDH9Qvo1EMNQ4BzcwNPNbIuHY6m7QU3acU6_xYLTF6BwzAD4LawwBoJWgiL52ZHW7Bh47rzte8LLULkqgrPcuCRj-SVilvL03O8V7fMChOmwCIBz81W6EGiKXgnf4oMPtq_7osPkDhtRLBf7fZRaf-x7XY0sUiwSJYUvZw&companyid=d10epv46tvtropes-org&pubid=d10epv46tvtropes-org&pixel=1556226009mb53644978425#
He/His/Him. No matter who you are, always Be Yourself.Yeah, I get the same thing, and I thought it was already gone a few months ago. Expect the .xyz ads to come back, and me having to waste time deleting its website data.
http://america.winyourprize.xyz/fb-gift/vol-s3-2.html
Also getting the forced redirect, though it's behind a bright red "Deceptive Website Warning" screen that's probably from the browser itself—it even showed up several times in a row while navigating here to report it. http://america.winyourprize.xyz/fb-gift/vol-s3-2.html
I got redirected to these while browsing the Video Game Caring Potential page...and again while trying to make this forum post. It’s happened so many times that I had to make this post in my phone’s notes app. The top one seems to redirect to the bottom one...
http://www.mobileadtreding.com/redirect1?trackid=2019042616070397
flag edit: nonbinary flag but Luigi
Ah, right. Auto-redirects are bad regardless.
"It's Occam's Shuriken! If the answer is elusive, never rule out ninjas!"