Just having a browse, as you do and suddenly get a ‘your computer is at risk’ popup.

Any one else had this recently (like last 10mins)?

yep had that a few weeks ago there was a thread on here about it then.

Something to do with hacked adverts.

Had to get laptop “cleaned” by IT work bods

What popped up? What happens if you click it?

If it’s not your anti-virus software then you may have been infected elsewhere. Run some reputable anti-spyware software.

If it was your anti-virus software, or a ‘safe-browsing’ feature of your browser, then it may be caused by a forum post containing an image linked from a site with a dodgy reputation. It’ll be harmless, but if you can find the image and/or thread, email the mods and we’ll remove it.

‘your computer is at risk’ is typically caused by misconfigured or outdated security software. If your security settings can be changed from browsing a website, your system has probably got bigger problems.

I had this appear out of the blue while browsing on here earlier, don’t know why or how
EDIT sorry, linky
http://www.clownarmy.org/
02.07.07 — The Clown Logs
Clownbattant’s reports from the front line

01.02.06 — BRCT in Sheffield
Full weekend Basic Rebel Clown training is taking place in Sheffield on the 25/26 March.

13.01.06 — CIRCA G8 shenanigans in new book
Shut them Down is out now and the whole text can also read online

21.11.05 — CIRCA on TV
CIRCA star in a new BBC 4 documentary about this year’s G8 protests Can you hear us? which is available for download.

06.11.05 — Unbearable poverty…
…affects G8 Pop stars – A new communique from CIRCA London

31.10.05 — Mission: Improbable…
… & The Backwards Intellegence Team: two new Clownbattent minimovies over at Schnews

ABOUT REBEL CLOWNING RECRUITMENT OPERATIONS REPORTS CONTACT

odd – “firefox prevented this site from opening a pop-up window” just now on this page 😐

happened to me on tuesday cant remember what page i opened but it was a security alert from google browser i use but i had no problem when i went from forum to classifieds.def not my pc thats infected….

Same yesterday, but Trend Micro stopped the advert from showing/blocked the pop-up. 😀

I had a problem last night. Browsing the forums and a web page popped up that looked like a Windows defender security page doing a scan which was finding loads of threats, it wasn’t a Windows address in the address bar though. Just closed it and ran a legit scan, no problems.

Gak!..

I think I know what’s to blame..

Sorry everyone. Sorting it now.

Gok’s brother?

An ad network with really poor controls over the ad selection that as it turns out doesn’t work.

I’d spent over an hour setting filters to ban poker ads, flash ads, pop ups and anything else other than what I felt was vaguely relevant but it seems that if any new advertiser ads new artwork then the filters don’t pick it up. Terrible Ad Network which I’ve now switched off completely.

FYI..

We use ad networks like Google Adsense and Criteo, and more recently (and on probation at the moment) AOL to deliver ads into the spaces that are not filled by contracted, bike industry advertising. These ads are sort of ‘fillers’ for when the main ads have reached their contracted quotas. The rates aren’t great but recently more companies have been offering Ad Network inventory to compete with the likes of Google. Most of them appear to be unreliable when it comes to their assurances of what controls we as the publisher have over what is displayed.

Our preference are for targeted ad delivery networks – these are ads that have some relevance to either cycling or to the topics being discussed in the page they are displayed on. Google are very good at this and many (not all) of the ads that are delivered by Google Adsense are contextual ads which means that the Adsense ‘engine’ has spotted some keywords on the page that the advertisers themselves have bid for in an auction. That’s why if we start a topic on helicopter – (HELICOPTER)tape we might start seeing ads over there —–> for helicopter rides or helicopter RC models etc..

Criteo is an interesting ad network that works differently to Adsense. It can be best demonstrated if you pop over to say, Halfords website (off the top of my head) browse around some products and then come back here and see what happens. This kind of advertising is called ‘retargetting’ and is meant to provide ads similar to the products you have just been looking at on various websites that are signed up to the system. These can be used by a company to, for example, display a better deal on a product you just looked at but didn’t buy. It’s designed to try and tempt you back after you have browsed but not bought.

I have good control over what can and can’t be shown through the Google Adsense system. I can ban specific ads or categories of ads. I can ban specific websites from having their ads displayed. The filter in the system is already quite full of around 30+ sites that I’ve added to our banned list and I do monitor it closely. The Criteo system has less controls as it will only show ads personal to you that are linked to what you have already been looking at elsewhere on the internet. You can opt out of the Criteo ad system for specific advertisers by clicking the ‘i’ symbol in the bottom corner of the Criteo ads that are delivered. That also takes you to a page on the Criteo website that explains in detail how the system works.

Yesterday I had activated an Ad Network called Clove Network. I’ve just deactivated it due to the problems you’ve reported on this thread. If anyone has any issues with the advertising on this site then please get in touch with me directly and I’ll do my very best to sort it out.

Pop ups annoy the living hell out of all of us and i’ll be all over those like a rash as soon as I hear of them, so don;t be shy in complaining to me about anything ad related. I do take it seriously.

Final word, ads are a neccessary evil. If we could run things without them we would but they provide a vital income stream for us to be able to keep the site running (recent server outages notwithstanding – again.. sorry for that) We appreciate that you are free to use whatever means you like to prevent ads from displaying in your own browser. But I ask that before you do that you consider that they are a vital part of our operation, we do try and make sure that they are at least relevant to you guys wherever possible and we do respond to issues or complaints around them. All we ask in return is that if you do choose to block them that you don’t publicise that fact to the rest of the users on our forum. It’s a personal choice that we respect but we think for quite obvious reasons and in the interests of everyone ultimately, it’s something that should kept out of general discussion on our forum.

So, do I get a £30 voucher for having seen a pop-up then 😉

Thanks for such a thorough reply Mark – will email direct if I spot anything again…

If you pay for a Premier account, do you still get ads? (serious question btw)

You get a reduced amount of ads Xiphon.

http://www.singletrackworld.com/premier/

‘reduced amount’ – why not 100% reduced, if I’m paying to view the website?

Surely the revenue stream from one persons subscription is more than what you may gain from ad views to that user?

‘reduced amount’ – why not 100% reduced, if I’m paying to view the website?

Your not paying to view the site, your paying for the extra features.

Drac – Moderator

‘reduced amount’ – why not 100% reduced, if I’m paying to view the website?

Your not paying to view the site, your paying for the extra features.

Fair point….. I think I’ll pass for the moment thanks.

Currently Premier users get to disable all ads apart from 1 MPU (That’s the square ones on the right) and one small shop ad (that’s the little rectangular ones). In addition section sponsors banners, like the CRC one at the top of this forum are also displayed.

It’s our plan to remove the MPU and small add completely from Premier users shortly.

Thanks Mark.

Out of principal, if I am ‘paying’ to access a site – and the whole of STW is included in this – then I object to ads being displayed.

In the same way we pay a TV license to not have any Ads on BBC.

not have any Ads on BBC

[hollow laughter]

ther’es probably 5 minutes of adverts an hour on the bbc at least, it’s just all for their own output.

[/hollow laughter]

premier is not paying to access to the site – it’s paying for additional content (a paywall, I guess, for the mag content).

Out of principal, if I am ‘paying’ to access a site – and the whole of STW is included in this – then I object to ads being displayed.

But your not paying to access the site, if you were you’d not be able to see anything as a non premier member. As the site is free then Ads are needed to pay towards the cost of the site, premier membership pays for extra features that the Ad revenue can’t stretch to.

It’s not compulsory to pay for for Premier so hence why the site is free and you have Ads just like ITV.

I think it’s already been said but access to this site is free. Always has been and always will as far as I can see. The premier system is a subscription to the mag, either via print or digital. We also offer Premier users the option of reducing the ads on the page and we also give them access to extra magazine content. The price of subscriptions to the mag have actually come down overall by 15% in the last 2 years. At the same time we’ve increased the content output to include these extra premier features. Without a doubt our subscribers, via the Premier system now get far more content for less than we have ever offered in the past ten years. At the present time reducing the ads on the site to zero, even for our subscribers, is just not in anyway financially feasible. So in short, if you are waiting for the site to have no ads before you subscribe then you won;t be subscribing in my lifetime. I’m still pretty confident that we offer our subscribers far more than any other magazine in the cycling world do and over the next year we will be offering even more.

Mark – interesting post above, where you explain the various networks. I work in that general area, so interesting to read the overall view.

Intriguingly, and perhaps coincidentally, Spotify has in the last couple of days had major issues with 3rd party ads firing malware about; I wonder if it’s related at all.

And finally – many of us understand that ads ensure the site and content remain free. With things like retargeting and (decent) behavioural targeting, some of them are even surprisingly relevant. If it means that we can still enjoy the melting pot of the forum for free (and charging for it would greatly reduce the number of contributors) it’s well worth it.