Safari redirecting to ads/app store

[Maziar]

Hey guys

First of all,I apologize in advance for my long post,but I try to make it as detailed as possible because I haven't found a solution for my problem yet.

Few days ago,I caught a virus on my PC which made all of my browsers redirect to advertising sites and strangely,the same thing started happening on my iPad as well, so on my "PC" I did the following:

1)Reinstalled windows(because not a single adware/anti virus program could make it right)

2)Rested my mode.Reconfigured it,change its passwords etc. (just to make sure the problem was not with my modem)

And everything works fine now.No redirects or anything



However,things didn't go well on the iPad. I was still experiencing redirect so I did a lot of google search and tried the following

1)Restored the device and set it as new

2)Changed the DNS in the Wifi settings(to google IPs)

3)Played with Safari settings( cleared cache,setup "Adblock" etc.)

4)Tried a different browser to see if it's different than Safari

5)Tried the site restriction feature and added the spam websites to it



And neither of these worked.My iPad still redirects to these spam sites and sometimes to the app store. And I'm really out of ideas here,so any help is much appreciated.

I also asked the same question in Apple forums,so if I ever find a solution,I'll post it here

 

[Krevnik]

The problem is in the ad networks. Too many of them are letting ads slip through that automatically redirect (when they shouldn't), using app store links. These are actually being sent to you by the sites you want to visit, in the ads they serve. The networks are basically failing to vet the ads properly, which results in the crap end users get to deal with.

Your best bet is to get an ad blocker setup on your iPad at this point to prevent the ads from ever doing anything in your browser.

EDIT: That said, if you are getting redirected to spam sites, you are probably looking at less-than-reputable sites to begin with, which tend to get involved with less-than-reputable ad networks which will open tabs and all sorts of annoying fun. This isn't really new. What is new is that redirecting ads for apps are starting to slip into reputable sites (Candy Crush ads and stuff like that). There are a few spammy redirections that do show up in normally reputable sites, usually MacKeeper.

 

[Maziar]

Thank you for your reply
The thing is it happens with pretty much every site(like macrumors,youtube etc.) and the more strange thing is today I tested with a friend's "Windows" laptop and it was fine.
I also tested with an adblocker program(adblock) and while it doesn't redirect sometimes,it changes the page to a blank one.

 

[Krevnik]

Thank you for your reply
The thing is it happens with pretty much every site(like macrumors,youtube etc.) and the more strange thing is today I tested with a friend's "Windows" laptop and it was fine.
I also tested with an adblocker program(adblock) and while it doesn't redirect sometimes,it changes the page to a blank one.

Testing from different devices will give you different results: Cookies/etc change what you get served as far as ads, because of how the ad networks track you to target ads at you. Plus, you are more likely to get an add for an iOS app if you are actually on an iOS device.

On top of that, Adblock still lets certain ad networks through, which can include networks that are "trusted", but still carry the bad ads (that's the real problem with the App Store redirects, is the ads are making it into the big networks).

Chucking out cookies may reset some of the information the ad network knows about you (for a period of time anyhow), getting it to stop serving these ads so frequently.

 

[Maziar]

Thanks again,it took me more than 3 reloads to get this page working on my iPad.
I tried with other devices because I read somewhere that my router may be hacked which wasn't the case(I also tested with my PS4's browser and it worked fine)
I also played with cookies settings but no avail,still getting these redirects

 

[Che Castro]

Install an ad blocker like purify

 

[Maziar]

I currently have adblock+(same one which is on my FF/chrome on desktop), will try Purify though,thanks

 

[Maziar]

OK,so installing Purify didn't help either.
Still can't find any solutions

 

[Maziar]

OK,so disabling "Javascript" got rid of the issue but at the same time rendered some sites useless.Still looking for a 100% working solution

 

[Krevnik]

So, this may sound like a silly question but: Did you enable AdBlock+ or Purify once it was installed in Settings > Safari > Content Blockers?

 

[Maziar]

Yeah,I enabled and tried with both