Company
No pop-up ads allowed
We do not allow pop-up ads of any kind to appear on our site. Not only are they annoying, they run counter to our belief that searching on Google.co.uk should be fast, simple and straightforward.
So why do they occasionally appear when you perform a search? Here are a few possible explanations:
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You may have encountered a squatter with an address similar to ours. Occasionally, individuals will register domain names that are one letter off from a well-known URL in hopes of attracting those who make a typing mistake. Check to make sure that you entered www.google.co.uk into your browser and the pop-ups may go away.
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Another possibility is that you visited a site while surfing and that site launched pop-up windows in the background. These ads are known in the advertising industry as “pop-unders”. Other web pages trigger pop-ups when a person leaves that site. When you came to Google, those windows may have become visible.
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If you have installed any free online software, you may have unknowingly installed other programmes (collectively referred to as badware), as well. These tiny “time bombs” can show pop-up ads at random intervals or based on anything that you type on a web page.
Our Web Search Help Centre contains useful information about how to remove these malicious programmes, as well as instructions for how to file a complaint if you think that you were deceived when you installed a programme that creates pop-ups.
More information
Read more about the kind of advertising that we do accept on Google. If you have other questions, please visit the Google Help Centre.