Caution! Clicking on the wrong “download” button/link can install a virus on your computer, even from Google Advertisements!
I have a rant that needs to get out!
This morning I was greeted with an email from my friend, Nicole Dean about her new post “Sneaky Ad Got Me…. Good. (aka the Story of How I Downloaded & Then Got Rid of the FunMoods Virus).” I jumped right over to her blog to check it out.
Nicole was stumped by the same thing that happens to all of us at least once (and sometimes twice) in our lives. It's what I like to call “the tricky advertisement of doom.” She was trying to download a program and clicked on the wrong download button/link on the page, which then downloaded junk to her computer including a program which is known as malware, a browser hijacker, and/or virus.
In my screenshot below, notice that there are 4 “download” links on the page. (Talk about confusion!!!) Your eye is immediately drawn to the blue download button because it looks “real” and where you would “expect” the download link to be located. It's got all the tricky factors: the nice blue button, a version #, operating system information, language, etc. that makes us immediately think it is the one to click.
Well, that's wrong!!! Look at the red outline above in the screenshot that shows the “real” download link. What makes this matter so much worse is that the two blue “download” buttons above are advertisements served by Google!
And when you click on the “Download” button, the links are served by googleadservices.com. What happened to code of conduct? Ethics? Google guidelines? And how dare Google pay people for hosting these ads and pay per clicks for distributing malware. And what about the website owner hosting those ads? Don't they care if someone gets their computer infected?
Please be careful when clicking on links! And be sure to hop over to Nicole Dean's website and read her story here. And while you're over on her site, be sure to opt-in to her email list.
LEAVE YOUR FEEDBACK
How does this make you feel? Do you think Google should monitor ads closer? Do you think that these site owners should be reported to their hosting company?
Adblock for the rescue! It’s available for most browsers and removes theses traps.
Hi Chris,
Well in this case, unfortunately, adblock would not have helped since the download button looked like the right one. But good suggestion on using adblock for browsers.
Oh, I know this one all too well. Clicked on the wrong download on two different occasions and got a bunch of garbage that took forever to get rid of. Slow learner I guess!
Thanks for the heads up, Regina.
Hey MaryJo,
It happens to all of us at least once. There are so many sites like this out there that try to trick you to make a couple $ on PPC. Plus, I really think Google should do some more monitoring. I know people that are legitimate and are banned from GoogleAds and then there are these ads that harm others being allowed. Gets me all fired up!
Thanks, Regina, for “getting fired up!” I’m all for letting these sites know that their misleading clicks and buttons and happy faces that look so harmless and fun, are a pain in the a…rs. The quickest cleanup doesn’t always get all the traces, so I’m glad you and Nicole went into some detail about how to get rid of what that little click caused to happen. I feel embarrassed when I do something like that – usually because I was in a rush or not paying attention -so it feels good to get out of the closet and admit it’s happened to me more than once, now I know what to watch out for, and in sharing this, to stop this kind of thing from happening to others.
Grateful for you, Regina!
Best,
Mary
Hey Mary,
Thanks for your comment. Over the years I have clicked on the “wrong” download link myself in a hurry.
At least we know what to watch for. But imagine how dangerous these links are for kids. For example, I was at my was at my niece’s house (she’s 12) and she had the same malware on her computer plus over 50 viruses. Yikes! It took me hours to clean up her computer.
Thanks for doing your part in letting the sites know that their clicks are misleading. Did you hear anything back after you let them know? Keep me informed 🙂
It never ceases to amaze me…
I am always very careful about clicking any type of program to download, I usually only ever download from download.com unless I know the source… But its very interesting to see how easy it is to get fooled with the adds.. Especially as they are Google adds, I thought they checked everything on their network… I have always clicked these without being discriminative, now I will have to be even more watchful..
Thanks, Regina, for posting about this. I can’t believe how quickly one dumb little click ruined my entire morning.
You can bet I won’t make THAT mistake again. Hopefully by sharing my mistake, it will help a few others to avoid making it, too.
Thanks for all you do, my friend.
N
Thanks Nicole. Hopefully, we can spread awareness to as many as we can to help them avoid it too.
Interestingly, shortly after my post was published I as at my niece’s house and low-and-behold she had the same dang thing on her computer. It had been on there awhile and took me a few hours to get it all cleaned up.
BTW, awesome post about The Ever-Expanding List of CommentLuv Enabled Blogs. It sure has grown quickly. My dear friend, Kelli Claypool adding my site to the list 😉
I wonder just how many people have this problem, Regina? Honestly, it is probably more than we could ever count!
Even when I’m super cautious I still hold my breath when clicking a download button online. The example image you posted above is an acurate insight into just how hectic some download pages can be at times – it’s easy to see why so many people are tricked into accepting hazardeous materials onto these systems.
I’ll be sure to jump over and read Nicola’s blog after posting this comment but I couldn’t leave without first addressing the question you posed above re: ethics. The fact that people are actually paying Google to have these malicious ads distributed is honestly mind-boggling. Google put on a front about how they’re all about ensuring users receive the highest quality content, free of junk, spam and other nasties…unless, of course, the people dealing out those nasties are paying cash?
Disgusting is the best way to describe this, I think. Google are more than happy to peddle potential viruses to their ‘beloved’ users if it means that they can collect revenue from those posting these unsightly and dangerous links. If there isn’t a campaign for these types of ads to be banned then I think the consumer watch dog needs to get onto the case ASAP. There is no mistaking the purpose of their ads – to trick and deceive, neither of which are allowed under Google’s guidelines.
I don’t really seem to make this mistake, but it does seem like it’s a common problem.
USUALLY the real download is in a text link for those who know HTML) and if there are two, the blue button is fake.
In your example, the download on the upper left is semi-legit, because that leads to the download page.
These download buttons are pay per click, aren’t they? If I click on “download” and 3 seconds later I end up on a website that I didn’t intend to go to, or start downloading something I don’t want and hit “back” or “cancel” did those companies have to pay? If I was running a PPC thing, I would only want people who where actually interested, not those just accidentally clicking on my ad.
Hey Matt,
I agree with you, I would only want those interested in my product to click on my ad. It’s a moral thing you and I both share. Unfortunately, there are those that are in it just to make $ and have no regard for how they get there.