Other ad service showing instead of Google ads on public computer

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Other ad service showing instead of Google ads on public computer

dailypress

1:11 am on Apr 22, 2009 (gmt 0)

I was browsing my own as well as others websites and noticed a few words underlined in the website context. They were links to ads.

Also all the google ads were replaced with another ad service. I dont want to name the ad service however I can tell you it looked like those spammy 468*60px moving banners if you know which ones Im talking about.

This happened using Internet explorer in the lobby of the hotel. When I went back to search the sites using my own laptop everything looked fine!

Im assuming the computer had a virus or something but didnt know it can make different ads show up on websites. At first I had thought my sites were hacked.

Just wanted to share and see if anyone else experienced anything similar.

Scary online world!

rash

3:45 am on Apr 22, 2009 (gmt 0)

Yea, stuff happens, BHO (Browser Helper Objects) or malicious programs can in fact replace ad codes, better to have a good anti-virus.

yasmin

10:06 am on Apr 22, 2009 (gmt 0)

yes. it happens to me,

i checked source.

ads come from javascript exactly in show_ads.js.

They randomly appear with 4 publisher id.

piatkow

10:19 am on Apr 22, 2009 (gmt 0)

Either malware had got into the hotel's PC or they were doing it deliberately to substitute ads that they get paid for.

dailypress

4:44 pm on Apr 23, 2009 (gmt 0)

Thanks Guys. It was my first time noticing such a thing. I dont think the hotel was doing it on purporse unless they were in desperate need of a few cent clicks.

moTi

7:42 pm on Apr 23, 2009 (gmt 0)

when i once looked at my website at a hotel lobby, no ads were showing, so that my adblocker-blocker script was triggered - just like in apple stores where i regularly spot my websites without ads.
there is special hotel software around that implements nasty things - the vendors promote their service especially for these locations (best user experience etc). maybe in your case the computers were not infected but this was deliberate.

m0thman

2:09 am on Apr 24, 2009 (gmt 0)

I've often thought that one of the problems with adsense is, that it is too easy to circumvent either for legitimate ad blocking or other more nefarious reasons.

Couldn't they design a system whereby the ad code is server side to get around these problems?