RESOLVED: Irritating Audio Ads

1. 94

   Thomas Swanposted 10 years ago

   This probably isn't a bug, but it's annoying and I wish Hubpages wouldn't do it. There is an ad which plays sound appearing on some of my hubs. I think it's a cricket ad with the sound of a bat hitting a ball, and a crowd cheering. The ad is also one which appears right at the bottom of the page, so it's hard to see where the noise is coming from.
   
   It's very annoying when you suddenly hear a sound out of the blue like that. Personally, I always close a page the moment that happens, and I expect others do too. Even if it attracts a few more clicks in the short term, the number of people who instantly close the page will cause search rankings to suffer, and less earnings in the long run. Please stop the audio ads.

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   1. 90

      DzyMsLizzyposted 10 years agoin reply to this

      It's not only Hub Pages.  It happens on Face Book, too, and I've even had it happen in the middle of a TV show I was trying to watch online on Hulu (dot) com.
      It is annoying in the extreme, and I agree with you 10K%--what on earth possesses these companies to think such tactics will make us think well of their products???  I, for one, will boycott that product.

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      1. 94

         Thomas Swanposted 10 years agoin reply to this

         Agreed DzyMsLizzy, it's become more of a problem recently. I think quite highly of Hubpages, so I'm surprised it's happening here. I usually find it only happens on rubbish, spammy sites. To be fair, it doesn't seem to happen too often here on HP.

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   2. 85

      Jayne Lancerposted 10 years agoin reply to this

      I absolutely agree with you, Thomas, but I don't think it's anything HubPages can change. I noticed the same thing happen on a friends blog where he runs ads by Adsense. He was quite concerned when I told him, but didn't seem to be able to do anything about it.

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      1. 94

         Thomas Swanposted 10 years agoin reply to this

         That's certainly possible Jayne. I would have thought Adsense would give their bigger customers more of a choice over what kind of ads are displayed though. Too many audio ads could seriously damage a site's reputation.

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   3. 69

      Matthew Meyerposted 10 years agoin reply to this

      This could be malware or a rogue ad that has slipped into multiple promotional networks.
      My understanding is that audio is only permitted when it starts after a user action like clicking the ad.
      Try clearing your browser cache and cookies first.
      Then if you are still running into ads that play audio without user interaction on HubPages.com, let us know (a screen shot is many times helpful to track down a specific ad) and we can do further research to see if it is in one of the ad networks and report it.

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      1. 94

         Thomas Swanposted 10 years agoin reply to this

         Thanks Matthew,
         My browser should delete cache and cookies upon close. The rogue ad appeared on my hubpages profile this morning. It played automatically without any user action. It's `sky sports' so I don't think it's malware. Here is a screenshot of it on my profile:
         
         

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         1. 69

            Matthew Meyerposted 10 years agoin reply to this

            So the ad is showing on your profile page?
            Is it still present?
            With these additional details, I can do some additional research.
            
            You may still want to do a malware/adware scan and disable all browser plugins, extensions, toolbars just to make sure that isn't the issue.
            
            If any other people are seeing this same ad and it is playing audio with no user interaction (including mouse over), please let us know as well.
            
            

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            1. 94

               Thomas Swanposted 10 years agoin reply to this

               It's not there now, though I assume it will be back again at some point. I just did a search on hubpages for something (using the search box at the top) and the ad came up on the results page. So it's still coming up on the site and playing automatically.
               
               I'll do a scan with superantispyware and malwarebytes to see if anything shows, but Sky is quite a big company so I wouldn't expect them to be doing anything malicious. I've disabled a firefox extension and a plugin but they didn't appear to be related.

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               1. 69

                  Matthew Meyerposted 10 years agoin reply to this

                  Thanks Thomas.
                  I have reported the issue to our ad team, so hopefully we can track down the ad and get it blocked or removed.
                  As a temporary workaround, you may be able to get the ad content to change by clearing your cookies.

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               2. 69

                  Matthew Meyerposted 10 years agoin reply to this

                  I heard back from our advertising team and it looks like this could be a rogue Google ad. Unless something has changed with their policy, auto-audio ads are not permitted in their network.
                  
                  I know it is hard to get the add to display consistently, but it you can please provide the following additional details.
                  
                  1. I just want to confirm that the the ad is a fixed 300x250 pixel size that auto-plays without a mouse over or click of any kind.
                  
                  2.You can report the ad by clicking on the "AdChoices" link in the top right hand corner of the ad. Scroll all the way down on the page that opens and report the ad.
                  
                  3. We need to see the ad or get the clickstring in order to report it to Google

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                  1. 94

                     Thomas Swanposted 10 years agoin reply to this

                     Thanks for dealing with it.
                     It definitely plays automatically. Sometimes I have to scroll down the page to see where the noise is coming from. I cropped the ad from my screenshot and it's exactly 300x250 pixels.
                     
                     After making sure my cache and cookies were all deleted, I just browsed HP for 10 minutes or so, and the ad didn't come up, so maybe that did have an effect. There was no adware or malware on my comp.
                     
                     I'll try to copy the full URL for where the ad directs to the next time I see it and also report it myself using the method you outlined.

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                     1. 69

                        Matthew Meyerposted 10 years agoin reply to this

                        Thanks Thomas!

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                        1. 94

                           Thomas Swanposted 10 years agoin reply to this

                           Hi Matthew,
                           
                           The ad came up again today, and on this very forum page! Here is a screenshot:
                           
                           
                           
                           I right-clicked and said copy link location:
                           http://adclick.g.doubleclick.net/aclk?s … 1c339424S2
                           
                           Then I did copy video location: http://www.radiumone-marketinguk.com/sk … t_VP8.webm
                           
                           Cllicking on adchoices gave an unexpected result. It didn't bring up an adsense page. It brought up this: http://www.radiumone.com/oba/website-ad.html
                           
                           The page says "This ad was delivered by RadiumOne."
                           
                           "RadiumOne is an online ad network. Through our unique Sharegraph ™ process, we enable advertisers to identify people who are most likely to interact with their ads. RadiumOne does not use Personally Identifiable Information (PII) of any kind."
                           
                           "The ads that RadiumOne selects may be customized based upon sites that you have visited, interactions with our ads, your geographic location, or other factors. Please read our privacy policy for more details about our ad selection process."
                           
                           "People who do not want to receive customized ads can opt out of the ad matching process (also known as "behavioral advertising"). If you opt out, you will still see ads, but the advertising you see will not be customized to suit your interests. Learn more about your RadiumOne opt-out options and exercise your choice by clicking here. For information about the partners we work with and your opt-out options for them, click here."
                           
                           "RadiumOne is a member of several organizations that promote transparency, choice, and user privacy in online advertising and we have adopted the best practices recommended by them. These organizations include:"
                           
                           Is this ad company part of the Hubpages Ad Program?

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                           1. 69

                              Matthew Meyerposted 10 years agoin reply to this

                              I have forwarded this information to our ad team and will let you know what I hear.
                              Thanks again for all the helpful details!

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                           2. 69

                              Matthew Meyerposted 10 years agoin reply to this

                              We reported this sky.com cricket ad to Google and were able to block it.
                              Google is also escalating this ad to the AdX team so that they can remove it from the network.
                              Radium One is a buyer through AdX.

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                              1. 94

                                 Thomas Swanposted 10 years agoin reply to this

                                 Thanks Matthew. That's great news! I'm glad hubpages is committed to removing these kinds of ad from the site.

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                                 1. 69

                                    Matthew Meyerposted 10 years agoin reply to this

                                    Thanks for helping us with the details so we could get this one crushed

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                                    1. 94

                                       Thomas Swanposted 10 years agoin reply to this

                                       Hi again Matthew,
                                       
                                       I just got a different ad playing automatically in the same way:
                                       
                                       Link Location: http://adclick.g.doubleclick.net/aclk?s … 7c340449S2
                                       
                                       Video location: http://www.radiumone-marketinguk.com/sk … l_VP8.webm
                                       
                                       So, another radiumone ad for sky sports but this one is about football (soccer). It's the same size and position as the other one, 300x250.

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                                       1. 69

                                          Matthew Meyerposted 10 years agoin reply to this

                                          Thanks Thomas. I have passed these details on to our advertising team.

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                                       2. 69

                                          Matthew Meyerposted 10 years agoin reply to this

                                          I have a follow-up question from our ad team as well as other steps to help block these ads.
                                          
                                          On what page (URL) did you see this newest ad?
                                          
                                          The team also suggested banning sky.com in your own AdSense account to prevent it from appearing on your share of impressions. I you have already blocked sky,com, then could be an issue on Google's end. We are following up with Google to see how long it takes for their teams to completely remove ads from rotation.

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                                          1. 94

                                             Thomas Swanposted 10 years agoin reply to this

                                             Thanks, it was on my hub: http://thomasswan.hubpages.com/hub/Top- … ier-League
                                             
                                             I didn't know I could block certain ads. I'll try to do that now.

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                                             1. 69

                                                Matthew Meyerposted 10 years agoin reply to this

                                                We have blocked the advertiser as well, so hopefully that means the end of this particular set of ads on the site. Thanks again for helping us by providing useful details to track these down!

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                                 2. 82

                                    Marina Lazarevicposted 10 years agoin reply to this

                                    Hi Thomas! Matthew is out of the office today but I wanted to check in on this. Have you seen any of these Radium One ads since yesterday? Thanks!

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                                    1. 94

                                       Thomas Swanposted 10 years agoin reply to this

                                       No, and thank you both, but your message is quite coincidental because I had a different audio ad auto-playing on one of my hubs today. This was a tribalfusion link I think. Right-clicking didn't allow me to get the same information about it though. Clicking adchoices took me to this page: http://www.youronlinechoices.com/uk/
                                       
                                       It was on my hub: http://hubpages.com/hub/Top-10-Most-Bea … -The-World
                                       
                                       Same position (one of the square-ish ads at the bottom, 300x250)

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                                    2. 82

                                       Marina Lazarevicposted 10 years agoin reply to this

                                       It's helpful to know that it was a Tribal Fusion link! We already have audio ads blocked in our Tribal Fusion settings, so to report this ad we'll need the clickstring. Clickstring + screenshot (like you provided with the Radium One ads) is ideal. I'll also be on the lookout for the ad. Thanks for your help!

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2. 83

   grand old ladyposted 10 years ago

   You can get rid of those unwanted ads through your settings. They seem to come up when you get an offer of something and you click it, or a message that says you need something. NEVER click anything even if they say you need it. Then you have to get rid of those irritating ads again through your settings.

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   1. 90

      DzyMsLizzyposted 10 years agoin reply to this

      I NEVER, EVER click on anything!  Sometimes, all it takes is for your mouse to accidentally hover over something, and the damned thing auto-plays.
      I have yet to find any 'settings' that eliminate the problem.

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   2. 94

      Thomas Swanposted 10 years agoin reply to this

      Hi grandoldlady, thanks for the info. Much like DzyMsLizzy I never click on anything and haven't found a setting that stops audio ads. These aren't pop-ups. They're just ads embedded on the page/hub. I'd like to know the setting though.

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3. 78

   psycheskinnerposted 10 years ago

   These are not clicked ads but automatic expansion ads.  I would hope Hubpages opts out of them as they are essential mouseover popups.

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   1. 94

      Thomas Swanposted 10 years agoin reply to this

      I know the one's you mean psycheskinner, but the one that played on my hub wasn't a mouseover ad. I know because I hadn't actually gone into the hub yet (I'd loaded the hub in another tab), so my mouse couldn't have been over the ad. Also the ad was at the bottom of the page and it took some time to scroll through to locate it.

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4. 78

   psycheskinnerposted 10 years ago

   If it was totally autoplay that is already not permitted by Adsense.

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   1. 94

      Thomas Swanposted 10 years agoin reply to this

      I don't know if all HP ads are adsense. If so, then maybe the ad was a mistake that has since been taken off adsense.

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5. 94

   Thomas Swanposted 10 years ago

   I've found the ad again, this time on a different site. It's an ad from Sky Sports with the words "Your home of cricket" and the sound of a bat hitting a ball with a crowd cheering. It played automatically on "thesaurus.com" without me putting the cursor over it.
   
   If I run the mouse over the ad it gives this address: adclick.g.doubleclick.net...
   
   I think this is adsense right? If so, then google has either changed their policy about audio ads playing automatically, or it's a mistake.

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6. 68

   ilikegamesposted 10 years ago

   I would think they would spend some of their ad budget on studies that show that it only makes us hate your brand if you use audio or other obtrusive advertising methods.

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   1. 94

      Thomas Swanposted 10 years agoin reply to this

      Agreed!
      This is incredible, but the ad just appeared on this page too! It was one of the two square ads at the bottom. Perhaps when I mentioned what the ad was about, the information found it's way into the program that decides what ad to put on the page. I doubt everyone will get the same ad, but it might be more likely to come up now.

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7. 90

   DzyMsLizzyposted 10 years ago

   The ones I have seen are for a multitude of different companies.  They are not specific to Hub Pages.  They happen on Face Book and other sites as well.
   
   One night, they were a positive nightmare of frequent intrusions into a TV show I was trying to watch on HULU (dot) com.
   For that, I had my mouse "parked" way off in a blank corner of the screen, and was not touching it...the ads played anyway.
   
   Normally, I don't bother to turn on my speakers, so in that case, they can't bother me.  But if I am trying to watch a video clip of news, or what have you, it is damnably annoying and intrusive.

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   1. 69

      Matthew Meyerposted 10 years agoin reply to this

      Please limit you posts in this official technical issue forum to this specific ad problem on HubPages.com.
      
      If you would like you can start a forum thread about ads on other sites in the freeform section here.
      http://hubpages.com/forum/category/6631

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      1. 90

         DzyMsLizzyposted 10 years agoin reply to this

         Oh, for the love o'pete!  I just saw the title of the post; I did not realize this was an "official technical forum" post.
         Paaaaaardonnn me!
         
         I merely thought it might be helpful to point out that Hub Pages is not the only victim of this sort of thing.

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         1. 94

            Thomas Swanposted 10 years agoin reply to this

            I've seen it on other sites too, such as TV streaming sites. With those, I just take it as a given that I'll need to make sacrifices to watch those programmes
            
            I try to avoid facebook now, but it doesn't surprise me that they're guilty of it too. If they're particularly invasive, you might have some kind of adware on your comp. I would recommend the programs "superantispyware" and "malwarebytes". I've been able to rely on those for many years.

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8. 85

   Jayne Lancerposted 10 years ago

   I just got one on a forum thread. It was at the bottom of the page right. Unfortunately, I closed the tab before I even thought of taking a screen shot. It wasn't for Sky Sports, though. It was a baby sucking its thumb and a female voice-over.

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   1. 94

      Thomas Swanposted 10 years agoin reply to this

      Perhaps that was also a RadiumOne ad (see above). Looks like Hubpages has some tweaks to make to its ad providers!

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      1. 85

         Jayne Lancerposted 10 years agoin reply to this

         It's happened again twice today. Once on my profile page and once on a forum thread - again bottom right. They make me jump out of my skin. I can't imagine them being of benefit to anybody, least of all the advertisers!

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9. 61

   The Examiner-1posted 10 years ago

   Do you search  a browser or YouTube for insects?

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