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In the past few days when logged in to Electrical Engineering I have been getting low quality ads such as the following (on this question), for which there is no obvious "report ad" option:

Example of Low quality ad

Another example, and this time copied the link https://trace-eu.mediago.io/ju/ic?tn=b9f6c6810e2148000cc17f9e98410921&trackingid=de6a8f47c77b43b2c4f3bdf187b0e804&acid=32086&data=f34O2BLYTZ0YwY5gaW3nAksTnuBfUyG3AECQi-3jDEUIgHPSHaxU5YYV-vvnH2ogsZHcoB5Wwoj_xER6TJ7pBTKFIygNRnmVx7llPVPwm1BpfoAaKgMwS7uHVBBBDhxrK265y2Agn54D7O6eIVqkxNBU3xGYz-CAKvSSWfEXz5I3uZ60FBXuGMG3co_oCv55lwxqsRIBSY5PmF1lUbawmdvZTkhrOPorzwLpb5SzcHPsC8NgVfgLTA5AKFT9it4fWnRM3bXf5m8xe8LzlJHVCgbsVhYCndn0TzCLSlLpTvMykuvK1_yqH4EgGQkZILlggERiHRRkbphYVl0JsDmqYySim4N3HeIUlBnHKHd9D71CP9y2rsK2ZUm6BWys2TuuvFxRv4oT7QAj4TlCKV1oDUHt32-WvhVTAal7IBg8gZ-EYNu1Pwd78X9gIdD4VVFOXF4OGoJQpiAUcJnkHJpBFJMSN1GJv5t_arlSKeTEglL0hwQiPJE2EJKaRUPHJ9Gay4RxLCxSI-ev2VmU58p2tZ42qXW132Udz0c6SGVw3XbACoKA5mBuU-LZ5WAm20XgXtju-hq_dFq9w7Hu0vMfCJf3fjVcbuaVK2CstFz1cM91XxeHEC09Xfz3wi9iw1YZ4DP7riklJse_B6dN9OrSxoyaiTxn7FkxouhsIZNoAmrNTRJ-Z9r3iwvlElu62P9derHLWBel7_0O1haJOBXy8jcLTc3RVkOM7kEa_LYOo65LksdjZ80TARS8rvIbySQsNpjGI3s6yBMLX0RiHXjOKBJZsVkXWC4OLHfcTGSRA7kjuxbcVPEwC_4v6TUWHyXSb5MakkaV5lDojhuHnfYcoqtzb-1QxG3Zc3LjMv4tuBahyOfTEaUeCD0icZdvIeLEAgw-jcWNCZy1f8tvPlE85DFXGsLx1f0jO7JnDGZ65mZH3YwNKTc8SX2Fi4UB9T4b0VdnMHN_9Nf5wMnkICPHAiReFloFcx1Q2wMUtNXM8Mk9KotSFVQxi38y4xYVdy2VNmUyQXn8CTeVSzQGYT4kGwBICquH-5AcTvP6CFhxk6ShGb5ENUzj6AIpcuAhI03bAdq1mulZq_j0Z7FHtEdggtozPNoxq6UDj4r5KGzHPHAcCWARfwbRSLaiAsyKac0KIizhR0OnXicnN0FTYJRI9u85mMS2sndZOi1gehgYp5anq6BugZKtoorcPuqKw1eMH9blbzwTIkWbwd3nWXNEMCAMY-Yy7g6k81E2OrXm8FZDKGsZDrnszfi95EL_hYcMDxo1WPFr0boGd3cwzG-Xvkme-dZC12F1VlWv3zqqnH-nDxIEv48XjA1q2P_DUJHhcbdCmYgrNIasShq7b8IaVfEsyLIPr0fvCo92qVn-kSe1MuKiPr38_XoA1zQyu1VGuycJbrz-aBlxklFofCfXyrPiHg_tnxi4IrHOFhNiktcDODORKB_IElqs-Djfwmqf576se_YxLED4IkhAU75k66e1K15ZwMsCtZwad2ZgDRBlOnaXS0RI1DQx737trPyr6Eeg20vq2lNzzI5lei46XP7KiS7JoewxfCVylcYVuNAxmbb-rlN5RntkSeY4LEI483c7WCcQwqdKygC3544llxTOgYGo_EWRqfyxptoYMEmLuNkNP99mQlzIr9ctsTUilgD27gWZxTA7B6afexFRvTfYKlDrqWamzcqZ4GFTzZNI1Z-9Im2VPyjipNLvbEG0_n7iff6adYjC5yQafBzG0t560UP1JQ0m8Cd9LnaOCVWq_7j9efPFB_Fw5PDfzezzqDbirtbmbGV_FPkQYfOvDjrg9i138qw4DFgXV3f9bdqMVygE7xCGi-azN2Pr76U8jRJk6W3iNRPHWmgskh1iDvWY9yBqwgAH8MgNjJZ-eUL4GWajWzszE-07inS1hBKTdhXjWPSzR5XffIJ5Ap2dTm1TRS0B85SVqGSwuVMygPn52wRgouVfs-mFGB8q9zy_HDYxXyLhdXX-wNuuATymdZSuPd01azxdd8PyFUMtVosSW0aibgAfZ1WVD4-EidXuoilFil37ed_w6s2CfUmBodGPGT3KCpiyLt-2QTbZQieXpeW8IIUc47VXFFvUwQbuUevFCTU7WI6FokNEJCcNcmVn_fCYwqmN9jJ9Mxf-8zki2wMuWCQOq5OjHp7jPtAbN3HkhK7c7o1_HKmk5vsSkPmcBx_-AL1lzqcWPRsysHCAoniqmsJFrOPJZu6VCM3ejoAh-yLNjt4lJU5z5AuJcw&uid=mid_5d71c844401205190686a54ea7795937&mguid=&ap={AUCTION_PRICE}&tid=72&gprice=cByPGGWZp3q-SxRXLfmh7m-6huOnkNgub_lCrLaHRoU&campaignid=4132290&c_sync=0 in case it helps to track down the source:

Another low quality ad example

I don't mind being shown ads from professional companies for products related to electronics but the above is not that.

Can the moderators enquire if something has gone wrong with the process for screening which ads are allowed on the site?

Notes:

  1. I have the reduce ads privilege, and the Enable advertisements option in my profile is disabled. I.e. users without the reduce ads privilege may be getting a higher rate of low quality ads.
  2. Even if there was a report ad option, as per Reporting an ad gives an error instead, the report ad option is currently broken.
  3. Super User also has an issue with low quality ads - see Low quality ads taking over superuser?
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  • \$\begingroup\$ Indeed, the grammar in the first ad is revolting. \$\endgroup\$ Commented Dec 17, 2025 at 16:32

2 Answers 2

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We have blocked that ad. It delivered a handful of impressions (around a dozen) on this site, and we're following up because the category this ad falls under is supposed to be blocked. We've also blocked the ad network that delivered this ad.

Checking to see why there was no "report an ad" button displaying there.

The team is actively watching reports of bad ads, and responding quickly. We appreciate everyone who uses the "report an ad" button (obviously, when it appears...) to let us know about problems.

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    \$\begingroup\$ Thanks very much for the quick response, Philippe. Just to be clear, the OP here reported 2 ads but you referred to "that ad". Does this answer apply to both ads which were mentioned in the question? \$\endgroup\$ Commented Oct 6, 2025 at 14:10
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    \$\begingroup\$ I have just been served the same ad as my first example, which is from the https://trace-eu.mediago.io/ju/ic domain. Is there a delay before the ad network gets blocked? \$\endgroup\$ Commented Oct 6, 2025 at 22:01
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    \$\begingroup\$ I understood that we had blocked both, but i will double check. \$\endgroup\$ Commented Oct 7, 2025 at 17:43
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    \$\begingroup\$ It seems there may be something odd going on. According to our ad operations team, we haven't delivered any ads from this provider, although we're doublechecking that with some other folks. If you continue to see the ad, please let us know? Use the report function, ideally, and I'll try to come back here semi-regularly to check. \$\endgroup\$ Commented Oct 7, 2025 at 18:54
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    \$\begingroup\$ Makes me wonder (and probably people who know a lot more than me) if it's some kind of malware that injects their ads onto other ads, thus bypassing or hiding the normal "report ad" etc. \$\endgroup\$ Commented Oct 7, 2025 at 21:53
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    \$\begingroup\$ I'm still getting ads like this from https://trace-eu.mediago.io/ju/ic which have no "Report this ad" option. The acceptable ads have a "Report this ad" option. So, perhaps as @pipe suggested someone has found a way to hack the ads. \$\endgroup\$ Commented Oct 7, 2025 at 22:43
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    \$\begingroup\$ It's four days later, and trace-eu.mediago.io is going strong. Just saw the same hair grow scam on scifi.stackexchange.com, accompanied by another scam about my expired MyAfee license and my PC having 3 detected threats (I don't use McAfee). In both cases there was no Report this add button. The ads were refreshing themselves with a significant delay, too, and the top banner did successfully clickjack me when I was trying to click the top of the question, and it appeared there at that instant. \$\endgroup\$ Commented Oct 8, 2025 at 12:04
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    \$\begingroup\$ "The team is actively watching reports of bad ads" Therein lies the problem. Your team should not watch reports but instead watch the actual ads, before they are displayed live on the site. Obviously you cannot work with unprofessional scam companies like Google ads and expect good results. \$\endgroup\$ Commented Oct 8, 2025 at 13:17
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    \$\begingroup\$ @ChesterGillon - Hi, Have you had any more examples of spam ads, since your last comment above? If so, please append any new info to the question. TY \$\endgroup\$ Commented Nov 21, 2025 at 17:52
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    \$\begingroup\$ @GSerg - Hi, Same question as I just asked to Chester: Have you had any more examples of spam ads, since your last comment above? TY \$\endgroup\$ Commented Nov 21, 2025 at 17:53
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    \$\begingroup\$ @SamGibson I have seen more since my last comment, but I have not seen any in the recent few weeks. I have also noticed that on Stack Overflow the auto refresh of the ads has stopped, but not on the smaller sites, where the content jumps up and down every 30 seconds due to the top horizontal banner appearing and disappearing, very unpleasant. Add to that the jumping up and down of the code blocks due to the recently introduced Copy button that appears dynamically after few seconds, and what you have is a web page that is actively dodging your cursor. \$\endgroup\$ Commented Nov 21, 2025 at 18:02
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    \$\begingroup\$ @GSerg - Many thanks. I'll feed that back to SE. If you do see more spam ads, then please use its "Report the ad" link if it has one, and also post whatever info you have here too. TY \$\endgroup\$ Commented Nov 21, 2025 at 18:24
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    \$\begingroup\$ @SamGibson I haven't see any more spam ads in the past few weeks. Unfortunately, I didn't keep a record of the last time I saw a spam ad. Since the spam ads seem to have been stopped, will now accept this answer. \$\endgroup\$ Commented Nov 22, 2025 at 7:53
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    \$\begingroup\$ @SamGibson While not related to Stack Exchange I notice the spam / scam ads from https://trace-eu.mediago.io/ju/ic are still on other internet sites. E.g. just saw a scam ad on nationalrail.co.uk which as professional web site didn't expect low quality ads on. Therefore, other sites are also not paying attention to where they get ads from. \$\endgroup\$ Commented Nov 22, 2025 at 11:15
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    \$\begingroup\$ @ChesterGillon - Hi, Thanks for confirming the lack of those low-quality ads on SE recently. If you see more in future, please do raise it again either via the "Report this ad" button if possible, or if that's not possible, then as you did here via a new Meta post. (Interesting that you've seen similar ads elsewhere from the same source.) \$\endgroup\$ Commented Nov 23, 2025 at 5:57
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I believe we had an issue with certain ad types not triggering the Ad Report logic. That should be fixed now.

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