What's the best way to warn of potential problems with ads?

Ok, I know I am going to have some various responses on this one. So here it goes.

What's the best way to warn of potential problems with ads? If you see an ad that that pop's up with malware issues, should the group be warned of the issue due to possbile damage that it could do to your computer - or - should you just notify the provider privately and move on.

I choose the first option; however, I am certainly willing to listen to pros and cons from the group since going public with the issue could potentially harm the providers source of income.

There does not seem to be a clear cut way to address the issue. I can certaininly see both sides.

When someone buys a gun for the first time, they don't run out and just randomly start shooting people. Maybe notify the provider and give her the opportunity to fix it first. If she ignores you, then by all means, load your gun and fire away.

If it's a pop-up or random ad (like on the header above) then I would immediately notify the staff. The ad owner may not be aware of the issue or how to fix it, and the staff can place it offline until they can look into it. Only leaving it up to the owner who MAY know it's malware already is not a good way to go, they can be notified as well but only after the site's admins have been notified.

Ok, I know I am going to have some various responses on this one. So here it goes.

What's the best way to warn of potential problems with ads? If you see an ad that that pop's up with malware issues, should the group be warned of the issue due to possbile damage that it could do to your computer - or - should you just notify the provider privately and move on.

I choose the first option; however, I am certainly willing to listen to pros and cons from the group since going public with the issue could potentially harm the providers source of income.

There does not seem to be a clear cut way to address the issue. I can certaininly see both sides. Originally Posted by niceguy4u2010

I followed a thread about this. Some of it I understood; some of it was way above my tech head. Since it depends on a number of factors, I suggest the person who discovers this PM the Mods. Let them take it from there. The drama that appeared in the other thread (conflicting tech positions, defensive site hosters/users) was not good. Let the pros take care of it.

Just my .02.

What browser are you using? Firefox is fighting it's first big issue and MS First Tuesday for Feb will be the biggest one since 2003.

What I think happens (just my take), we providers are always looking for new advertising venues. I bet I click more banners and links than the average hobbyist. There have been a lot of new ones lately. One of these new ones might be adding more and/or tagging sites without us knowing.