Originally Posted by
WhiteLightsLeadToRedLights
@jiejie
You're not crazy. That's about the same time I started receiving the ads. There is a little box that pops up in the bottom-right-hand corner of my screen. The ads on my computer are for 10010 (China Unicom). I had a hunch it was them, but I decided to rule out the other possibilities first. Scans by various antivirus/malware/adware software detected nothing. I confirmed it was not a new type of advertising by the websites. With that out of the way, I called up China Unicom and I complained about pop-up ads; the representative stated that I had agreed to them in my contract when I signed up for internet service. It must be nice being a monopoly (many neighborhoods in China, including mine, only allow one ISP). At least they didn't deny it like they do every time I call up and complain that I can't access YouTube, Facebook, etc. (Yes, I do realize that they are blocked, but sometimes it's just fun to mess with the system.
) Anyway, they aren't the first ISP to insert ads (search for "Phorm" or "ISP inserting ads"). Hopefully, these bad advertising practices by ISPs will be the next story to go viral on Weibo.
Also, apparently, this has been going on a long time, so maybe we're actually lucky we are only now experiencing it:
- http://www.marc.cn/2010/07/china-uni...ermission.html
- http://news.ichinastock.com/2011/04/...th-pop-up-ads/
Thanks for confirming my sanity is still intact! The Chinese are complaining about this on the BBS's. It's apparently Beijing Unicom, a subset of China Unicom, and it's dependent on where you are located and what your building/apartment has hooked up. Which is why I seem to be one of the few on FT experiencing it. Also started getting it on IE browser, but not Opera (so far). Firefox: there is a fix.
Open Firefox (try to have latest or recent version).
Go to Tools.-->Addons-->search in the box for NoScript.
When NoScript comes up (curr version 2.2.8) Install it, and then Restart Firefox. This took care of it for me.
If however, the popup happens again, click on the curvy "S" NoScript icon that's now on your toolbar, and select Untrusted. That little popup may appear as family001.com--so send that sucker to Untrusted. And Restart Firefox again.
This ISP-inserted advert thing has not crashed or hung up my browsers yet, but I have read reports from Chinese users that that has been a problem.
Having the VPN on or off makes no difference in this nasty phenomenon. But interestingly, so far of the international websites I've visited (which is about 95% of my usage), it only happens on FT.
ETA: If any of you tech-savvy readers have further ideas on how to combat this corporate hijacking of my internet peace, please advise!