Most people know what a pop-up ad is, but even if you have never heard of one before their description is in the name! And they are just as annoying as they sound... They are advertisements that with open a new window in your browser to display an ad. Most of the time, these are malicious in nature and will try to infect your computer with some form of malware. However, these days they are quite easy to avoid and deal with if you know what to do. In the event that you do not know how to get pop-up adds to stop bothering, you can continue reading this article and we will teach you.
Blockers
All of the major internet browsers: Google Chrome, Firefox, Safari, Microsoft Edge, Internet Explorer, Opera, etc. come with a built-in pop-up blocker that should be turned on by default. If not, it can be activated by looking through the options or settings menus and clicking on the pop-up blocker option. There are also various third-party ad blocking programs that exist you could use, but always remember to make sure they are legit and from reputable sources before you download anything. These can come with features to not only block pop-ups, but general website ads as well.
Malware
It is also possible to have accidentally downloaded some malware from pop-ups. These generally spam you with even more ads and your blockers may not be able to keep up, thus bogging down your system and bringing your computer to a crawl. If this is the case, then you will need to run anti-malware software on your computer to find and get rid of it. Once the malware is removed the pop-up adds should stop appearing as well. Like all forms of malware though, the safest way to combat them is to not get them at all! Blunt, yes, but it is quite easy to avoid them in the age of the computer. Our trusted partner over at Sophos is a great choice for anti-virus.
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