I have wondered this for sometime and thought I would ask. two questions:

1. Why the pop-ups on the MP site? I frequent a lot of websites and this is really the only one that I still get pop-ups on.

2. Why do you have to pay to have an avatar on MP? I know most websites have a premium option that you can pay for but you at least get to have an avatar without paying.

Just wondered! Thanks!

1. Do you see the ad on MousePad or MousePlanet or both? Can you look at it long enough to see what company or service is being advertised?

2. See this announcement for an explanation about subscriptions (http://mousepad.mouseplanet.com/announcement.php?f=19&a=45) and why we currently charge for avatars.

1. The pop-up today was on the mouseplanet.com page and it was for Netflix.

2. Thanks for the link, I still don't really understand though since other sites allow free avatars but whatever.

1. The pop-up today was on the mouseplanet.com page and it was for Netflix.There are pop-up blockers you can integrate into your web browser that are very effective. I use NoScript with Firefox.

2. Thanks for the link, I still don't really understand though since other sites allow free avatars but whatever.Okay.

I already have a pop-up blocker both at work and home which is why this is pretty much the only website I get popups on.

I already have a pop-up blocker both at work and home which is why this is pretty much the only website I get popups on.

Same here.

I'd be surprised if MousePlanet was the only website you're seeing this on.

The reason you get pop-ups isn't because we're trying to make money by allowing them. They show up because programmers come up with sneaky ways of getting past pop-up blockers.

When that happens, we need to go in and stop them. Unfortunately, most of our brilliant minds that have the power and access and ability to do that are on some boat in the middle of some ocean right now. The other sites admins have probably been able to take care of them already. ;)

Adrienne

Well, I am not lying. I just went through my favorites and the only site other than MP that had pop-ups was themoviespoiler.com. I checked Miceage, Facebook, MySpace, HPANA, themeparkreview, westcoaster, etc. and no pop-ups at home or at work.

I bet others have the same problem. A thread a while back had the tag "Where are your friends now?" which I believe was in reference to the pop-up we all used to get advertising a reunion site or something.

The only popups I had been getting were from tribalfusion -- usually advertising netflix, but sometimes other things. I get one popup from tribalfusion the first time I log into MousePlanet each day, whether at home or at work. It's mildly irritating, but I guess I expect it now and I'm used to it. I would be happier to NOT have anything from tribalfusion pop up, but whatever.

More disturbing is that two times in the last three days while reading threads on MP, my browser window has been taken over by xponlinescanner.com - and there's no way to make it go away other than to close the browser window. It brings up some bogus message about protecting your computer from spyware, but when you click "cancel" or "ignore," you get taken to the website (not posting the full link because I don't want people going there & causing trouble for themselves) -- xponlinescanner.com/2008/1/freescan.php?aid=7702412 .... if you click "back" to go back to MP, the bogus message pops up again & I have not found a way to get out of it. I googled the addy -- it's linked to a spyware/malware program. PLEASE look into this one because it seems to be kinda nasty for anyone who is fooled into thinking the message is genuine.

More disturbing is that two times in the last three days while reading threads on MP, my browser window has been taken over by xponlinescanner.com - and there's no way to make it go away other than to close the browser window.
That's not anything coming from MousePlanet or our approved ad partners -- you might want to go ahead and run Ad-Aware and/or Spybot immediately.

That's not anything coming from MousePlanet or our approved ad partners -- you might want to go ahead and run Ad-Aware and/or Spybot immediately.

I will try that - thanks. It could be sheer coincidence that I've only seen it pop up when I'm looking at MP. Of course, I spend quite a bit of time here - so if it's on some weird timer thing, the odds of it popping up when I happen to be looking at MP are probably pretty high.

I will try that - thanks. It could be sheer coincidence that I've only seen it pop up when I'm looking at MP. Of course, I spend quite a bit of time here - so if it's on some weird timer thing, the odds of it popping up when I happen to be looking at MP are probably pretty high.

I received the exact same problem yesterday when in the MP Disneyland Park Guide, so I do believe this is somehow being served up somehow on our pages.

XPOnlineScanner is a nasty virus/spyware that is really starting to make the rounds. Based on what I am reading in the security journals, it could have been picked up anywhere - photobucket and LiveJournal seem to be popular sources.

It may have come from here, but I am not finding anything to make me believe that is the case. Normally, if something like this were coming through one of our advertising channels, I would know about it pretty quickly, as all of the other websites would be screaming about it.

The program seems to install itself and then goes into lurking mode for a while. Then it starts to appear. As for it showing up when you visit MP, that is typical of the behavior. It is a trojan horse, and will open itself, based on some unknown parameter.

To get rid of it, I recommend using the Malwarebytes RogueRemover (http://www.malwarebytes.org/rogueremover.php). It is a very fast, and very effective tool - and they tend to keep very current with threats.

I've been reading more random stuff about it -- Star Tribune was hacked so that it caused the xponline stuff to come up, and apparently Classmates.com has also now been affected. One thing I read said that the xponline people hack into sites with relatively low security, and then insert poison code into banner ads. I don't know if it's true -- but I'm wondering if some legit ad on this site may have been compromised.

From what I understand, you don't get a virus on your computer (*crossing fingers*) as long as you don't agree to download the anti-virus software from xponline since their "anti-virus software" really IS the virus. I'm running a full scan on my computer right now & nothing has shown itself yet (I'm at work - hoping that our large company keeps its software up to date). I looked briefly through my cookies and didn't see anything that looked like it came from them -- but then again, if they're putting cookies on computers, they're likely disguising them.

I know not to download anything from sites I don't know/trust -- but I fear that many other people might not be quite as cautious. Plus, the windows xponline is popping up look pretty genuine as long as you have the standard color configurations for task bars & stuff. I've changed mine, so the fact that the borders of their windows were different than the borders of most of my windows made me suspicious.

I received the exact same problem yesterday when in the MP Disneyland Park Guide, so I do believe this is somehow being served up somehow on our pages.


Me too, when I was on the boards

To get rid of it, I recommend using the Malwarebytes RogueRemover (http://www.malwarebytes.org/rogueremover.php). It is a very fast, and very effective tool - and they tend to keep very current with threats.

I just ran this and it did not detect the virus so perhaps I just ran into the initial "fishing expedition". Thanks for the link though -- it's handy to have another tool in my arsenal. :)

The only popups I had been getting were from tribalfusion -- usually advertising netflix, but sometimes other things. I get one popup from tribalfusion the first time I log into MousePlanet each day, whether at home or at work. It's mildly irritating, but I guess I expect it now and I'm used to it. I would be happier to NOT have anything from tribalfusion pop up, but whatever.


This is also my only issue - the daily popup from tribalfusion. I also have all the necessary browser and anti-virus/anti popup programs installed. I'd love to never see that pesky tribalfusion window again, if possible!

Today I'm seeing a brand new annoying thing -- "ContentLink" ads. Random words (even the word "Fonts" in the toolbar as I'm typing this post) appear with double underlines -- running the mouse over the underlined words brings up a little ContentLink window. It's super-annoying.

Yes - it's a double underline so I *should* be able to tell when it's an ad and when someone is underlining something for emphasis or putting a link into a post. However, even if I know it's an ad, it still pulls my attention away from whatever I'm reading, which I am not digging in the slightest.

I'm working very hard on getting my daughter to not interrupt when people are talking. Do I need to talk to my computer to tell it not to interrupt when I'm reading? :rolleyes:

More disturbing is that two times in the last three days while reading threads on MP, my browser window has been taken over by xponlinescanner.com - and there's no way to make it go away other than to close the browser window. It brings up some bogus message about protecting your computer from spyware, but when you click "cancel" or "ignore," you get taken to the website (not posting the full link because I don't want people going there & causing trouble for themselves) -- xponlinescanner.com/2008/1/freescan.php?aid=7702412 .... if you click "back" to go back to MP, the bogus message pops up again & I have not found a way to get out of it. I googled the addy -- it's linked to a spyware/malware program. PLEASE look into this one because it seems to be kinda nasty for anyone who is fooled into thinking the message is genuine.

Today I'm seeing a brand new annoying thing -- "ContentLink" ads. Random words (even the word "Fonts" in the toolbar as I'm typing this post) appear with double underlines -- running the mouse over the underlined words brings up a little ContentLink window. It's super-annoying.

The EXACT same thing happened to me today!

On the plus side, I haven't gotten a tribalfusion ad today. Yay!!! :p

Today I'm seeing a brand new annoying thing -- "ContentLink" ads. Random words (even the word "Fonts" in the toolbar as I'm typing this post) appear with double underlines -- running the mouse over the underlined words brings up a little ContentLink window. It's super-annoying.

Yes - it's a double underline so I *should* be able to tell when it's an ad and when someone is underlining something for emphasis or putting a link into a post. However, even if I know it's an ad, it still pulls my attention away from whatever I'm reading, which I am not digging in the slightest.

I'm working very hard on getting my daughter to not interrupt when people are talking. Do I need to talk to my computer to tell it not to interrupt when I'm reading? :rolleyes:

I'm getting the same thing, in fact on your post I got it on the word computer. My computer froze up twice while on MP today.

This is one of those times where I really need to be a big bad meanie.

Web sites aren't cheap to run. They just aren't. We're looking at ways to tweak our advertising mix, and the context ads are one of the things that we're experimenting with. We turned off the Tribalfusion pop-under during this test, so you still only have one annoying ad type to deal with. I don't know what the eventual mix will be, but there will always be ads on MousePad unless you subscribe to the ad-free version.

None of them should be causing your computer to freeze - THAT we need to know about, and are now looking into.

I don't mean to be harsh, but it's just the reality of life on the interwebs. Our wonderful MousePlanet columnists and staff deserve to be paid, our hosting company expects to be paid, vBulletin expects to be paid... the funds have to come from somewhere.

AVP

I completely understand the ads that keep MP running, and they don't bother me. I am just concerned about getting a virus. A few times today as I am typing in the reply box, the letters I am typing don't appear right away. It's on about a 3 second delay????

I wasn't insinuating that MP does not deserve to make money. However, I don't know which ads are supposed to be there and which aren't and I thought that this would be the forum to discuss it.

After reading more and more stuff online, I'm seeing that ContentLink is "reputable" if a bit annoying. I suppose I can get used to it. One site I saw (a message board - but I don't remember which one) had ContentLink running for guests on the site, but it was blocked for members. Might something like that be an option?

I do think it's important to bring up new things we're seeing in case they're really not supposed to be here (like the xponlinescanner stuff). Getting advertising revenue for MP is a good thing. Possibly getting viruses when clicking on the wrong thing whilst playing on MP is a bad thing.

MrsGrumpy: stuff I've been reading about ContentLink indicates that it can slow down page loading (which I believe is what's affecting the typing) - so I'm thinking it's a bandwidth issue rather than a virus issue. I've got the slowdown while the stuff loads, but once it loads (on each page), things seem to run ok.