I apologize if this was mentioned before but I didn’t see it in another thread.
Even with the recent ad problems I never had any problem on the iPhone or iPad. In fact while the problems were being dealt with I read exclusively on the phone with no problems.
Ever since the reestablishment of ads I have been randomly knocked off the browser and sent to the App Store to specific (but changing) apps. This only happens when I am here and never on any other site. Never.
I read the site just through the browser and I don’t use tapa. Is it just me? Is there a way to fix it?
Same happens to me. I use the Chrome browser pretty exclusively. My wife uses Safari, and has that happen to her on other websites. I’m curious to know the reason, and if there’s a cure.
From what I’ve read it’s the ads themselves. I don’t get ads here, but I had the same thing happen to me on the ICanHazCheezburger app one day. Apparently they (or in this case SDMB Admins) have to crack the whip on their advertisers to pull the redirectors.
It’s happened to me a couple of times in the last few days, too. I’ll be browsing the forums on Safari and get pulled out of the browser and the App Store opens. I close out of it quickly so I don’t know what apps I’m being directed to. I’ll post if it happens again.
It’s apparently pretty widespread; Apple’s announced they’re going to modify iOS to make it impossible to redirect to the app store without input (not sure if that’s an iOS 8 feature or just an upcoming update) since it’s being so abused.
I confess to be a techno-phobe, so I don’t unnerstand most of this discussion. However: does this mean that it’s an Apple problem, and I don’t need to bother Jerry with it?
It’s not an Apple problem. I’ve done some Googling and it happens to Android users, too, who get redirected to Google Play. It seems there are some malicious vendors who are targeting mobile device users with redirects, but it’s proven almost impossible to track down. I still would bring this to the attention of Jerry and/or Ed.
It’s the ads taking advantage of a flaw in the iOS. Apple may be able to fix it with an update, but in the meantime blocking the advertisers who are redirecting is the immediate solution. The problem like cochrane says is identifying the offenders.
It’s a trend by unscrupulous ad companies. You know how some sites have a link “Get our app from the App Store”? The ads seem to be using JavaScript to simulate you clicking the link. Apple obviously didn’t foresee this feature used for spam. Usually seen on joke/humor/gossip sites. I first mentioned it here:
Oh my current solution is to disable the iTunes Store.
It happens in Android too, and there’s a more serious version - if you’re getting redirected to the store spontaneously, not when you’re browsing, you probably have malware.
The advertisers shouldn’t be doing it, so I think it’s worth mentioning. Eventually Apple and/or Android developers will probably come up with a way to fix the exploit, but who knows when that will be.
I have also noticed this happening on my iPhone, just to throw in another data point.
Haven’t been having the App Store redirects on this site, but keep getting them on a couple of my local news station sites (usually to a King.com game). Thanks for the ideas for a workaround, AaronX, and for the heads up on Coast, Indian.
I had the same issue on my iPad with safari and some other browsers.
Coast seems to be the only browser, so far, to overcome this. There are plenty of complaints in Apple forums about this, and may be Apple is already working on a solution.
I’m not using Chrome though. And installing and uninstalling software isn’t actually something I’m comfortable with, or usually successful at!
At some point, all the work arounds, for searching, or tack ons like grease monkey scripts, or adblockers, tapatalk, whatever else, just amounts to too much maintenance for a site people are paying a membership fee to access. The software is over a decade old now, it seems about stretched to its limit, it’s been successfully hacked already, you can almost hear it creaking.
I’ll add a ‘me too’ to these threads to confirm the OP’s observations but honestly can’t be arsed to report board performance issues anymore. I am impressed by those with the fortitude to keep pressing, as I’ve lost all motivation at this point.
I’m puzzled. First, this is not the SDMB’s problem. It’s a general weakness in certain browsers and multiple sites are reporting the issue. The browser people are gonna have fix this one. Two, how are you having the problem anyway? You’re a Charter Member and shouldn’t be seeing ANY ads, let alone the ones that redirect you.
That’s only partially true. You could say the same thing about malware and say it’s a Windows problem that Microsoft has to fix. While that would certainly be nice, meanwhile it would also be nice if the ads didn’t propagate the malware in the first place.
Same deal here. It would be nice if the ads the board carried didn’t auto-redirect you to a completely different app than the browser you were using to read the board. In fact, though the two problems are different, the solution is the same - serve ads from more reputable and secure sources with higher standards.