I'm not knowledgeable enough to know if the ones I get are bona fide blocks. Seeing as how avast! tries very hard to get you to run Google Chrome, it wouldn't surprise me if some of these so-called blocks are an attempt to get you to look at the ads for the paid versions in the hope you will buy. I wouldn't depend on Superantispyware alone, though. You should also scan with free Malwarebytes.

Here is a link that might be useful: Malwarebytes

If Avast is blocking something effectively, then running a scan should show nothing...but it's good that you checked. I get maybe one or two blocks a day with Avast, and I'm not always sure they are bad things, but it also usually doesn't affect what I'm doing since it's typically from a Google search and I just choose an alternate site to go to. I've been using it with Firefox for several years and it's never tried to get me to switch browsers or move to Chrome.

What websites are you experiencing this on?

@ Posted by snidely (My Page) on Sat, Apr 19, 14 at 14:32 What websites are you experiencing this on?

The increase was mostly on sites pulled up by Google News searches.

Not so bad the last couple of days, curiously.

Using care and thoughtfulness when clicking on third party links is a best practice. I don't think any higher level of reliance should be given to a link resulting from a Google search than from any other source. Maybe that's being too skeptical on my part?

If the domain shown on a link doesn't clearly identify a legit sponsor whose name I recognize, I don't click on it. I doubt that I'm missing out on anything amazing or otherwise unavailable by being picky in this way.

After a couple of quiet days the notices returned.

I have managed to capture part of Avast's description: all have been URL h_sand* [something with an x in it almost 'sandoxo' but not quite.
Found the whole thing:

h_sandoxon_com__posting_php?mode

and a lot advertising for Avast.

Someone at SDMB suggest it was part of a promotional to get me to upgrade to a paid plan.

This post was edited by albert_135 on Wed, Apr 23, 14 at 17:19

"Using care and thoughtfulness when clicking on third party links is a best practice. "

It doesn't make much of a difference. The very vast majority of unsafe code your browser is exposed to come from advertising. Most sites subscribe to advertising services, and there's just not much checking on most of them.

"The very vast majority of unsafe code your browser is exposed to come from advertising. Most sites subscribe to advertising services, and there's just not much checking on most of them."

You're misinformed, I'll just leave it at that.

Google, Yahoo, and Microsoft are #1,#2 and #3. Others named as you move down the list are equally well known, respectable and safe.

Here is a link that might be useful: Ad placement companies

Spybot Search and Destroy has an Immunize option that takes a list of all the potentially harmful sites that they know of and blocks them (by editing your hosts file). It is a convenient way to protect yourself from many of the more common hazards.

It does not currently block sandoxon directly, but it may block whatever is linking to them. If after installing it and choosing to Immunize you are still having something blocked by avast that links to that site you could try editing your hosts file yourself... it isn't too hard.