Any time I try to read an article from the Chronicle website, it opens, then switches to another site with a pop up that says “Congratulations amazon.com user” & then something about having won a free iPhone or Samsung galaxy or something. This has happened for the last several days at least, and it’s not happening from any site other than the Chronicle. It also happens if I access a Chronicle article from Twitter or another link elsewhere. Anyone else having this problem? It’s really aggravating!
This has not happened with the Chronicle website but with the weather channel website. It’s getting annoying.
Yeah, I’ve been getting that too. Then it pops up on other tabs on my phone. When I use chrome on my laptop to check the website, about half the time I try a page won’t load and I get a popup saying the website is not responding. Admittedly, I am not very tech savvy but I’ve been avoiding this website because of it. Glad it’s not just me.
I find the regular site, not the forums, to be virtually unreadable on my mobile devices. Which sucks. It reloads constantly, taking me back to the top every couple of minutes. And popups.
1 Like
@Moderator 1
Tagging Mod 1 so that this is noticed.
That would happen to me on my old phone. Absolutely annoying.
NB, there is a Help forum where topics like this are more likely to be noticed and possible suggestions.
I have not seen this behavior…
It also helps to provide information on your platform (mobile/phone/tablet, laptop/desktop) and browser.
These pop-ups happen on many websites when viewing via mobile, and are usually not coming directly from the website itself but via one of the advertisements.
1 Like
I’ve had it happen as well.
I’m guessing COTH uses some kind of ad provider to stream ads into their site. Sometimes these ads can be malicious. I don’t know if COTH can moderate what ads are on their site, might be the job of the provider.
Its more likely an Ad service thats paying your Service or Device provider or App company. Ads just started showing up on Candy crush and AlphaBetty.
I spent a ton of time last night unsubscribing, updating preferences and trying to figure out how to clear my cookies.
But it also seems like my internet has slowed waaaaay down even tho my MPS has doubled ??
I have had no problems with the COTH magazine or forum web sites. Running Safari on a Mac with Yosemite.
Y’all, something like this is unlikely to be the fault of COTH. It’s odd that you’re seeing it explicitly from COTH though.
The first thing I suggest when you’re seeing behavior like this is to try a different browser than you normally use. Does it still happen?
The second thing, try a private/incognito window or safe mode on your regular browser. Does it still happen?
The most likely situation is that some plugin in your browser or other malware has gotten to you in some way.
Also, when reporting issues like these, it’s really helpful to say if you’re accessing from a mobile or desktop device, and which browser. This can help the staff figure out what to suggest to you to try next.
(FTR I do not see this behavior on desktop safari.)
I’ve never been able to look at COTH on my phone. It’s always a popup.
What is private/incognito mode?
Depending upon your browser, it could be called one of those things. This will make a browser window that loads without cookies, without localstorage preferences, and often (depending on browser) also without your plugins. It’s a good way to see if clearing cookies might solve your problem without having to clear them; it will also throw away your history in that window when you are done.
Safari: new private window
Firefox: new private window
Chrome: new incognito window
Firefox, under help, has a wonderful Troubleshooting Information window that will let you see what extensions are installed and also give you the option to restart with all add-ons disabled. This is really helpful to see if something you don’t expect has installed itself into your browser.
Safari has a similar page under Help that is just called “Installed Plug Ins”.
The locations and functions of these things do change with time, but a google search will usually help you find some recent instructions for whatever browser you’re using, now that you know they exist.
2 Likes
By the way, even though your phone comes with a default internet browser, both iPhone and Android will let you download Firefox or Chrome that you can substitute, if you so wish. You shouldn’t need to do that for this troubleshooting, but thought it might be interesting to share that that’s a Thing you can do.
For desktops, I absolutely recommend having at least one other browser on hand. There are always times when a particular browser starts behaving badly for developers or when it’s handy to browse the internet without your personal fingerprint following you everywhere you go.
I am on an old laptop, MacBookPro, Safari and Iphone and don’t have any of those issues at all?
I think that the web site providers have someone keeping an eye on the Help forum, to figure these problems out if they are fixable on their end.
I experience this from time to time but only on my iPhone. I do think it’s SOMEHOW related to this site (lower security allowing advertising bots to place popups?) because it only ever happens when I navigate here or to equinenow.com. My work security check doesn’t think COTH is a terribly secure website. And it just about has a hissy if I want to go to Warmblood-Sales.com
Thanks for the ideas & flagging for mods. I’m using an iPad & iPhone. The iPhone is from 2017 & the iPad is older- 2014. Both have the most current OS. It started happening on both at the same time. Doesn’t happen if I go to the forums, just the articles, blogs, news etc. I’ve cleared my cache & browser history & that didn’t make a difference. I should try downloading Chrome or something but I hadn’t thought of that as it happens if I’m clicking a link on the apps for Twitter & Feedly, and I’m not sure how I’d get those to go to Chrome/Firefox instead of Safari. It’s not just the pop up that’s a problem- it then redirects the browser away from the Chronicle to a different URL entirely. On my iPad I can sometimes read a bit around the pop up ad before it redirects, but on my phone the pop up takes up the whole screen.
I moved this here to the Help forum and I’ll be bringing the thread to the attention of the folks in charge of the main site.
Thanks!
1 Like
