While browsing websites in Safari I have begun to see what appears to be .txt files being downloaded to my download folder. What causes this and what can be done to prevent it from happening moving forward. Using Safari v8.0.8 and Yosemite 10.10.5.
IMac, Mac OS X (10.5.4)
You may have adware (a form of malware) installed. One way to help determine whether this is in fact the case is to run EtreCheck. A popular tool for eradicating malware can be found at Malwarebytes.
This is a file named f.txt, correct?
This is a known issue being caused by Google's advertising network. Most reports I've seen indicate that this is primarily being seen on Amazon pages that are serving ads from Google's network. Does that match your experience?
I'm still unsure what causes this issue to occur for some people and not others... perhaps something to do with a specific ad that is more likely to be displayed to some people, based on browsing habits, and not others.
Do you have any Safari Extensions? (Safari, Preferences, Extensions)
Any other third party stuff, e.g., ad blockers?
What are the sites and what do you do to initiate the download and what is in the text files?
CT the main site I have noticed it on is CNN which I access multiple times a day. I just checked other news sites and it did not happen with them. As far as initiating the download I have not done anything to specifically initiate it. It seems to happen as I hover over a link within the website. I have added a few of the first few lines from one of them for you to see what the .txt files look like.
document.write('\x3cimg src\x3d\x22https://secure.insightexpressai.com/adServer/adServerESI.aspx?bannerID\x3d305658 \x26amp;script\x3dfalse\x26amp;siteID\x3dN6096.127315.CENTRO\x26amp;creativeID\x 3d65009438\x26amp;placementID\x3d121159116\x26amp;rnd\x3d2936848177\x26amp;redir \x3d//secure.insightexpressai.com/adserver/1pixel.gif\x22 height\x3d\x221\x22 width\x3d\x221\x22 border\x3d\x220\x22\x3e\x3cimg src\x3d\x22https://secure-us.imrworldwide.com/cgi-bin/m?ci\x3dade-ca\x26amp;at\x3dview\x26a mp;rt\x3dbanner\x26amp;st\x3dimage\x26amp;ca\x3d8961508\x26amp;cr\x3d65009438\x2 6amp;pc\x3d121159116\x26amp;ce\x3d972524\x26amp;pr\x3diag.sid,1000063\x26amp;pr\ x3diag.tfid,1984\x26amp;pr\x3diag.pageid,121159116\x26amp;pr\x3diag.brn,2590334\ x26amp;pr\x3diag.cte,65009438\x26amp;pr\x3diag.cmpid,8961508\x26amp;pr\x3diag.st id,972524\x26amp;pr\x3diag.impid,65009438\x26amp;pr\x3diag.advid,2590334\x26amp; r\x3d2936848177\x22 height\x3d\x221\x22 width\x3d\x221\x22 border\x3d\x220\x22\x3e\x3cscript type\x3d\x22text/javascript\x22 src\x3d\x22https://secure.insightexpressai.com/adServer/adServerESI.aspx?
Thanks for your time and any help you may be able to provide.
thomas_r --
They are in fact f.txt files that were being downloaded. They seem to have stopped on Wednesday evening, I have not received anything since then. Most of what I received came from when on the CNN website which does in fact contain some targeted ads from other searches we have conducted. Thanbk you for your help and ideas on what this could be.
2gilmores
CT --
I have no Safari Extensions (Not sure what they are but looked where you stated an there are none) and I have no 3rd party pop up or ad blockers.
Thanks you, I will give it a try.
Text files are automatically being downloaded while browsing web sites.
