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Can someone please help me figure out what this is? It looks like some ad pops on my website for no reason when opening website through Google search results.

I've tried looking in the code and couldn't find anything wrong. Hostgator also confirmed there is no malware on server and couldn't verify what this is. I have no idea how this got here in the first place and how to remove it.

Screenshot

If you click 'ok' it takes you to a bovada poker site.

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  • Disable all your addons in Firefox and then see if you're still getting the same problem. You may want to confirm that the same thing is happening in other browsers. Could be browser hi-jack or spyware on local system.
    – zigojacko
    May 21, 2013 at 15:02
  • This is not computer related as same thing happens on different computers as well.
    – rocco
    May 21, 2013 at 15:34
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    Still might be due to a browser add on though... Without seeing the site in question, we have nothing else to go on. The fact you said this happens when you enter your site via Google's search results, this sounds exactly like a browser SERP hijack.
    – zigojacko
    May 21, 2013 at 15:36
  • It happens in different browsers too, sorry for not confirming this earlier.
    – rocco
    May 21, 2013 at 15:42
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    Does the same thing happen when you navigate to your website directly (rather than via search results)? You'll have to provide a link to the site in order for us to help any further.
    – zigojacko
    May 21, 2013 at 16:02

3 Answers 3

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Are you running any Ad campaigns on your website? I have had similar experiences when I used non-adsense advertising platforms. Remove any advertisement code that you are using and it should disappear.

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If it is happening when you come from Google then you are hacked. Hackers do this so when you view your site you cannot detect the hack. Look in your .htaccess file for malicious entries as that is where something like this typically needs to go (but it may be elsewhere).

After removing that code you will need to find and fix the security hole that allowed this as this attack is automated which means it will be re-installed again and probably quickly. If you're using a third party CMS you need to upgrade to the latest version immediately and you need to make sure you follow their security best practices. (I'm guessing you're using Joomla as this is a common attack for Joomla sites).

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Google has an entire help section about identifying and removing malware from your site

Google provides:

  • Tools for identifying the malware
  • Advice for locking the site down while you are investigating
  • Documentation about how to clean the site up
  • Suggestions for keeping it secure

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