Steam and Adsense

[taturana]

Hey, is anyone else getting adsense pop ups while using Steam (client or in browser)? It started today, this is driving me crazy. It is happening with some other sites too.

http://i.imgur.com/XoQ5WHq.png

I already ran malwarebytes 5 times, full scan, nothing. Ran a rootkit scanner, nothing. I formatted my PC, it didn't go away. WTF is going on?

[Azza ☠]

If you can view that Adsense source code, you could be able to report the owner and have their entire adsense account (and all the profits) stripped away from them. There would be some javascript with their own Google_Ad_Client ID under it, easy to trace back to the owner. Their Google Adsense will then be tied to Paypal or a bank system for receiving those payments. If they did that to me, I would personally have some serious fun with it first. Destroying all their profits, plus more.

Adsense Report:
https://support.google.com/adsense/troubleshooter/1190500?hl=en

---

As for cleaning...

Consider using Spybot:
http://www.safer-networking.org/mirrors/

Boot into safemode (normally F8 upon system booting to get menu)

Run a full scan / rootkit scan. It's similar to Malwarebytes, but very deeply scans, view the results at the end and clean up all (if will even find very minor privacy concerns each time).

Then also apply web-browser Immuniation afterwards.
This is important to avoid reinfections.

You would want to go under your web-browser(s), and reset default browser settings.
Also check under the plugins/extensions and disable/remove anything suspicious.

---

If you formated your PC and it still coming back, it might be embedded into some software your using and reinstalled after the format (if the Operating System itself isn't infected). Consider apps/games your using, which might be infected.

[taturana]

Well, I opened the store with IE and Firefox right now, no ads. With Opera it is there. Same thing with Steam client. I'll try running Spybot and see what happens.

[Azza ☠]

Under Opera -

To open the extensions manager, select the menu item Tools > Extensions > Manage Extensions.

or

In opera, paste this into the address bar:
opera:config#Extensions|Plugins

Check the plugins list for anything fishy.

---

If still issues,

Open Opera and type the following in the address bar:
opera://about

In the page that opens, you will see the "Paths" section. Note down the Profile and Cache folder locations.

Close Opera

Delete these two folders: Profile and Cache.

For example:
C:\Users\XXXXX\AppData\Roaming\Opera Software\Opera Stable
C:\Users\XXXXX\AppData\Local\Opera Software\Opera Stable

Send to the recycling bin if perfered. That gives you the option to restore them again if desired or didn't help.

When you reset Opera, it will automatically recreate them with it's default settings. It will help you get rid of any malicious caching or profile changes.

[Parazity]

Olá, você conseguiu remover esses anúncios? Aqui na minha Steam aconteceu a mesma coisa,não consegui remove-lo de maneira alguma!! Preciso de ajuda...

[Satoru]

You have malware if htat's happening. It's not steam

You need to clean the malware. Use Malwarebytes for starters

[taturana]

Parazity, eu acabei de formatar o PC novamente e a primeira coisa que fiz depois de instalar o Windows foi instalar o Steam, o adsense sumiu.

Satoru, did you read what I wrote on the first post? I used malwarebytes 5 times, full scan, nothing.

Azza, I used Spybot's rootkit scan in safe mode and there was nothing wrong. I tried malwarebytes there too, nothing. About Opera, I reinstalled it and the ads were gone. In the end, so far, I formatted my PC again, installed Windows and installed Steam client right away, the ads were gone. I'm going to see what happens after I install the drivers.

[Satoru]

Since you've already reformatted you're basically ok now.

If they come back its far more likely your router has been compromised and its' redirecting your DNS to some nefarious place.

[Parazity]

Então não tem jeito mesmo? Vou ter que formatar pra tirar esse adsense? Estava querendo evitar a formatação, esse tipo de anuncio pode prejudicar em alguma coisa minha Steam?

[taturana]

Isso eu não sei Parazity, mas esse adsense não deveria estar de jeito nenhum no Steam. Agora, só por segurança, se você for formatar desinstala o Steam também, faz o backup dos jogos antes já que ele desinstala literalmente tudo.

Just a follow up, I installed the drivers now, everything is ok so far. Starting programs installation. Browsers ok.

[taturana]

Ok, it started appearing again this morning :/

I decided to install addblock, that didn't work. Installed uBlock for Opera to see if it would block on the browser at least, it did. uBlock let me see what script was activating (http://www.google-analytics.com/ga.js) and let me see from where this is coming from (us-ads.openx.net/w/1.0/afr?auid=537865609&cb=37053748942378). Every add comes from this source. I can block it on Opera, but I don't know how would I block it on Steam client :/

[Forcen]

Did you try https://www.malwarebytes.org/ ? Just try all the good programs there is.
Maybe do a trial of their premium service, they give you realtime malware protection for 7 days.

Here is a extensive advanced guide about removing malware: http://gegeek.com/documents/68DA1A712720433AA705FB52640BCE06A0E40E46.html