# Sucked into sites (from Google ads) WITHOUT clicking on them. **URL:** \ **Category:** About This Message Board\ **Created:** [October 3, 2005, 3:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sucked-into-sites-from-google-ads-without-clicking-on-them/324583 "2005-10-03T15:12:03Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 16\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Kitchen\_Wench](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/f08c70/32.png) [@Kitchen\_Wench](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kitchen_Wench)\ **Post date:** [October 3, 2005, 3:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sucked-into-sites-from-google-ads-without-clicking-on-them/324583/1 "2005-10-03T15:12:03Z")
This has happened to me twice now. Anyone else having this problem? Any logical reason _why_ this is going on? ---
**Author:** ![Exapno\_Mapcase](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/exapno_mapcase/32/1051_2.png) [@Exapno\_Mapcase](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Exapno_Mapcase)\ **Post date:** [October 3, 2005, 5:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sucked-into-sites-from-google-ads-without-clicking-on-them/324583/2 "2005-10-03T17:25:29Z")
The _logical_ explanation is that you’re clicking on them without realizing it. ---
**Author:** ![Q.E.D](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/q/51bf81/32.png) [@Q.E.D](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Q.E.D)\ **Post date:** [October 3, 2005, 5:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sucked-into-sites-from-google-ads-without-clicking-on-them/324583/3 "2005-10-03T17:38:00Z")
> [@Exapno Mapcase](#): > > The _logical_ explanation is that you’re clicking on them without realizing it. No, that’s _a_ logical explanation. Another is the possibility of some sort of malware or browser hijacker. Round up the usual suspects with updated Adaware and/or Spybot or whatever flavor of spyware sweeper you prefer. ---
**Author:** ![UncleBeer](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/u/977dab/32.png) [@UncleBeer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/UncleBeer)\ **Post date:** [October 3, 2005, 6:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sucked-into-sites-from-google-ads-without-clicking-on-them/324583/4 "2005-10-03T18:19:28Z")
I’ve had this happen to me once that I can recall. It happened immediately after replying to a post and just making a random left-click on the mouse. It seemed that for some reason, the leftmost ad had “focus,” after my reply was displayed. Lemme try it again after this submission goes thru. ---
**Author:** ![UncleBeer](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/u/977dab/32.png) [@UncleBeer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/UncleBeer)\ **Post date:** [October 3, 2005, 6:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sucked-into-sites-from-google-ads-without-clicking-on-them/324583/5 "2005-10-03T18:21:27Z")
Nope. Didn’t happen this time. Perhaps I did actually have the cursor over the add when it happened. ---
**Author:** ![Kitchen\_Wench](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/f08c70/32.png) [@Kitchen\_Wench](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kitchen_Wench)\ **Post date:** [October 3, 2005, 6:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sucked-into-sites-from-google-ads-without-clicking-on-them/324583/6 "2005-10-03T18:42:55Z")
Updated and ran Spybot. It found one thing, WWWCoolWeb or something. Weird, that… My husband is pretty obsessive about keeping things up to date & he just did it yesterday I think. Anyway, thanks for the help. We’ll see if it happens again. ---
**Author:** ![aldiboronti](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/9fc348/32.png) [@aldiboronti](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/aldiboronti)\ **Post date:** [October 3, 2005, 6:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sucked-into-sites-from-google-ads-without-clicking-on-them/324583/7 "2005-10-03T18:56:24Z")
CoolWebSearch is one of the nastiest critters on the net. Do make sure that you’ve removed all traces of it from your system, the darn thing comes in hundreds of variants, some of them very difficult to get rid of. Read the [CoolWebSearch Chronicles](http://cwshredder.net/cwshredder/cwschronicles.html) which gives details of the beast in many of its incarnations, with instructions on how to nuke it. ---
**Author:** ![Musicat](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/musicat/32/20189_2.png) [@Musicat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Musicat)\ **Post date:** [October 3, 2005, 7:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sucked-into-sites-from-google-ads-without-clicking-on-them/324583/8 "2005-10-03T19:00:10Z")
> [@Seeker74](#): > > Updated and ran Spybot. It found one thing, WWWCoolWeb or something. Probably Cool Web Search, one of the worst. If you find more links on a page than should be – especially a page or message you are quite familiar with, like one you created yourself – you may have been infected with malware that adds its own links by rewriting the HTML code on the fly. Bastards, but the usual diagnostics should catch it. ---
**Author:** ![Kitchen\_Wench](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/f08c70/32.png) [@Kitchen\_Wench](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kitchen_Wench)\ **Post date:** [October 3, 2005, 7:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sucked-into-sites-from-google-ads-without-clicking-on-them/324583/9 "2005-10-03T19:07:48Z")
OH GREAT! Obviously I haven’t been paying attention to the new bad stuff floating around out there. As I said, hubby does all the dirty work on this thing. Do you recommend CWShredder? DAMMIT ALL TO HELLLLLL! ---
**Author:** ![Musicat](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/musicat/32/20189_2.png) [@Musicat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Musicat)\ **Post date:** [October 3, 2005, 8:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sucked-into-sites-from-google-ads-without-clicking-on-them/324583/10 "2005-10-03T20:01:21Z")
> [@Seeker74](#): > > OH GREAT! Obviously I haven’t been paying attention to the new bad stuff floating around out there. As I said, hubby does all the dirty work on this thing. Do you recommend CWShredder? I used to, but not long ago the word on the street was that program was not being updated by its creator. Now I hear it is. So someone more up to date than I am would have to settle this. Check out the sticky we have in the GQ forum. It’s a wealth of info: [Got a computer question? Read this first.](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?t=260053) ---
**Author:** ![Fear\_Itself](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/fear_itself/32/19637_2.png) [@Fear\_Itself](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Fear_Itself)\ **Post date:** [October 3, 2005, 9:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sucked-into-sites-from-google-ads-without-clicking-on-them/324583/11 "2005-10-03T21:33:01Z")
> [@Musicat](#): > > I used to, but not long ago the word on the street was that program was not being updated by its creator. Now I hear it is. So someone more up to date than I am would have to settle this. Trend Micro is the new owner of CWshredder, and they issued [the latest update on 9/21.](http://www.dozleng.com/updates/calendar.html&code=showevent&eventid=17509) ---
**Author:** ![engineer\_comp\_geek](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/engineer_comp_geek/32/504_2.png) [@engineer\_comp\_geek](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/engineer_comp_geek)\ **Post date:** [October 3, 2005, 9:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sucked-into-sites-from-google-ads-without-clicking-on-them/324583/12 "2005-10-03T21:48:13Z")
CoolWeb is a really nasty bastard. The (long string of pit worthy insults) guys behind it are constantly putting out new mutated versions of the damn thing so it’s virtually impossible to find a good utility or set of instructions that will permenantly kill the thing off. The fastest and easiest way to get rid of the damn thing may be to wipe the disk and start over. I was running IE for my browser and Norton for my antivirus. I switched over to Firefox and AVG after the disk wipe and haven’t had a virus since. YMMV. ---
**Author:** ![Kitchen\_Wench](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/f08c70/32.png) [@Kitchen\_Wench](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kitchen_Wench)\ **Post date:** [October 3, 2005, 10:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sucked-into-sites-from-google-ads-without-clicking-on-them/324583/13 "2005-10-03T22:49:31Z")
> [@engineer\_comp\_geek](#): > > The fastest and easiest way to get rid of the damn thing may be to wipe the disk and start over. > > I was running IE for my browser and Norton for my antivirus. I switched over to Firefox and AVG after the disk wipe and haven’t had a virus since. YMMV. NOOOOO!!! Please tell me I don’t have to do that. I HATE starting over. I use Firefox as my browser and have Norton for AV. I haven’t used IE in a very very long time. The weird thing: when I ran Spybot & came up with CoolWebShit, I clicked for further details & it said something about it being for IE. I downloaded CWShredder, ran a scan and it came clean. So… How do I know I’m ok? ---
**Author:** ![engineer\_comp\_geek](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/engineer_comp_geek/32/504_2.png) [@engineer\_comp\_geek](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/engineer_comp_geek)\ **Post date:** [October 3, 2005, 11:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sucked-into-sites-from-google-ads-without-clicking-on-them/324583/14 "2005-10-03T23:57:35Z")
> [@Seeker74](#): > > I downloaded CWShredder, ran a scan and it came clean. So… How do I know I’m ok? Reboot your computer and see if it comes back. If it doesn’t, you’re good. If it does, wipe the disk and start over. It’s the easier way out, in my experience (and yes, I know how painful wiping the disk is). ---
**Author:** ![spinky](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/59ef9b/32.png) [@spinky](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/spinky)\ **Post date:** [October 4, 2005, 8:03am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sucked-into-sites-from-google-ads-without-clicking-on-them/324583/15 "2005-10-04T08:03:02Z")
BTW, I just posted this in another google ads thread, but the “clickable” spot on the hurricane relief ad is much larger than you expect. I have repeatedly ended up at the hurricane relief web site without meaning to because I thought the big grey ad box was mostly benign when clicked on. Not so. The whole thing is one big hyperlink. Very annoying. The google ads **look** unobtrusive, but I’m sure they’ll try their best to annoy us into thinking of them just as fondly as we think of the old 468x60 ads that were once ubiquitous. ---
**Author:** ![Kitchen\_Wench](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/f08c70/32.png) [@Kitchen\_Wench](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kitchen_Wench)\ **Post date:** [October 4, 2005, 10:23am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sucked-into-sites-from-google-ads-without-clicking-on-them/324583/16 "2005-10-04T10:23:53Z")
> [@engineer\_comp\_geek](#): > > Reboot your computer and see if it comes back. If it doesn’t, you’re good. If it does, wipe the disk and start over. It’s the easier way out, in my experience (and yes, I know how painful wiping the disk is). I rebooted and ran Spybot again. I’m in the clear as far as it’s concerned. If there’s anything else I should do to be sure, let me know. Thanks for helping, everyone. I appreciate it.