Seeing ads on Wikipedia? Your PC may be infected

Online researchers, beware: If you’re seeing ads on open-source encyclopedia Wikipedia, chances are your computer may be infected with malware. Wikipedia community advocacy director Philippe Beaudette issued the warning after receiving reports of ads being seen on Wikipedia, which he said would “never run ads.” “We never run ads on Wikipedia. Wikipedia is funded by more than a million donors, who give an average donation of less than $30. We run fundraising appeals, usually at the end of the year," Beaudette and Erik Moeller, vice president of engineering and product development said in a blog post. "If you’re seeing advertisements for a for-profit industry... or anything but our fundraiser, then your web browser has likely been infected with malware,” the blog post added. Beaudette and Moeller cited one example of malware that installs itself as a browser extension called “I want this” and installs itself in Google Chrome. They said there may likely be similar malware that may inject ads into other browsers like Mozilla’s Firefox, Microsoft’s Internet Explorer and other popular browsers. Among their suggestions was to disable browser add-ins, attempting a malware scan and removal, or even having the computer evaluated for malware by a computer repair center. On the other hand, they said an Internet provider may be injecting ads into web pages, as is most likely the case with Internet cafes or “free” wireless connections. “But rest assured: You won’t be seeing legitimate advertisements on Wikipedia. We’re here to distribute the sum of human knowledge to everyone on the planet — ad-free, forever,” they said. — LBG, GMA News