Audio Ads Play With No Browser Open

The best anti malware software is Mac OS X. Don't install any anti virus software, it won't do any good and will more than likely do the opposite.

Reinstall OSX. IT is a virus. Please follow these directions.

Choose Apple menu > Restart, and then hold down the Command (⌘) and R keys while the computer restarts.

If you’re not connected to the Internet, choose a network from the Wi-Fi menu in the right corner of the menu bar (in the top-right corner of the screen), or connect to Ethernet.

Select Reinstall Mac OS X, and then click Continue.

Follow the onscreen instructions. In the pane where you select a disk, select your current Mac OS X disk (in most cases, it is the only one available).

To start the installation, click Install.

Remove any "web clipping" widgets from your Dashboard. This is a common problem when a site used by a web clipping changes and displays an ad with audio, and this will happen entirely in the background (not just when the Dashboard is open).

Contrary to what you are being told here, this is absolutely, 100% not caused by any kind of malware. There certainly is malware for the Mac, though the importance of using anti-virus software is debatable (see my Mac Malware Guide)... but in this particular case, with the described symptoms, those telling you that it is a virus are misinformed.

Wow, i did not know that Safari could do that. (Open in Dashboard) I do not have much knowledge of web clipping widgets so i will have to learn more about it to address this.

Web clipping seems like a reasonable theory, but evidence so far indicates that the behavior is associated directly with Chrome. That is the audio stops mid-sentence when i close Chrome. Chrome is my primary browser now.

My widgets: i only have three widgets active. Weather, and two webcams. One webcam i have had for years, Mt St Helens (i await the next eruption i guess) The other, SlothCam, scans several websites for webcam pics of Duluth. It seems like a far fetched theory, but what if SlothCam uses the primary browser, Chrome, to grab the pictures and the fetch grabs some new audio advert from the web cam site incidentally?

I am assuming that widgets, of which i have had many over the years, that are turned off (set to inactive) are not a possible cause.

Not a good theory because the addresses in SlothCam are only for the current jpg of the webcam. Why would it fetch audio?

I did a few things, cleared browsing data again, prevented third party cookies... as soon as another unwanted audio plays again randomly to prove that none of that had effect, i will turn off SlothCam and check the theory. I will also visit all the websites that Sloth Cam uses to see if their is any audio adverts.

A web clipping can cause pop-ups (or pop-unders) to appear in your default browser, which would be Chrome in this case. So I wouldn't discount one of those web clippings. Make sure you know the addresses of the sites in question, so you can re-create the web clippings later, and remove them. See if that solves the problem.

If it doesn't, it must be related to some site that you always have open in Chrome. Or, potentially, some Chrome browser extension that you're using.

Hey, I have this problem. But in conjunction, I also get an occasional pop up for a Voicefive survey. The audio pop up ads also only happen once a day, usually limited to the first hour of when I have my computer on.

For what it is worth, an advert that i have heard more than once has been a Pantene commercial, hair conditioner or shampoo or something.

Thanks Thomas_r. I will switch my primary browser to Safari and see if the audio feed follows to it. That would be evidence of web clipping as the conduit for sure.

I am experiencing this same issue, hence the search that brought me here. I have a few Chrome extensions, one of them beig "Evernote clipper" but I am not clear on why/how this would play. It is creepy. Chrome is always open.

Especiall since I have AdBlock, Ghostery AND Disconnect plug ins to prevent just about all adds from getting through. This seems to have much bigger implications in terms of how adds are sneaking through.

started experiencing the same thing lately. i haven't added any new chrome extentions either. but just like everyone else, i'm hearing random adds or music playing and random intervals. just small little clips and then they're gone. and no sound icon indication coming from any open tabs.

i don't even think it's the tabs i have open since i've always had the same tabs open (ones for google drive things, one for gmail, and one for my website. that's it.)

any fixes yet?

any fixes yet

Yes. Stop using Chrome. Seriously. Some things I've read have me off the Google train completely with the exception of their search engine.

Stop using Chrome.

That is an over-simplification. Using Chrome is not the problem. It is not normal for Chrome to behave this way, so it's best to determine what's causing the problem.

Amazing to find this thread... I have been experiencing this for the past week...

It does seem tied in to Chrome - even though I have deleted every plugin it still occurs...

I occasionally get random popup windows too (when I visit certain themed sites).

The audio ads are so annoying my volume is turned off most of the time.

I am surprised that no one has pin-pointed the exact cause as of yet.

If anyone has 'cured' this issue it would be appreciated on an update - rather than suppositions.

I've even installed ESET antivirus... that did find a few viruses. Even though they are deleted - the ads are still running.

The ads instantly stop when I tun off my WIFI connection to the internet. And yes the ads still play when all browsers are switched off. I was planning on uninstalling Chrome as a test to see if that cures this irritation.

I have researched and found that this kind of problem can be related to a root kit issue.

Eset have a Rootkit Detection tool that is free - but only goes up to OS 10.8... mine is 10.9.1 (so no good for me).

I have also tried rootkit hunter: https://discussions.apple.com/thread/4906335

...but I am not sure if I am doing it right (ads are still playing).

Kaspersky seem to have something that a coder could use:

http://forum.kaspersky.com/index.php?s=988d485bb41c2fc17942fde2c15eb5f8&showtopi c=277605

But again - this is beyond me at present.

It is Google Chrome, as a test, I stopped using it and I had no problems from Safari. I started getting pop ups on Google Chrome, whatever it is it is on Chrome. I'm doing more research to resolve this mess.

Any further traction on this? I'm not experiencing it to.

Thanks.