Why am I being redirected to pop-up ads when I click on links such as new questions or new activity on Fluther?

Are you definitely logged in to your account? The ads should only show if you are not logged in. If you are logged in, make sure you have pop-up blocker turned on.

I’m posting, aren’t I? I created this question, didn’t I? I just got re-directed just now, trying to get to this question.

Sorry for trying to help you!

It sounds like you might have picked up some malware or a redirect virus of some kind from some website. Or depending on what your browser is, it could be software (an add-on) that you accidentally installed at some point. If it is an add-on, I’m sure someone will be along with a recommendation.

If it’s malware, I would start by installing Malwarebytes’ anti-malware software (this is what I use; I’m sure there are others you could try – but it’s free and a good product), and let it run a full scan on your computer. It might take an hour or so, so patience is a must.

There are other questions about this on Fluther, so you may want to do a bit of searching here, too.

Your computer must be haunted. I’ve never seen that before.

Oh yes! @glacial reminded me that this happened on a computer at work and it was a virus.

OK, thanks @janbb I’ll look into it.

@glacial You scared the bejessus out of me, posting the download link. I clicked it for info and it auto-downloaded and I’m like “NO! NOW I HAVE THE VIRUS!! ...oh, wait.”

Haha.

@Seek_Kolinahr It autodownloaded??? When I navigated to it, it was just a link to the page with the download. I’m perplexed.

I’ll request that the link in my post be changed. That’s not cool.

That’s definitely not something on our end. Usually, it is malware on your computer. I second the Malwarebytes recommendation.

Here’s the right link: http://www.malwarebytes.org/

[mod says] @glacial link has been disabled, since it was doing the auto-download thing. I couldn’t edit it, unfortunately.

We have put not just one, but two malware services on our computer, and run an updated virus scan. It’s still running extremely slow, the re-directs keep coming, and some links just won’t load at all. I can’t think of anything else to do except get a new computer, which seems stupid because the thing does work, just not on the internet so well.

Back up your data and do a clean installation of windows?

I just got spam from Fluther asking me to fill out a survey on how well I liked the site. Really??? Come on!!!

Thanks, @augustlan!

@snowberry, have you tried using a different browser? Do the popup ads still occur with the same frequency? That might help us figure out what is wrong.

Hmmm, I am not computer savvy. Hubby wants to use IE, for whatever reason. It just started happening. I will ask him.

IE – the #1 Browser for Downloading A Better Browser.

Seriously. Firefox or Chrome. I use Chrome, personally, but I use a lot of Google stuff.

Chrome + Adblock.

@snowberry Oh dear, you will now incur the wrath of the anti-IE Flutherverse. I’m an IE user, too. But it would be a good idea to switch to Firefox for a day, just so you can tell whether your browser is the issue. If it is, it’s likely fixable.

I think the newer IEs get a bum rap. I use all three browsers and find each of them fine.

Yeah, we’re definitely not sending out spam surveys. What the heck? Good luck with getting it figured out, @snowberry!