# Flash ads that cover the content of the page!!! GRR **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [July 5, 2006, 10:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/flash-ads-that-cover-the-content-of-the-page-grr/363276 "2006-07-05T22:48:34Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 18\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![OpalCat](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/8edcca/32.png) [@OpalCat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/OpalCat)\ **Post date:** [July 5, 2006, 10:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/flash-ads-that-cover-the-content-of-the-page-grr/363276/1 "2006-07-05T22:48:34Z")
I just went to look at [weather.com](http://weather.com) to see how big this storm that just started is expected to be. I clicked on the weather map to see the radar-in-motion view. As happens with increasing frequency these days, a stupid Flash ad came up. COVERING HALF OF THE RADAR MAP. Who the hell does this and how can we hunt them down and kill them? Half the time you can’t find a way to close the ad, and they don’t go away even if you let it sit. I’ve gone to read articles on sites before where 90% of the content of the page is covered with one of these ads. WTF!? ---
**Author:** ![Cheez\_Whia](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/d26b3c/32.png) [@Cheez\_Whia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cheez_Whia)\ **Post date:** [July 5, 2006, 11:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/flash-ads-that-cover-the-content-of-the-page-grr/363276/2 "2006-07-05T23:50:16Z")
I got so spoiled by [Pith Helmet](http://www.culater.net/software/PithHelmet/PithHelmet.php) for Mac, (suggested by **Shagnasty** , IIRC) that kills flash ads, I almost quit using [weather.com](http://weather.com) because of all the flash ads. It won’t work with the latest update for Safari. ☹ I hope they get an update soon! ---
**Author:** ![OpalCat](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/8edcca/32.png) [@OpalCat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/OpalCat)\ **Post date:** [July 6, 2006, 12:06am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/flash-ads-that-cover-the-content-of-the-page-grr/363276/3 "2006-07-06T00:06:17Z")
I’ve taken to using Accuweather and [Wunderground.com](http://Wunderground.com) rather than [weather.com](http://weather.com) because of the freakin ads, but I like [weather.com](http://weather.com)’s hour-by-hour forecast and radar maps better 😕 ---
**Author:** ![iamthewalrus\_3](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/258eb7/32.png) [@iamthewalrus\_3](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/iamthewalrus_3)\ **Post date:** [July 6, 2006, 12:12am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/flash-ads-that-cover-the-content-of-the-page-grr/363276/4 "2006-07-06T00:12:51Z")
Flashblock for Firefox. And [weather.gov](http://weather.gov) is the National Weather Service’s site. It’s where all the commercial sites get their data from anyway, and is taxpayer supported, so no ads. ---
**Author:** ![Lamar\_Mundane](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/85f322/32.png) [@Lamar\_Mundane](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lamar_Mundane)\ **Post date:** [July 6, 2006, 12:15am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/flash-ads-that-cover-the-content-of-the-page-grr/363276/5 "2006-07-06T00:15:55Z")
[http://radar.weather.gov/ridge/radar.php?rid=FFC&product=NCR&overlay=11101111&loop=yes](http://radar.weather.gov/ridge/radar.php?rid=FFC&product=NCR&overlay=11101111&loop=yes) This is a good use of flash. ---
**Author:** ![norinew](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/eb9ed0/32.png) [@norinew](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/norinew)\ **Post date:** [July 6, 2006, 12:28am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/flash-ads-that-cover-the-content-of-the-page-grr/363276/6 "2006-07-06T00:28:59Z")
> [@OpalCat](#): > > Who the hell does this and how can we hunt them down and kill them? If you find out, I’ll volunteer to be on the hit squad! While we’re at it, can we kill the people who put _action and sound_ ads on the lower part of the TV screen _during the freakin’ show I’m watching_? You just know they’re in cahoots! ---
**Author:** ![OpalCat](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/8edcca/32.png) [@OpalCat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/OpalCat)\ **Post date:** [July 6, 2006, 12:51am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/flash-ads-that-cover-the-content-of-the-page-grr/363276/7 "2006-07-06T00:51:45Z")
AAAAH!!! AAAAAAHHH!H!!! MUST KILL THOSE MOFOS!!! I don’t remember what I was watching, but it was something on Spike once, and a Borg ship popped up on the bottom of the screen, and the Enterprise appeared and shot it down with a sound effect. I replayed the scene like 5 times in TiVo trying to figure out what the people in MY SHOW were saying but I never was able to figure it out with the stupid sound effects playing over it. I hate those people!!! ---
**Author:** ![fishbicycle](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/aeb1de/32.png) [@fishbicycle](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/fishbicycle)\ **Post date:** [July 6, 2006, 1:48am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/flash-ads-that-cover-the-content-of-the-page-grr/363276/8 "2006-07-06T01:48:50Z")
You can get FlashBlock, which requires you to right-click on every flash item on your screen that you don’t want to see, and add its URL to a database. You will eventually have thousands of URLs in your FlashBlock database. Or you can uninstall Flash altogether, which is what I did after I got tired of right-clicking on ads. ---
**Author:** ![wheelie](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/b4bc9f/32.png) [@wheelie](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/wheelie)\ **Post date:** [July 6, 2006, 3:54am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/flash-ads-that-cover-the-content-of-the-page-grr/363276/9 "2006-07-06T03:54:42Z")
> [@Cheez\_Whia](#): > > I got so spoiled by [Pith Helmet](http://www.culater.net/software/PithHelmet/PithHelmet.php) for Mac, (suggested by **Shagnasty** , IIRC) that kills flash ads, I almost quit using [weather.com](http://weather.com) because of all the flash ads. It won’t work with the latest update for Safari. ☹ I hope they get an update soon! [Version 2.6.7](http://www.culater.net/dl/files/PithHelmet-2.6.7.tbz) came out last week for Safari 2.0.4. ---
**Author:** ![Roland\_Orzabal](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/c2a13f/32.png) [@Roland\_Orzabal](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Roland_Orzabal)\ **Post date:** [July 6, 2006, 5:13am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/flash-ads-that-cover-the-content-of-the-page-grr/363276/10 "2006-07-06T05:13:29Z")
> [@fishbicycle](#): > > You can get FlashBlock, which requires you to right-click on every flash item on your screen that you don’t want to see, and add its URL to a database. You will eventually have thousands of URLs in your FlashBlock database. Or you can uninstall Flash altogether, which is what I did after I got tired of right-clicking on ads. Nitpick: this is what the AdBlock extension does. FlashBlock will automatically prevent any Flash frames from loading, displaying instead a little “F in a circle” icon that can be clicked to allow the Flash content to load. ---
**Author:** ![fishbicycle](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/aeb1de/32.png) [@fishbicycle](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/fishbicycle)\ **Post date:** [July 6, 2006, 5:46am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/flash-ads-that-cover-the-content-of-the-page-grr/363276/11 "2006-07-06T05:46:46Z")
What exactly is it you’re nitpicking? I’ve described exactly how it works, and you posted to say how it works. Except that it doesn’t automatically block Flash frames, you have to tell it to block that image by right clicking on the Flash object. I know, I did it several thousand times. ---
**Author:** ![Larry\_Mudd](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/f14d63/32.png) [@Larry\_Mudd](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Larry_Mudd)\ **Post date:** [July 6, 2006, 5:57am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/flash-ads-that-cover-the-content-of-the-page-grr/363276/12 "2006-07-06T05:57:22Z")
> [@Lamar Mundane](#): > > [New Radar Landing Page](http://radar.weather.gov/ridge/radar.php?rid=FFC&product=NCR&overlay=11101111&loop=yes) > > This is a good use of flash. Yes, no use of Flash at all is often the _best_ use of Flash – unless we’re talking about what sort of pastry to bring when come back or determining where exactly you can see lions. (The above link is good old-fashioned Java.) ---
**Author:** ![Roland\_Orzabal](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/c2a13f/32.png) [@Roland\_Orzabal](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Roland_Orzabal)\ **Post date:** [July 6, 2006, 6:50am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/flash-ads-that-cover-the-content-of-the-page-grr/363276/13 "2006-07-06T06:50:58Z")
> [@fishbicycle](#): > > What exactly is it you’re nitpicking? I’ve described exactly how it works, and you posted to say how it works. Except that it doesn’t automatically block Flash frames, you have to tell it to block that image by right clicking on the Flash object. I know, I did it several thousand times. AdBlock and FlashBlock are two different extensions. [FlashBlock](https://addons.mozilla.org/firefox/433/)_does_ automatically block Flash frames, and replaces them with a frame containing a little icon that looks like [this](http://www.memoclic.com/gif/net/flashblock-bloquer-animations-flash1.png), which you can then click if you want to see the Flash content. [Adblock](https://addons.mozilla.org/firefox/10/) is the one you train by right-clicking the image (or link, or Flash frame, etc.) and selecting the appropriate option from a tooltip like [this one](http://img211.imageshack.us/my.php?image=adblock8pz.jpg), which tells it to block all images from that source in the future. So, if someone wanted the functionality you describe, they would actually need Adblock, not FlashBlock. If the main goal was to avoid seeing any Flash at all, though, FlashBlock would be the better choice, since it preemptively blocks all Flash content with no need for user input. ---
**Author:** ![fishbicycle](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/aeb1de/32.png) [@fishbicycle](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/fishbicycle)\ **Post date:** [July 6, 2006, 7:16am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/flash-ads-that-cover-the-content-of-the-page-grr/363276/14 "2006-07-06T07:16:05Z")
When I went to a website with Flash animation, I would right click on the Flash animation, select FlashBlock, and get a dialogue box with the URL of the Flash object, and the option to block that URL. I would also get the opportunity to block the URL for the frame in which the Flash object resided. This is how I ended up with thousands of blocked URLs in FlashBlock. I don’t know how to make it any clearer to you that this is exactly how the program I have works. I’ve explained it three times. You seem to want to disagree. I do not happen to be delusional, and I do not generally make posts three times in a row to display my ignorance. I am telling you that this is the experience I have had. No matter how much you want to disagree with it, it happened daily for months, until I uninstalled Flash. ---
**Author:** ![Roland\_Orzabal](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/c2a13f/32.png) [@Roland\_Orzabal](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Roland_Orzabal)\ **Post date:** [July 6, 2006, 8:05am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/flash-ads-that-cover-the-content-of-the-page-grr/363276/15 "2006-07-06T08:05:39Z")
> [@fishbicycle](#): > > When I went to a website with Flash animation, I would right click on the Flash animation, select FlashBlock, and get a dialogue box with the URL of the Flash object, and the option to block that URL. I would also get the opportunity to block the URL for the frame in which the Flash object resided. This is how I ended up with thousands of blocked URLs in FlashBlock. > > I don’t know how to make it any clearer to you that this is exactly how the program I have works. I’ve explained it three times. You seem to want to disagree. I do not happen to be delusional, and I do not generally make posts three times in a row to display my ignorance. I am telling you that this is the experience I have had. No matter how much you want to disagree with it, it happened daily for months, until I uninstalled Flash. Please, don’t get upset. I’m not trying to be insulting, or to suggest that you’re ignorant; I apologize if I came across that way. Still, if you’re certain that the extension you were using was called FlashBlock, I don’t know how to reconcile the two different experiences we’ve had with it. Just to be certain, I uninstalled both extensions, reloaded Firefox, and reinstalled them one at a time. The one called FlashBlock, installed on its own, works as I described it above. When turned on (from the Tools -\> Extensions -\> Options menu), it automatically stops Flash content from being displayed. There is no need to right-click on anything (you can, however, right-click on the Flash frame to select an option to _allow_ Flash from that site, as shown in [this screenshot](http://img210.imageshack.us/my.php?image=flashblock8gt.gif)). The comments from the extension download page I linked earlier confirm this. The one called Adblock works similarly to the program you describe. It allows you to right-click on a Flash frame (or an image, or most anything really) and add it to a database of sources to block. I, too, have a list of thousands of blocked URLs, but they are most assuredly blocked through the Adblock extension, as you can see [here](http://img204.imageshack.us/my.php?image=adblock25gu.gif). Perhaps there was an older version of FlashBlock that worked as you recall. I don’t know; I’ve only had it for a few months. Right now, though, if somebody wanted an extension that did what you described – allowed you to right-click on images or Flash frames to block all content from that source – they would want the extension called Adblock. So, if you’re recommending that somebody might want that particular functionality, that’s the one they’d need. That’s alls I’m sayin’. 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![Cheez\_Whia](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/d26b3c/32.png) [@Cheez\_Whia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cheez_Whia)\ **Post date:** [July 6, 2006, 1:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/flash-ads-that-cover-the-content-of-the-page-grr/363276/16 "2006-07-06T13:18:32Z")
> [@wheelie](#): > > [Version 2.6.7](http://www.culater.net/dl/files/PithHelmet-2.6.7.tbz) came out last week for Safari 2.0.4. Thankyouthankyouthankyou! ---
**Author:** ![Dewey\_Finn](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dewey_finn/32/4222_2.png) [@Dewey\_Finn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dewey_Finn)\ **Post date:** [July 6, 2006, 1:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/flash-ads-that-cover-the-content-of-the-page-grr/363276/17 "2006-07-06T13:31:14Z")
I agree with **Roland Orzabal** ; when Flashblock is installed and enabled, all I see is a little round play icon in the window instead of the Flash animation. Most of the time, I just ignore this, but if it’s something I want to play, I click on the play icon. ---
**Author:** ![Anaamika](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/5f9b8f/32.png) [@Anaamika](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Anaamika)\ **Post date:** [July 6, 2006, 1:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/flash-ads-that-cover-the-content-of-the-page-grr/363276/18 "2006-07-06T13:34:12Z")
I like Flash and don’t want to uninstall it. I may try the flashblock. But this thread is getting too reasonable. I just came in to proclaim my hate for those things, too. I read fast, so the damn thing always shows up when I’m at least 3-4 lines into the article…distracting me. Gah! The Onion is particularly annoying these days, to the point where I’ve just about stopped reading it.