What is wrong with Avsim?

[MarcG 2,956]

2 minutes ago, vgbaron said:

If you are getting a lot of popup ads and redirects, you seriously need to look at your phone's security setup

Sorry but no, read my post above and the *countless* posts on this in the past, this is to do with AVSim *NOT* users mobile devices (I'm not talking about PC here where my Adblocker works just fine).

[Zangoose 1,631]

I’m sorry but our devices do not have malware on. The redirects are occurring because of the ads that are being ran on this forum.

This is also happening on iOS devices that your malware link guide would not even apply to. It also only happens to this site that I visit and clearly by the posts in this thread, I’m not the only one.

The issue also resolves itself when you simply block the ads this site runs.

Edited April 23, 2022 by Zangoose

[qqwertz 780]

15 minutes ago, MarcG said:

Sorry but no, read my post above and the *countless* posts on this in the past, this is to do with AVSim *NOT* users mobile devices (I'm not talking about PC here where my Adblocker works just fine).

Exactly. For me, it exclusively happens on Avsim, not on any other site. It has happened occasionally the last 1-2 years, but the last few days it is particularly annoying. I have read about this problem and learned that it happens with malicious advertisements that use Javascript to create overlays that display above the actual web page, or redirect the user to a different site. In the past, I was able to block those web pages by denying them access to Javascript etc, but the recent problem is much more persistent. I am surprised I can even write this post; most of the time, the redirect starts within 5-30 seconds after I open the Avsim page (without clicking on anything, not even a bookmark link).

It appears to me that this is a problem with Avsim's choice of advertisers. I cannot use a general ad blocker since that would disable some other web pages that I frequent. It would be nice if Avsim could disable advertisements for donors in some way.

Edited April 23, 2022 by qqwertzde

[neucoas 82]

17 minutes ago, vgbaron said:

Firstly - I am NOT speaking as an Admin or MOD of Avsim - 

I have not seen any ads using Chrome with adblock on my pc.

I rarely use my Samsung Galaxy phone to connect to Avsim as it's difficult to see but in the few times that I have, I have seen very few ads. If you are getting a lot of popup ads and redirects, you seriously need to look at your phone's security setup

 

also moving this to Hangar Chat

Are you serious?
 

You have no idea what you are talking about. This has nothing to do with phone security setup. 

you would see the same thing if you where using your desktop without adblocks. 
 

Safari doesn’t have that on iPhone. And no, I am not downloading another browser just to get into avsim on my phone. This is an issue with the forum

[Greggy_D 935]

Plain and simple as others have said above:

The redirects are generated from the company Avsim chooses to serve ads on the Avsim forum.  They need to raise hell with the ad company.  It's simply unacceptable.

[turnandbank 243]

Avsim is probably allowing Google AdSense to place ads automatically rather than managing the placements themselves. Google encourages this as well as enabling interstitial (full screen) ads, but their automated and suggested ad settings are far too aggressive for a good user experience. I avoid this by using Brave browser on both my desktop and mobile, but Avsim does need to take control of their AdSense account settings. I tested automated ad placements on my own website and immediately reverted back to manual placements due to these same issues. 

[Zangoose 1,631]

Decided to give this a go on my laptop that I haven't been on for a few months - Loaded up avsim, clicked on a number of threads and redirects me to a scam site. Looked at the headers via the network tab of the web browser and this appeared. May be useful for those who run the site to look into it further on the sort of ads they are running on the site.

[rocketlaunch 614]

getadblock.com

[Ray Proudfoot 8,944]

AdBlock Plus for IOS works on my iPad. There should be an equivalent for Android. Make sure it’s AdBlock Plus, free.

[Silicus 879]

uBlock Origin works wonders (Chrome extension). Never seen an ad on avsim....

[vgbaron 3,590]

1 hour ago, neucoas said:

Are you serious?
 

You have no idea what you are talking about. This has nothing to do with phone security setup. 

you would see the same thing if you where using your desktop without adblocks. 
 

Safari doesn’t have that on iPhone. And no, I am not downloading another browser just to get into avsim on my phone. This is an issue with the forum

Well just disabled my adblocker and rebooted - Avsim is just FINE - there are a few banner ads and some popups along the side. Even clicked on a few -  NO redirects, NO problems.

If it were truly a site issues then EVERYONE would experience the same thing. If only a few are having issues, while I sympathize, I still suggest to look closely at your own system - I am sure we will continue to look at the Avsim system as well.

[Zangoose 1,631]

2 minutes ago, vgbaron said:

Well just disabled my adblocker and rebooted - Avsim is just FINE - there are a few banner ads and some popups along the side. Even clicked on a few -  NO redirects, NO problems.

If it were truly a site issues then EVERYONE would experience the same thing. If only a few are having issues, while I sympathize, I still suggest to look closely at your own system - I am sure we will continue to look at the Avsim system as well.

You are missing the point. It doesn’t actually happen all the time - but enough to annoy users who don’t have Adblock installed. Hell I can even show you a video of it if you want.

Also it wouldn’t surprise me if most of the active user base have Adblock installed in the first place so they wouldn’t see the issue. I’ve tried it on various devices with Adblock disabled and it happens.

Edited April 23, 2022 by Zangoose

[MarcG 2,956]

Just now, vgbaron said:

Well just disabled my adblocker and rebooted - Avsim is just FINE - there are a few banner ads and some popups along the side. Even clicked on a few -  NO redirects, NO problems.

If it were truly a site issues then EVERYONE would experience the same thing. If only a few are having issues, while I sympathize, I still suggest to look closely at your own system - I am sure we will continue to look at the Avsim system as well.

On a MOBILE DEVICE? you seem to be avoiding the actual subject at hand. Like I said, plenty of existing threads since last year on this very subject, it's an AVSim problem not mobile browsers.

[Reader 2,021]

Here is what I see if I am silly enough to visit the forum on my mobile phone. I am guessing that this is why there are complaints.

 

[Zangoose 1,631]

Video of the issue - None of the adverts were clicked on.