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 a particularly nasty rogue antivirus from the adserver here last night. Unfortunately, I'm not sure what ad caused this — I'm pretty sure it was open in a tab when it happened and I hadn't looked yet. The reason I'm sure it's from TV Tropes is that I only just disabled adblock here the other day, and it's not disabled on any other sites.
Thanks for the report. Unfortunately, we need a little more than that to do anything.
Goal: Clear, Concise and Witty
Lost in Space
Eddie, I'm getting a left frame ad with an audio component. It yells "Congratulations, you won" at me every time I load a page with the ad.
The iframe source is optimized-by.rubiconproject.com/a/8777/14415/29991-9.html.
I can't get it to load anymore, so maybe Rubicon took it out of rotation already. I'll copy the rest of the source if I see it again.
"It's Occam's Shuriken! If the answer is elusive, never rule out ninjas!"
Hi
I'm getting an ad that's popping up a "IE has blocked this website from displaying content with security certificate errors" message. The site is http://googleads.g.doubleclick.net/simgad/14711924889763968069 (the numbers after the last slash change every time this pops up)...I can't actually see the ad, just the window on the side.
edited 8th Feb '12 11:21:10 AM by Willbyr
Thanks. Problem reported.
Goal: Clear, Concise and Witty
You gotta get yourself some marble columns
Message popped up on Everything You Wanted To Know About Changing Names:
I went back and it was fine, so presumably it's one ad.
edited 14th Feb '12 10:02:53 AM by HersheleOstropoler
The child is father to the man —Oedipus
You're shivering. Are you afraid?
My antivirus caught something today:
Time: 2/16/2012 12:14:02 PM
Detected: HEUR:Trojan.Win32.Generic
Application: Plugin Container for Firefox
Object: http://nlwet.info/vyj27e6h/?1b4ab8446156301b541a515a5303050c0454045a575c570f0504070555095107;1;3
I believe it came from the Role Playing section of the fora.
Do not fear power... fear those who wield it.
Thanks. I'll forward the report.
Goal: Clear, Concise and Witty
Killing is my business
Though my antivirus didn't catch it from this site, I have seen the pop-up that leads to it appear in several pages here (the Daring Do page, being the most recent).
Xvid Setup.exe Detected: not-a-virus:Ad Ware.Win32.Screen Saver.e 2/18/2012 2:57:12 AM
Not sure if it's something from my end or not, but just in case, I'm giving you the heads up.
edited 18th Feb '12 1:52:33 AM by Rynnec
"I'll show you fear, there is no hell, only darkness." My twitter
Thanks. If you do see that popup again, please get a print screen. It will help them track down the miscreant.
Goal: Clear, Concise and Witty
Killing is my business
Thanks
Goal: Clear, Concise and Witty
Tief girl with eartude
I just had a file try to download while I was browsing the YKTTW: Screenprint
◊ - the adverts you can see in the screenprint were the only ones on the page.
EDIT: I got the same prompt just now on the message list. The "Explore Insight" advert seems to be the one the two pages have in common.
EDIT: Again; and the same thing happened when I posted the above edit.
edited 15th Mar '12 9:21:16 AM by Bisected8
TV Tropes's No. 1 bread themed lesbian. she/her, fae/faer
Hi
Thread moved to Tech Wishlist and Bug Reports since that forum is now clearly designated for reporting this kind of problem.
edited 15th Mar '12 11:31:57 AM by Willbyr
^^Thanks for the report. I've forwarded it to the ad provider.
edited 15th Mar '12 11:38:18 AM by FastEddie
Goal: Clear, Concise and Witty
Off-topic, but why is this thread clocked?
"For a successful technology, reality must take precedence over public relations, for Nature cannot be fooled." - Richard Feynman
Hi
I was wondering that myself...I hope I didn't clock it by accident yesterday after I moved it, because I sure didn't mean to if I did.
I see the Awesomeness.
Should the buglist thing from FAQ be moved here?
Fight smart, not fair.
I think that both Common TVTropes Bugs and How to Fix Them and Screwed up custom titles to fix could fit here, but enough of this derail - I'll holler.
I have a problem: at certain pages (like the quotes section of Call a Rabbit a "Smeerp") the page changes into the 'sign up' screen of a site called Badoo after a few seconds. this is really annoying: I can't read those pages anymore, because if I do alt+left, it just happens agian. this isn't normal, is it?
It's always good to take screenshots. Makes it easier to fix.
"For a successful technology, reality must take precedence over public relations, for Nature cannot be fooled." - Richard Feynman
^^I think you need to run a tool like AVG. It sounds like your browser has picked up a little virus.
I'm not sure if this is the right place, but some ads supposedly by clicksor randomly pop up when I try to click some potholes. Here's a shot.
◊ Is this normal?
No, it is not normal. What browser are you using?
Goal: Clear, Concise and Witty
I just gotta say. The Advertisement Server has gotten really cuddly lately. Real people actually responding to problematic ads.
I've got a bad feeling about this...
I despise hypocrisy, unless of course it is my own.