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pop-up coupon from Amazon is not blocked, why?

  • 20 replies
  • 111 have this problem
  • 33 views
  • Last reply by Ashebir

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Naturally I have pop-up blocker functional but there is a new and really, really annoying "coupon" pop-up that is always on Amazon but also on other sites. Close the coupon window and it pops up every time I navigate to look at any product. It really is bad and vexingly doesn't even offer anything that the Amazon template doesn't already offer ("free shipping" above a certain expenditure on some items etc.). It has a distinctive green border and appears on other sites as well. How did they get around your software? How can I make this stop?

Naturally I have pop-up blocker functional but there is a new and really, really annoying "coupon" pop-up that is always on Amazon but also on other sites. Close the coupon window and it pops up every time I navigate to look at any product. It really is bad and vexingly doesn't even offer anything that the Amazon template doesn't already offer ("free shipping" above a certain expenditure on some items etc.). It has a distinctive green border and appears on other sites as well. How did they get around your software? How can I make this stop?

Chosen solution

Dear AnnaZed,

I think (not sure yet) that I know what the problem (cure) is. I have not been able to get a new popup to show up since I did the following:

I was running the free Panda Cloud Antivirus and apparently installed the "free" Panda Security Toolbar initially. I saw a post somewhere (perhaps CNET) during my several hour search that implicated Panda Antivirus with ad sponsoring so I decided to "uninstall" the Panda Security Toolbar from in my Add/Remove Control Panel (in Windows XP). Left the Panda antivirus program on though. So far, no more pop up ads! Keeping my fingers crossed (and will update this post if I am wrong).

I'd be grateful if you could confirm this (if in fact you are using Panda Antivirus).

Apparently, Panda Antivirus is listed as Ad-Supported (based on the option to install the "free toolbar" during the initial install). So far as I can tell, each of the Pop-Up ads is for a legitimate company that has an affiliate program (Amazon's is called Amazon Associates). I suspect that when one clicks the "coupon", Panda gets credit for the resulting sales.

Please let me (and anyone else that finds this post!) know if this solves your problem.

Good luck!

Read this answer in context 👍 30

All Replies (20)

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The same popup is happening on the Netflix website, but with a Netflix coupon being advertised.

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Yes, it's happening at a lot of sites now. Same green border but a "coupon" for whatever site it is. Amazon insists that they are doing no such thing and that it's a fake. They suggested using the Firefox tools (duh) but they don't stop it. Adaware, Microsoft Safety Scanner, MalwareBytes and Panda Cloud ~ none of these have picked this up. It's really, really annoying, but I think most people just think it's the vendor (Amazon or whoever). I try to take a screenshot of it and it immediately disappears. I think that this is a very bad trojan or something.

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I've recently downloaded (a little heresy here) Chrome. Doesn't happen with Chrome. I'd really like to see this fixed, since I much prefer Firefox over Chrome.

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I can't bring myself to use Chrome (so far) but this just might force me. Every entity that I talk to about this, including Firefox, just ignores it.

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Do Firefox people read these questions? 5 new people have said that they have this problem and I would like an answer. It is not just happening on Amazon but on Flicker (strange), Thriftbooks, and others with the same distinctive green border and an image of scissors (as if to cut-out a coupon). I's driving me mad. I tried to take a screen shot but it won't allow it and it just disappears. I have not clicked on it.

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Here is a screenshot of what the coupons look like. I haven't found a single site (or person) that can explain which program is causing this. However, an attempt to transfer money out of my bank account was attempted today. My bank caught this and offered me free antispyware software which only identified (I think false positive) tivoserver.exe as malware. Anyone else here use Tivo? Not sure if this is related. Any advice would be greatly appreciated. Please help. I don't want to have to wipe my whole computer! By the way, this popup happens with Firefox and IE.

Modified by Jon-A

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Jon-A, Thank you so very much for taking these screen shots! I couldn't get my screen shot function to capture them. I strongly believe that this is some sort of singularly aggressive thing (trojan, malware, don't know what). Of course I rather wish that you had grabbed an Amazon one so that I could continue my correspondence with them, where I got the distinct impression that they simply didn't believe me! These despicable, annoying things are now popping up at nearly every site that I go to (including Flicker); surely we are not the only ones. What is this menace, and why is Firefox just ignoring it? My AVG software reported over 400 attempts on my identity information in the last month (up from zero) and I can't help but think that it is related.

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Chosen Solution

Dear AnnaZed,

I think (not sure yet) that I know what the problem (cure) is. I have not been able to get a new popup to show up since I did the following:

I was running the free Panda Cloud Antivirus and apparently installed the "free" Panda Security Toolbar initially. I saw a post somewhere (perhaps CNET) during my several hour search that implicated Panda Antivirus with ad sponsoring so I decided to "uninstall" the Panda Security Toolbar from in my Add/Remove Control Panel (in Windows XP). Left the Panda antivirus program on though. So far, no more pop up ads! Keeping my fingers crossed (and will update this post if I am wrong).

I'd be grateful if you could confirm this (if in fact you are using Panda Antivirus).

Apparently, Panda Antivirus is listed as Ad-Supported (based on the option to install the "free toolbar" during the initial install). So far as I can tell, each of the Pop-Up ads is for a legitimate company that has an affiliate program (Amazon's is called Amazon Associates). I suspect that when one clicks the "coupon", Panda gets credit for the resulting sales.

Please let me (and anyone else that finds this post!) know if this solves your problem.

Good luck!

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By jove! It looks like it has solved this problem. PandaCloud or Panda Security should be heartily ashamed of having made a devil's pact with Visicom Media.

So, to re-cap: I went to my control panel and removed the Panda Cloud Toolbar (identified as being from Visicom Media and sneaked into the Panda Cloud package even though I clicked on do not install toolbar when I installed Panda Cloud) and it stopped the incessant pop-ups. Both of those companies will hear from me on this matter, and I am concerned about any info that they have gathered.

Amazing, thanks Jon-A!

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Glad I could help. From all of my Google searching, I think that this is the only reported solution. Hopefully lots of eyes will see this thread. Best of luck AnnaZed!

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I uninstalled Panda Cloud and it did not stop the Coupon Pop Ups. I'm still getting them and have not been able to identify the cause even using multiple anti/malware programs. Please help. Thanks

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Uninstall Panda Security Toolbar from Add/Remove Programs.

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Thank you for posting this fix. It was making me crazy and your solution worked!

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Hi, My popup coupon was associted with the Yahoo Toolbar . The coupon button was active and as soon as I went to the toolbar options and turned off the button, it solved the prolbem. It was from Viscom.

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I just noticed a coupon popup, drop down or whatever and here's the screenshot. I have no toolbar add-on but Google and just a couple other add-ons. How do we get rid of this junk?

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Do you have PandaCloud? If so get rid of it.

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Sure don't. I generally have a very clean PC so I cannot imagine where this came from.

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Ah, well that's the only fix I know. Maybe you have a Trojan?

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Could be, but I don't think so. I also found "text enhance" or some junk the other day in Firefox so I'll probably have to think real hard on any new software installs or other such I may have done recently. Thanks for the help though.

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Here is the solution ...

I have found the culprit! It is something that calls itself by the innocuous name of "Browser Companion Helper" . You will find it in tools/add-ons/Extensions. You can either disable it or empty it into the little trash bin by the side of it. And you will not see the annoying coupon tab stuck to your browser again. By the way, this annoying plug could be found in any browser, so look for it wherever you may find it, and get rid of the blasted thing! Good luck, and happy browsing!