Your
generous donations help keep this site online!
Click
here to support cexx.org.
The last refuge of the resourceful How to kill popup ads on
ANY server!
Crosswinds.net is the latest to succomb to the $iren's-call of the irksome,
annoying, browser-breaking plopup ad. After over three years of promises....
(The excuses would
be more believable, if we hadn't heard them so many times before....) anyway,
the way to remove them is below. Thanks Ryan for alerting
me to this new disgrace.
By popular demand (and to
screw the lying bastards :) the code to remove
the new "ProHosing" banner ads. They said "Anti-FLAB", now it's time
to enforce it.
Before you read further,
remember: Subverting a Free Webspace Provider's popups or other gratuitious
adverspamming may be against the TOS, and as such, they reserve the right
to boot your ass out and delete your page if they catch you doing it! While
many are thick-headed enough not to waste their precious brain-time worrying
about it, this is a public page, so even the FWPs themselves can (and a
couple do!) read up on every method detailed below. Consider these a "temporary"
fix to keep an FWPs popup from annoying your visitors while you redirect
them to your site's NEW location (when a greedy FWP puts that kind of shit
on your page, you move out of course!) In other words, you
should be putting this on your replacement "My page has moved!" signpost
pages, not your actual homepage.
If possible (that is, if
you know how), modify the scripts slightly before you use them. This makes
it a little harder (but by no means impossible!!) for them to catch you.
Note: Before resorting to
one of the (maybe out-of-date) provider-specific fixes below, see if one
of these general anti-popup Scripts takes care of it - they are designed
to work on just about any server!
One final note of interest:
This page is not officially updated anymore,
due to a lack of time and a pursuit of other interests (spyware
and others). Some of the code listed below may be out of date, and not
all FWPs are listed. On occasion though, a certain FWP may do something
SO evil and twisted that the info and workaround will make a special appearance
here. Otherwise, try searching the Web for them.
Key: Black is your normal HTML Red is the server-included popup code Blue is the workaround or pop-up removal Green is something in the script you have
to change/delete/modify
Provider
Pop-Up
Subversion
defeating popups on
Angelfire
Now the're sticking a popup on ALL member accounts, even those under
250k! So, even those of you who worked very hard to keep your account under
250kb (spreading your site amongst many different servers, putting the
file downloads on DejaNews) are going to be getting complaints about popups.
The SuperScript still kills the popup.
Just put your <head> tag in a <noscript> section.
JavaScript-enabled browsers won't read anything in a noscript, and the
ones that don't support JS can't run it anyway!
Unbreaking promises on
Crosswinds
What a bunch of lying, conniving SOBs. To bring them back into
compliance with their original agreements, place the following Window Hijacker
in your code:
<script language="JavaScript"> var winname1="f"; var winname2="c"; var windowname=winname1+winname2; handle = window.open("http://www.whateveryoulike.com",
windowname, "toolbar=no,location=no,directories=no,menubar=no,scrollbars=yes,resizable=yes,status=no,width=600,height=150");
handle.close(); </script>
<HTML> <head> ...
interfering
with popups on
Digiweb
Digiweb popups are inserted at the very beginning of the HTML document
in an attempt to make them hard to beat. Additionally, a server-side script
scans all incoming pages for evidence of popup tampering, inserting a dire,
Big-Brother-Is-Watching alert message
on any pages it finds pop-blocking code on. These tamper protections have
earned these particular popups the moniker of "mercenary pops". Since they
can't be hidden from the browser (with <noscript>, comment tags, etc.),
the only recourse is to hijack the ad window
and close it and/or replace it with a message of your own choosing.
<script language="JavaScript"> var winname1="adw"; var winname2="indow"; var windowname=winname1+winname2; billwebb = window.open("http://somewhereElse.com/protest.htm",
windowname, "toolbar=no,location=no,directories=no,menubar=no,scrollbars=yes,resizable=yes,status=no,width=530,height=230"); // billwebb.close(); </script>
<HTML> <head> ...
The URL marked in green is the address
of a replacement page to load into the hijacked
popup window, since we can't prevent the window from opening. This URL
must point to a file outside the afflicted server, otherwise pop
code added to that file will foil the fix. If you don't have an
account on another (pop-free) server, you can just load any old page in
there, or help publicize these anti-popup solutions by loading this
page into the popup window. Particularly if you load a random page
into the popup window, you might want to close it right away instead of
letting it remain open. To do this, uncomment billwebb.close();
(take out the //).
Also, note the height= and width= attributes in the
window.open
statement. When you hijack the window, you can change its size too!
** Alternatives: If you've had a Digiweb page for some time before they
implememted the popups and feel strongly about them, if you send a kindly-worded
request to their customer-support they may manually disable the
popups for your account. According to the webmaster, Digiweb was bought
out by a larger company who is to blame for the popups, but they still
have the power to disable them on a member-by-member basis. (Whether they
are still allowing this I don't know, since it's been quite some time since
the popups were introduced and most folks would have already complained
or left by now... but by one report, over 50 member accounts were de-popped
in the days shortly following the introduction of popup ads. Since
they are now offering an pay "upgrade to popup-free" option, I doubt they
will still do it. But anything's worth a shot!)
sending popups to the
Doghouse (doghousepages.lycos.com)
A relatively new provider, Domaindlx uses popups much like the ones
GeoCities used to...all it takes to eliminate them is a well-placed <noscript>
at the end of each page.
Some more popup-abusing slimeballs...from the report I got (all you
lazy people've gotta start using that popup-abuser reporting form at the
bottom of the page, otehrwise I don't know of these new popup abusers 'til
its too late!) these creeps may even put popups on paid accounts! To get
rid of them, use a <NOSCRIPT> tag at the end of each page (for example,
see Domaindlx.com above)
subverting popups on
GeoCities
GeoCities recently replaced its popup with a (just as ugly, IMHO) monstrosity
called an AdSquare. It's a bunch of JavaScript and DHTML for your visitors'
browsers to choke on. Have a look at Getting Rid
of the GeoCities AdSquare.
squashing popups on
gURLpages
To get rid of Gurlpages' popup ads, put in a fake <body> tag in
a noscript section:
Since Gurlpages puts its popup always right after the body tag, putting
<noscript> around it makes JavaScript capable browsers ignore the bogus
tag and the JavaScript code that is inserted. The <!-- comment
-->
tags are to keep non-JavaScript browsers from seeing the bogus tag, since
you'll probably want a *real* one later on.
getting rid of popups on
Hypermart
I got this from Pop
Ups Must Die. To get rid of the popups, use Hypermart's banner-include
tag within a <noscript> section.
The include tag is what's supplied by Hypermart to put a banner on your
page instead of popups...it functions much like GeoCities' <!--#geoguide-->
tag. The <noscript> segment will keep the banner hidden from JavaScript
browsers, but since putting in the tag kills popups anyway, this should
probably be counted as an...
** Alternative method: If you don't mind banners, just add an <!--#echo
banner=""--> tag where you want Hypermart's banner to appear.
This way you get rid of the popups and don't have to worry about being
deleted if someone squeals on you :)
avoiding popups on
InterCosmos
The InterCosmos popup is dynamically named to avoid its ad-window from
being repossessed, and little is known about the nature of this popup (as
most users opt for a banner or frame instead). The suggested solution is
to opt for InterCosmos' adframe instead, and use the adframe-killing
script to pop your page out of the frames.
What a bunch of sneaky, lying, conniving bastards. They lured
you in, much like XOOM, with the promise of "We absolutely hate all those
money-grubbing FWPs, and detest any form of Forced-Link Advertising Banners
(FLAB). So join us, give us lots of pages, and get yourselves listed on
search engines galore. We make our money from those upgrading to paid accounts.
No FLAB, ever. We *promise*!" Anyway, now that their advertising feces
have indeed been smeared all over your beautyful website, it's time to
enforce the contract you originally agreed to:
The <killbanner> tag changes their new ad from a normal
banner to a popup, which is easier to deal with. The additional code elimintes
it.
** Alternate methods: If you don't ant to move the banner entirely but
want instead to control its position on your page, you can move the banner
insertion point by moving your page's <body> tag (which triggers
the ad-code insertion). Modern browsers can handle the <body>
tag appearing after the page's contents; the options set by it (background,
colour) will take effect once that portion of the page has loaded. Just
don't do this if you're trying to win any of those "HTML Purity"-type awards
:)
swatting popups on
Spaceports
From what I can tell, Spaceports
has replaced its mandatory popup with a chunk of "voluntary" ad-code, which
actually pays the member 10 cents everytime someone clicks on the
banner. Could it be, the beginning of the end of FWP greed? Maybe not just
yet, as the 10c is most certainly a pittance compared to what Spaceports
is making on them. Still, cross your fingers and hope that this ushers
in a new FWP business model and promotes healthy competition among similar
services. Competition among several FWPs means much fairer deals for us
webmasters!
slaying advertising watermark
on
Surffree
Okay, it's not exactly a popup ad...think of the floating Geocities
watermark, then imagine it's a big ugly commercial advertisement ($14.95
a month!!! Click here!!!!) that floats all over your page! Disgusting.
To get rid of the thing,
Place a <noscript> tag at the end of the document, and the watermark
won't show. ...You know how they have those bibles in every hotelroom you
go to, I wonder what would happen if you put "Placed by the Gideons" right
after the noscript tag, if you'd be spared deletion if the FWP found it.
"Honest, I don't know how that coulda got there. Those damn Gideons
musta put it there!" :)
taking out popups on
Talkcity
In what seems to be a disturbing new trend with regard to popups, the
Talkcity ad code is inserted before the beginning or <HTML> tag of the
member's pages, violating W3C standards and making the major browser makers
damn glad their browsers are designed to handle bad HTML without crashing
(that much). So, as with all the other before-the-document w3c cheats,
since we can't hide the popup code from the browser, we hijack
their ad window and close it or replace it with a protest message.
<!--Remove this script section if you
edit this page--> <script language="JavaScript"> ... </script>
In the above script, change protest.htm
to the name of a replacement page you want to load into the ad window...if
you don't want to put in a replacement and just want to close the damn
thing, replace protest.htm with some
random website address (infoseek.com for example), and uncommenthijack.close()
(take out the //).
Zapping popups on
Tripod.de (does
not work on the US server)
This code was sent to me by --=+|gulli|+=--. I haven't tested
it, but it's said to kill popups on Tripod's German servers.
<!-- function Filtered() { return 0 } //--> <HTML> ...
slaying popups on
Tripod (updated!
6/17/00)
The Tripod code has changed again. It's sneakier! Anyway, here's a
way to beat it.
... <HTML> <script language="JavaScript"> <!-- var popupName="TripodPopup"; var popup = window.open("", popupName,'toolbar=0,location=0,directories=0,status=0,menubar=0,scrollbars=0,resizable=0,width=100,height=100'); // popup.location = "http://www.cexx.org/parking.htm?PlopsSuck"; popup.close(); // --> </script>
...
The code is a little strange--in order to close their named popup, you
first must rename it to the same thing, re-open it over the existing window,
then close it. A strange variation on the Hijacking technique, but it works.
The commented green line is a little experiment
I'm trying--if you uncomment this line (remove the //) and comment
out the popup.close(); below it, the popup will load a "Free Popup
Parking" page from my server. Aside from being an ad-free URL to load for
hijacked popups, the popup-parking page will (if I get around to it) allow
me to keep a rough guesstimate of how many total popups this code has killed.
Maybe I'll put a McDonalds-esque counter around here somewhere, "Over #####
popups nuked" :)
PS: Anything after "?" on the parking code doesn't do anything useful,
and is fair game for inserting your own text/messages.
removing popups on
Tripod.co.uk
Kat writes in a more optimal solution:
</pre><DIV><SCRIPT> <!-- function Filtered() { return 0 } //--> </SCRIPT>
<noscript>
...
getting rid of popups on
VirtualAve (
Updated: 10/12/99)
Virtualave recently changed their code, so the previous solution no
longer works. Instead, place the Superscript near
the beginning of your page. Presto, no more popup!
vanquishing popups on
Vr9.com (
New! 8/04/99)
This one was recently updated.
</HTML> <script language="JAVASCRIPT"> <!-- function DieBanner() if ( self.name != 'vpop' ) ( self.name = 'vpop' ) onLoad="DieBanner()" </script>
Thanks L. B. for the new code. (untested)
** Alternate methods: There is a banner ad-code which you are supposed
to insert on every page to get rid of the popup. You can get
this code here. If you use frames and keep getting the popup with the
banner installed (you've of course deleted all existing popup code from
the pages, right?), email the webmaster to have the auto-insert of popup
code disabled for your account.
The unique thing about Webjump's popup is that it appears behind the
main browser window instead of on top like most popups. There it quietly
sits, waiting to ambush the hapless surfer when he/she closes the browser's
main window. For the record, every popup requires the surfer to interact
with the ad; there is no such thing as a passive popup. While
Webjump asserts it's just to annoy visitors less, it seems like the "passive
popup" is more an effort to keep people from pinning it on them as the
popup offender....it's pretty much the equivalent of farting in a crowded
room.
The Webjunk..er, Webjump "passive popup" is particularly nasty in that
it is loaded via a separate frameset, so its JavaScript code cannot be
acted upon directly. Like the Digiweb and Spaceports popups, the popup
window must be hijacked when it appears.
... your page's HTML here ... <script language="JavaScript"> <!-- var timing=0; var newpage="protest.htm"; var wndname="po"+"pWind"+"ow"; window.onError=null; tasteful=window.open(newpage,wndname,"height=400,width=400,scrollbars=yes"); andStayOut();
function andStayOut(){ timing++; if (tasteful!=null){ //
tasteful.close(); if (tasteful.location.href!=newpage){ tasteful.location.href=newpage; } } else { if(timing<120) setTimeout("andStayOut()",1000); } } // --> </script> ... your page's HTML here ...
Some notes on the Webjump anti-popup script:
The splitup of "popWindow" is to foil any server-side process that attempts
to ferret out anyone trying to mess with their popup. This way, if they
try to spot violators by searching for "popWindow", you won't be discovered.
protest.htm is the name of a file
to replace the popup window with. If you store this page on Webjump's server,
be sure to access it with a relative URL (page.htm)
and not an absolute URL (http://yoursite.webjump.com/page.htm), otherwise
the adframe and another popup will be tacked onto your replacement page.
If you don't want to write a protest page and would rather just close the
popup window, load some random page (e.g. http://www.infoseek.com) in place
of protest.htm, then uncomment tasteful.close()
to deep-six the ad window (take out the //).
(Tech. garbage, ignore at will)
The andStayOut() finction first checks to see if the popup window
exists...if it does, it will either change its URL to whatever is set for
newpage
or close the popup window entirely (depending on whether or not you uncomment
tasteful.close().
If not, it will set a timer to run the function again in 1 second, in the
event the popup appears/changes between runs. This continues for two minutes
(plenty of time for the popup to appear), then the script stops executing.
zapping popups on
Webprovider
They've updated their code, which used to be identical to the Digiweb
junk. They've done everything in their power to make their popup unkillable,
but have left unguarded their Achilles heel of a banner-inserter...Taking
care of it should not be difficult ;)
...Blah blah, and I hope you have enjoyed
my wonderful webpage. <script language="JavaScript"> <!-- one="<nos"; two="cri"; three="pt>" document.write(one+two+three); // --> </script>
<script language="Blah"> <!--#wpad--> </script>
</BODY> </HTML>
The <!--#wpad--> inserts a banner instead of a popup, and the
<noscript><script>
combination is pretty much guaranteed to kill anything following. I've
received word that Webprovider is having delete festivals lately, so use
with caution.
** Even more alternate methods: If you don't mind the banner (even though
it makes a popup if someone clicks on it), just insert the <!--#wpad-->
where you want the ad to appear (preferably wa-a-ay at the bottom, under
a mile of blank space-- <br> <p> <br> <p>....)
The wierd thing about Yourwebhome's popups are that their entire contents
are dynamically created with JavaScript document.write() commands.
These poppus are inserted directly after your page's opening <html>
tag. To get rid of them...
Place a <noscript> tag as the first line of your homepage,
then your <HTML> tag as usual, then a </noscript>.
This will get rid of the popup ads on your pages.
Telling the
evil ads apart
A Popup
is an ad that uses JavaScript to open a new browser window over your page.
To get rid of these, see above.
An
AdFrame
is a frame which is attached to the top of the existing browser window
(your page appears below it) and can't be scrolled off-screen. This is
what you see above Xoom.com member pages. To get rid of adframes, see [Killing
Adframes].
A
Watermark
is an advertisement/logo that floats or hovers in the corner of the browser
window, and typically moves (jerkily) to remain in this position when the
page is scrolled, somewhat like the "Related Sites" button you might see
in the topleft corner of this page. Since there's only one provider besides
GeoSh***ies known to use a watermark, I just stuck the info in above. If
Geo... puts its watermark back up, go here for
methods of getting rid of it.
A Banner
is the simplest and least-intrusive form of advertising your page may encounter
on a free web host. Many feel that a banner is a fair price to pay for
free web hosting. If possible, try to find a service that lets YOU choose
the placement of the banner. (Then you can stick the thing wa-a-ay at the
bottom of the page where it won't bother anybody :)
Worth repeating: This section of CEXX.ORG is no longer
updated, due to a lack of time and interest. While particularly nasty abominations
(e.g. broken long-standing promises of existing FWPs) will be listed, no
new
FWPs are currently being added except in extreme cases. Please don't email
requesting new solutions! These mails will be deleted unread.
