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
Any pronouns
My friend told me that she saw an anti-Palestine propaganda ad on this site recently. The caption was "Hamas Terrorists Release Videos of Kidnapped Babies" and "Do You Stand With Israel?" Anyone else getting it?
We are the best friends, we stand as one. Whatever life may bring, we are never alone.
I'm getting ads for LeoVegas that automatically play sound.
The ad in question
This is a title.
I was on Shaman King and after a few second I was automatically redirected to another site. I closed the tab before whatever the other site was loaded, but according to my history it was adpointrtb.com.
You fell victim to one of the classic blunders!
One-Track Mind (he/him)
![[up]](https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/smiles/arrow_up.png "[up]"){kind=icon}
Put that in the OP then, cuz it seems like people are ignoring this part of the rule.
I'm having a hard time getting the LeoVegas ad's source since it doesn't always show up, and whenever it does, it only stays for a short while before being replaced with a different ad. I think this is it:
Just saw an ad come up today that I want to take issue with. It’s from a group called Mercy Ship and it shows a girl with a grotesque, hideous tumor on her neck. Could this please be removed, or could the group be asked to provide a less triggering image? If I wanted to look at stuff like this, I’d take a job in the health care field or something similar.
Unlike other body horror images, which one can easily avoid by not visiting the page again, this inflicts itself on the reader unasked and, like most of the ads that pop on the site, lingers on the page.
And no, I’m not paying extra to go ad free. Can’t afford it.
Many thanks.
I'm still getting the noisy LeoVegas ad. If it helps, here's the source of the video played in the ad:
https://c.bannerflow.net/bf-videos/55634292f50b9632e4f4c59a/Comp%201_3-8ddfd0224b0c49f8bce78cccd9655d90.mp4
Admin
It looks like the Leo Vegas ads are custom coded so we are attempting to just block them from showing up entirely. Let us know if this ad, or any others, auto-play sound. If it shows up again try to click on the Ad Choice button and tell us where that leads you or a screenshot of the console filtered by "tvtropes_dt_inview" for the ad info.
Edited by kory on Nov 29th 2023 at 11:38:31 AM
Now monitoring Wishlist and Bugs
I've been auto-redirected twice by some ads to a scam page telling me I could win a free tablet or gift card. Here's the Redirect Path info. I've edited the URLs to remove some personal information.
Status Code URL IP Page Type Redirect Type Redirect URL 302 https://trackmaster.cc/visit.php?k=e0e0a0823dc7851354e5cd53a71d0d72&c=159&bid_id=3864-1e8ebe4ca4bb011-311&pub=tvtropes.org&exchange=gothamads-cpm-rtb-vo&ip=X&browser=X&os=X&subage=%7Bsubage%7D&cc=XX&time=1y7v0e1l7p2y8v8x9l7q7u2g6&browserv=X&site_id=tvtropes.org_eb9d9eb7dbb0&sec_id=70ebb8f56614975ebea3701907277722&xrtb_id=WtShzQDGdgL4&ifm_ori=3||tvtropes.org||tvtropes.org||tvtropes.org&banner_id=YueHP&a_href_id=bQqQ&scid_bak=1c41d66b534abcb1ae4074295f71c147&scip_bak=44d4a7a4ee1b6871754a6aa784f2fef2&tmid_flg=MKTackwaMxTic0y0O7Dg5OQO0O0OO0O0O&click_type=pop 34.74.68.195 server_redirect temporary http://xyzcreators.xyz/bonus/com-ca-6719/lp1.php?c=4jzltix3z5pz0&k=747f7eca3e658b9a396e3d9a76e98d5e&country_code=XX&carrier=-&country_name=X®ion=X&city=X&isp=X&lang=en&os=X&osv=&browser=X&browserv=X&brand=Desktop&model=Desktop&marketing_name=Desktop&tablet=4&rheight=768&rwidth=768&e=5 200 https://xyzcreators.xyz/bonus/com-ca-6719/lp1.php?c=4jzltix3z5pz0&k=747f7eca3e658b9a396e3d9a76e98d5e&country_code=XX&carrier=-&country_name=X®ion=X&city=X&isp=X&lang=en&os=X&osv=&browser=X&browserv=X&brand=Desktop&model=Desktop&marketing_name=Desktop&tablet=4&rheight=768&rwidth=768&e=5 172.64.80.1 normal none none
Basically canon
I just got an ad for a designer label called Missioni that seemed to actively scroll the page down so it would take up the entire screen. I actually had to do a non-trivial amount of scrolling to get back to where I was. Could be wrong about its behavior but this is one to watch out for
Re: the last page; I'm afraid I'm on mobile, so access to a console is not an option
pearlina brainrot affects millions of people worldwide. if you or a loved one are suffering from pearlina brainrot, call 1-800-GAY-NERDS
An ad from Cavender's Boot City opens itself and covers the page without my input. I can't seem to find the source link to the ad because I'm on Firefox, but I have provided a screencap.
.
EDIT: The ad opened a website without my permission, but my browser security stopped it. I was able to get the link from that.
Link is: https://www.kargo.com/privacy
.
Edited by HouseLyrander on Dec 6th 2023 at 3:57:41 AM
I'm running into a problem it only happens when I'm browsing TV Tropes. I'll suddenly, without being prompted, be redirected to a page claiming to be a warning from Mc Afee. I don't even use Mc Afee, so I can't tell what the deal is and strongly suspect there's a scammer out for me. Any way I can fix this? I hate being redirected against my will like this.
"Any campaign world where an orc samurai can leap off a landcruiser to fight a herd of Bulbasaurs will always have my vote of confidence"
uwu
Recently (as in, after the data transfer), I sometimes run into this popup ad, which is annoying. So far, I have encountered it in NightmareFuel.The New Order Last Days Of Europe.
Edited by Excessive-Menace on Dec 10th 2023 at 3:44:05 AM
THE GOLDEN AGE WILL RETURN AGAIN!
Basically canon
Those "scroll to continue reading" ads are just the worst. They mess up the scrolling for the entire rest of the page after them, so if you try to scroll in one direction it scrolls in the opposite direction for a bit first before it decides to listen to you. This effect stacks if there are multiple such ads. The kicker - most of them just display blank squares. Literally just wasting bandwidth to make your reading experience worse
Again, no console, on mobile, can't tell you which ad service is providing them
(Also still getting mid-paragraph ads)
Edited by Midna on Dec 11th 2023 at 8:58:44 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
hey, not sure if this is a problem with my end or the site's end, but the square ads on pages occasionally break boundaries to the point of covering page content and messing with the scrolling.
screenshot link
◊, on VideoGame.Furcadia apparently the same Cavender's Boot City ad as this msg.
Edited by worldwidewoomy on Dec 11th 2023 at 9:59:16 AM
Stan GaruKaru for clear skin
I'm still getting redirected to "xyzcreators.xyz". I posted some redirect info in my above post, and has a screenshot of the page.
Admin
Someoneman,
Did you get that URL using a redirect plugin to capture the first URL in the chain? I haven’t used it myself so just double checking. Wouldn’t want to block a URL that is after the first one as it wouldn’t help.
Edited by kory on Dec 17th 2023 at 9:51:08 AM
Now monitoring Wishlist and Bugs
Yes, I used the "Redirect Path" plugin to get the redirect URL.
Admin
Okay thanks, we will pass this info along to the advertising partners on the site and hopefully this provides enough info for them to identify the offending party and block it. Just keep in mind due to the nature of the advertising ecosystem, even if this path is blocked, it may arise from another path at a later time.
Edited by kory on Dec 18th 2023 at 11:05:38 AM
Now monitoring Wishlist and Bugs
I got another forced redirect, this time to a fake McAfee antivirus scan. Redirect Path's urls (once again edited to remove personal information) are:
https://trackinghub.info/visit.php?k=e0e0a0823dc7851354e5cd53a71d0d72&bid_id=3864-d7638da33d9ffc8-833&browser=XX&browserv=120.0.0.0&c=159&cc=XX&exchange=gothamads-cpm-rtb-vo&ifm_ori=3%7C%7Ctvtropes.org%7C%7Ctvtropes.org%7C%7Ctvtropes.org&ip=174.93.216.183&mod=h&os=windows&pub=tvtropes.org&sec_id=65b55b0c69a52d1de5a7dd681d02d024&site_id=tvtropes.org_eb9d9eb7dbb0&subage=%7Bsubage%7D&time=1z7i0y2d9v5z2q0v5v8h5w1o0&xrtb_id=bb1ef6caeb5cb0312ced2b7ad5fe661a&scid_bak=1c41d66b534abcb1ae4074295f71c147&scip_bak=44d4a7a4ee1b6871754a6aa784f2fef2&tmid_flg=MKTackwaMxjik010M7jA2MQO0O0OO0O0O&click_type=pop
http://us.vulnerabilityassessments.life/en/dt/mcafee-4.php?c=4jzndrvfz7cz1&k=9c51ee531000a3a0a9fbe43e2ae2627e&country_code=XX&carrier=-&country_name=XX®ion=XX&city=XX&isp=XX&lang=en&os=XX&osv=&browser=XX&browserv=120&brand=Desktop&model=Desktop&marketing_name=Desktop&tablet=4&rheight=768&rwidth=768&e=5 200 http://us.vulnerabilityassessments.life/en/dt/mcafee-4.php?c=4jzndrvfz7cz1&k=9c51ee531000a3a0a9fbe43e2ae2627e&country_code=XX&carrier=-&country_name=XX®ion=XX&city=XX&isp=XX&lang=en&os=XX&osv=&browser=XX&browserv=120&brand=Desktop&model=Desktop&marketing_name=Desktop&tablet=4&rheight=768&rwidth=768&e=5
![[tup]](https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/thumbs_up_emote.png "[thumb up]"){kind=small}
Since some weeks ago, I started to get game-like ads which occupied the entire screen. Fortunately those had a close button. Now I'm getting new ads which take all the screen width, and no close button. Here is the example:
The origin seems to be related to Argentinian presidential candidate Juan Schiaretti ad managers (heh, politics ruinning my experience with TV Tropes). Just to be clear, I'm bugged about the size the ad takes overlapping the site content, not the ad content (I'm in Argentina, and next Sunday are the presidential elections here, so it's ok - and while we have a "party ad banning" from this morning, I presume the times the digital ads are shown are outside their control (this afternoon I saw ads from other candidates in Youtube)).
Edit: I had to activate the ad-blocker in order to write this post. I'll try to see other tropes pages with the blocker disabled.
Edited by ElCutta on Oct 20th 2023 at 10:53:28 AM