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I have this problem since just a few days. I've been a heavy Chrome user for several years, but it never happened before: Sometimes absolutely uncalled for pop-ups appear, when I click something absolutely legit. It seems to happen at a very precise rate of two pop-ups every hour or so. The pop-ups are not very varied, it seems to be a fixed set of some 4-5 ads.

At first I thought I caught some malware, but after a full scan with Malwarebytes Anti-Malware, I found absolutely nothing. In addition the problem exists only with Chrome. When I use Firefox, this never ever happens.

What is even more puzzling is that it happens on both of my rigs and started on the same day. I have a removable storage that I dock to both of them and access one machine from the other via RDP, but still...

It seems this is a problem that others face too. See this Google forum and here. Could it be that the latest Chrome build is just acting up?

(Just in case it matters: I run Chrome version 24.0.1312.57 m on Win 7.)

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5 Answers 5

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If it's the same 5 ad's over and over and only in the one browser, you have something. Things I would try:

  • Install the free version of Spybot and run a full scan and then an immunize. Don't forget to run as admin and close your browser's first.
  • Check through Chrome's extensions and make sure you didn't collect a toolbar or some other suspicious extension.
  • Install an Adblocking program like AdBlock if you haven't already.
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  • Thanks! Seems that there was something after all and Malwarebytes Anti-Malware couldn't spot it. I think it was some tracking cookie. Anyway, now it's gone. :)
    – Count Zero
    Feb 15, 2013 at 19:00
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You say that the pop-up appears after you click. It's not to blocker's duty to ensure that doesn't happen. It is supposed to block pop-ups that try to appear without you clicking. This is because there are a number of websites which need to show legit popups. Chrome can't distinguish between the good and the bad. So the general rule is that if the user clicks pop-ups are allowed.

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  • That's possible but that doesn't sound very convincing to me. As I said, I've been using Chrome for years and the pop-up problem came really recently.
    – Count Zero
    Feb 15, 2013 at 18:59
  • A number of developers have had this issue. Look here for example. I hope you're convinced now. Rest assured you never had any malware just because of the popups Feb 15, 2013 at 19:31
  • Not really, the point of a pop-up blocker is to stop the bad and let the good through. This is difficult, but modern blockers do fairly well at it.
    – David
    Feb 15, 2013 at 19:43
  • “It's not to blocker's duty to ensure that doesn't happen.” It must not need a “blocker”. It is the browser’s duty to ensure that does not happen. Aug 18, 2013 at 20:45
  • It is not so difficult to distinguish between the good and the bad. The rule I apply is simple. All popups are bad, and must not appear. Call me ayatollah. Aug 18, 2013 at 20:51
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In fact I finally found out, what was the cause of my uninvited pop-ups. They appeared even if I clicked to upvote SE answers... which is definitely NOT a legit thing. It came from some third-party plug-ins, games more specifically, that I installed on Chrome... Since things get synchronized between my machines, this appeared at the same time on both machines making me even more confused. I'll just have to be more careful next time...

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I have been having problems with popups with Chrome. I do not know why the built in blocker can not simply block !ALL! popups, and just simply do the same thing that Internet Explorer did(in IE, you simply click Ctl+left click if you want to open something that is normally being blocked.) I am an avid user of piratebay, the only thing I hate about their site is the popups. There is nothing you can do to stop them in Chrome, But with IE, not a single one is able to get through. I know without a doubt, 100% sure that I do not have any add-ons running, no spyware/malware on my machine. The only time that I have ever had a problem is with chrome. I am not going to bother using a 3rd party program to try to stop them, I will simply stop using chrome until they fix it. Its not only piratebay that I get the popups from, but its the best example that I can think of. PB is the only site that I ever go to, that without a doubt will always have a popup when I first open it. So to sum it up, for anyone wondering if there is a way to fix Chrome's popup problem; Not as of this time, not without using a 3rd party software. By the way, the version of Chrome I am running is ver.33.0.1750.154 It is up to date with the most recent version.

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It's probably an extension which is inadvertently disabling the popup blocker. For me I disabled the Plus HD 9.5 extension (turns Youtube videos to HD by default) and that fixed it. Open Settings, click Extensions on right side,

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