Something odd about the webcam

[OperaTenor]

Uh, oh! I just returned to the b.com home page from the bbb and a couple of seconds after returning to the home page, it switched to the "Wizard"!! Apparently it needs more tweaking. Kevin, HEEEELP MEEEEEE.......! :confused:

<small>[ 05-14-2003, 12:23 AM: Message edited by: operatenor ]</small>

[OperaTenor]

Okay, I just did it again, and it didn't do it this time!!!! Very frustrating, but I know your intentions are good at b.com.

[Jeff Dutton]

Is it possible that you also have some spyware affecting your PCs? There are several products that can remove these from your PC. The one I'm most familiar with is called Ad-Aware from Lavasoft. The free version does a pretty good job.

Good Luck.

Jeff

[OperaTenor]

If that was the case, why would I (and others) be plagued only by the "Wizard"?

[Shapley]

I am also plagued by the "System Performance wizard". Not everytime I log onto the site, but at least 50% of the time. Most often, it is merely and annoying pop-up that requires a click to get rid of.

Occassionally, however, Insteand of the b.com homepage, I get a message that says "Click here if you are not instantly redirected". the b.com does not open, and I am not instantly redirected. clicking on the message takes me to the "System Performance Wizard". Closing out the window closes the Internet Explorer, and I have to log back in to get to the b.com site. It is most annoying.

I have not and will not log onto the performance wizard intentionally, so their add is doing nothing but being a nuisance.

Respectfully,

Shapley

[Judybug]

Shapley,

You described my problem exactly! It didn't happen at all yesterday, but happened to me just now when I opened b.com to come to the bulletin board. It only happens when I open b.com. I don't see this stupid ad anywhere else.

I don't know enough about computer programming to even be dangerous, but could this be something built into the System Performance Wizard ad?

[Shapley]

Judybug,

I think it's a malicious ad. I have seen it another site, but can't recall which one. I have only seen the "redirect" message at b.com.

I also encounter the "congratulations, you are the 1000th visitor to this site" ad quite often. It's not malicious, however, just annoying. One click and it's gone. The "Performance Wizard" however, seems to be something else. I'm just amazed that I happen to be the 1000th visitor so often! What exceptional timing. The odds must about 999 to 1 against that happening. I'm off to Vegas!

V/R
Shap

[Judybug]

Shapley,

I've been toe 1,000th visitor to several sites as well. My son and daughter-in-law are going to Vegas next week; maybe I should hitch a ride. (LOL)

I just hope they can find the problem and get it fixed.

[Selma in Sandy Eggo]

Thought I was the 1000th visitor.

Disillusioned now.

[OperaTenor]

I think it should be called a viral advertisement. It is evil incarnate and should be burned at the stake.

I don't ever recall getting the 1000th visitor ad. Strange, as much as I post and visit. :confused:

[Judybug]

I don't think I've ever gotten the 1,000 visitor ad at b.com. I've gotten it at another board, though. I also get it at some websites I visit regularly in the course of my work.

[Kevin]

Well, so much for thinking I had the problem licked. I thought I knew which ad you all were talking about, but I was mistaken. It took a little more digging, but I think I've found the ad in question this time. At least, let's hope so.

Can someone tell me if the System Performance Wizard popunder was the one with a white background - found in graphic format - not an actual clickable ad at http://beethoven.com/banners/systemwizard1.jpg ? If so, that's been eliminated.

Also, there should no longer be any redirect screen for any popunders.

Let me say that the day that Internet radio advertising becomes more successful and allows us to not have the need for popunders will be a welcome day. Until then, they help keep Beethoven Radio on the 'net.

In the future, please feel free to communicate with me directly on problems with ads by emailing adcomplaint@beethoven.com.

Regards,
Kevin Shively
Beethoven.com

<small>[ 05-22-2003, 06:48 AM: Message edited by: Kevin ]</small>

[Kevin]

One further note, although I removed this and a few other campaigns from our site, I just did this a few minutes ago and it takes an hour or so to update the system. If you get it in the meantime, that's why. If you get it after today, please email me at adcomplaint@beethoven.com.

Thanks,
Kevin

[Shapley]

Kevin,

I've logged on about six times in the past hour and haven't had the "system performance wizard" yet, so you may have it repaired.

I do know that, when it first appears, it is identified in my status bar as "Bane Media Pop-up", or something very similar. As I've said, It hasn't shown up in the last few log-ins, so I'm can't verify the exact wording. If it should re-appear, I will take note and pass that on to you.

V/R
Shapley

[barfle]

Kevin, that link you posted, even with corrections, comes up with "The Page cannot be found" message with beethoven borders.

The performance wizard ad I saw was about the same size as the other popunders. It wasn't a banner like you usually see over the live webcam. It was apparently a single motion gif with animated bar graphs.

When I opened the live webcam window, it would refresh for a few minutes, then it would change to the popunder window. It was always the same popunder, located in the middle of the monitor screen, pretty much where they always showup. I always move the live webcam window to one corner, and the webcam window would disappear at the same time the popunder would appear. That's gone as far as I can tell.

I wasn't complaining about the ad so much as I was complaining about it hijacking the live webcam window. I'm pretty sure most of us realize that some stuff has to be endured in order to receive value, but that particular repeating issue really was irritating - kind of like the cruise line flash that closed all my IE windows a couple of months ago!

<small>[ 05-20-2003, 03:25 PM: Message edited by: barfle ]</small>

[OperaTenor]

Yeah, what he said!

[barfle]

Sorry about the geekspeak, OT.

Kevin probably had more than a few clues about what I was writing about. I bet he even knows what a subnet mask is!

[Judybug]

Barfle - didn't completely understand what you said to Kevin, but am glad you're able to communicate in geekspeak.

Kevin - THANK YOU. I haven't had any problems for a copule of days. I understnad that ads help to keep b.com on the net. Just don't like an ad that aggressively takes over a website.

[Kevin]

Yeah, Barfle, I know what a subnet mask is.

I appreciate all of your comments to help me get to the bottom of this problem. It should never have happened in the first place. We do have to have advertising, obviously, but we would never allow an ad to purposefully do what you all were describing. That was a mistake we very much want to avoid!

As to the link I posted above, it was attaching punctuation to the link, which I fixed, so it should work now.

Kevin

<small>[ 05-22-2003, 06:49 AM: Message edited by: Kevin ]</small>

[barfle]

Kevin, that's not the ad that was showing up when I was complaining, but then I'm not running Win2k, which is what that image shows (NT4WS). If I see it again, I'll just capture an image of it and email it to you. My attempts at discerning what might be causing the problem didn't work (I wasn't able to get a "view source" menu by right clicking anywhere in the window).