Help:Bad advertisements

Wikia wants users to only see good quality advertisements, and thus we have a system for reporting "bad" ads, as shown below.

Bad ads might include, but are not limited to:
 * Inappropriate for your wiki (e.g. dating ads on a wiki aimed at children).
 * With regards to gaming wikis, ads about exploits and cheating may be considered.
 * Ads that move rapidly and continuously, flash in bright colors, or otherwise disrupt the senses so as to make the article on which it is embedded difficult to read.
 * Broken ads - for example, ads that are sized incorrectly and/or overlapping content.
 * Auto-play ads - Ads that, when loaded, automatically execute audio. Some of Wikia's video ads play automatically, but they should do so muted.
 * Malware - Ads that attempt to download or execute a malicious program on your computer. Luckily, these are very, very rare due to Wikia's strict ad policies, but sometimes malicious individuals find a way in. Malware reports are taken very seriously by Wikia Staff.

Please note that advertisement removal requests are considered on a case by case basis and while all complaints will be accepted, not all ads can be removed.

How can I report a bad advertisement
In all cases, reporting a bad advertisement with any information you can provide, no matter how small, is appreciated and better than not reporting it at all.

Below, we will give you specific instructions per browser on how to provide the most information as possible, but there are some common things we like to know when you write in that you should be able to do fairly quickly:


 * 1) Use this form to fill out your ad report.
 * 2) What page you were on when you saw this
 * 3) A brief description of why the ad is bad
 * 4) What country/city you live in (no need to get specific with location, of course, but it does help in determining where the ad is originating from)
 * 5) A screenshot of the ad on the wiki.

Following are extra details you can provide to help Wikia track down and evaluate the ad in question expediently, most specifically how to retrieve the URL of the ad.

For Google Text advertisements
Each ad has a small URL below it, this is the address that's needed. See the image at the right for an example.

Collect the data into an e-mail and send it to  and your removal request will be evaluated.

Firefox instructions

 * 1) Right click on the ad.
 * 2) If the Element Properties box appears then copy the URL shown for "Image Properties - Location:". It's probably a very long URL so be sure to copy the whole line.
 * 3) If a Flash player menu appears (which is likely for animated ads).
 * 4) * Ignore the Flash menu.
 * 5) * On the Firefox toolbar, click "Tools" =&gt; "Page Info".
 * 6) * Select the "Media" tab from the Page Info pop-up.
 * 7) * Look through the list of address for a very long URL, it's probably the longest URL in the list.
 * 8) * Copy that URL.
 * 9) Note the URL of the wiki where the ad was spotted and the size of the ad.
 * 10) If convenient, send a screenshot of the ad as well.
 * 11) Collect the above data into an e-mail and send it through Special:Contact

Google Chrome instructions

 * 1) Right click on the ad
 * 2) Click Inspect Element.
 * 3) Chrome's Inspect Element should take you directly to the image source. Copy that image URL into your report
 * 4) If possible, also include the anchor tag URL that the image is wrapped in (i.e. the  tag right above the image source. This URL is probably going to be very long, so do not be alarmed if it looks complex.

Internet Explorer instructions

 * 1) Right click on the ad
 * 2) Click properties
 * 3) Copy ad URL. Hint: You can click on the URL and press "CTRL-A" to get the whole thing at once
 * 4) Note the URL of the wiki where the ad was spotted and the size of the ad
 * 5) If convenient, send a screenshot of the ad as well
 * 6) Collect the above data into an e-mail and send it to   and your removal request will be evaluated.

Opera 10 Instructions
First, try right-clicking on the ad, and choosing "Copy image address" from the context menu. If that doesn't work:


 * 1) Open Dragonfly (click Tools-&gt;Advanced-&gt;Developer Tools)
 * 2) When Dragonfly has loaded, you should see boxes around each element you hover your cursor over
 * 3) Click on the ad to jump to the markup for it in Dragonfly
 * 4) Copy the address.

Survey popups
If you see a content unlocker while trying to access a wiki, it's possible the wiki is fake. Follow these instructions:
 * 1) Use XJZ's Survey Remover to get rid of the survey
 * 2) Copy the name of the wiki (before the .wikia.com) in the URL
 * 3) Paste the name of the wiki and include a reason to close the target wiki to this VSTF noticeboard.

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