How To Get Rid Of Ads In Skype
An ad titled 'Two friends who've never met' recently appeared on my girlfriend's Skype. The ad appears above the name of the contact she is currently speaking to and can't be disabled via the ad options build into Skype. How can we disable this ad?
The ad looks like this:
Click Close Button. After clicking on the add button, you can see that Skype URL added into the box below. Next, click on the close button and then click OK. After that, you have to 'restart' your Skype so that your changes take effects on an advertisement. Once you saved your settings, you would not see any ads on your Skype home screen. How to Block Advertisements in Skype & Customize the Chat Interface. I have Skype version 7.23.xx and it's frustrating that i can't get rid of the ads. In the config.xml file, there isn't even a 'AdvertPlaceHolder' entry. Which version of Skype was this article tested with? Can you post screenshots with the latest version of Skype?
Get Rid Of Skype Download
Things we have tried:
- Tried unchecking 'Help and Skype tips' and 'Promotions' under 'Alerts & messages' in the options menu.
- Tried changing the language file per Primemover's answer here
B. Rename The English language file. Procedure listed below; Cant save pdf file.
- Click Tools >> Change Language >> Edit Skype Language File..
- The Skype - Language File Editor window will open, click the Save As button
- Enter Standard English as filename , Save it on your desktop or in any folder you want.
- Click Tools >> Change Language >> Load Skype Language File.., then browse and select the Standard English language file.
- Restart Skype Again, this suggestion though proven to be working, is not from, suggested, or endorsed by Skype or any of its staff. So try at your own risk. This method should only be used, if and only if, those advertisements are seriously affecting your interest in using the Skype client.
- Tried downgrading to Skype version 6.10, 6.9, 5.10, and 4.2
I can confirm that I've never seen ads like this before, nor have other contacts I've asked. Is there anything else we can try to disable this?
Note: This originally started on Skype 6.10 but has persisted across older versions upon downgrading.
Edit: How to disable the skype ads (advertisement)? fails to answer the question I have posted. This is not a duplicate. The question linked appears to target a different group of ads (promotions) and is unrelated.
2 Answers
You could try editing your hosts file and pointing the offending ad's hostname to 127.0.0.1.
Edit the file %systemroot%system32driversetchosts
To the bottom of the file add the entry:
Where hostname is the hostname of the ad. For example, if the ad's URL is http://www.some-ad-service.com/, you would use www.some-ad-service.com as the hostname (thanks slhck, for pointing this out).
Save the file.
Adblock Plus
Now whenever your machine attempts to access the ad's URL the request will be sent to your local machine instead. The end result being that the ad is blocked.
Extending off of Matt's answer, since he doesn't include possible hostnames to block.
You need to add entries to yourhosts file, typically located here: Skype Advertising Campaign
C:WindowsSystem32driversetchostsThese are hostnames you'll want to block, by adding them to the hosts file:
Source of hostnames here: wikiHow, Skype forum, Skype forum #2, and a commenter Jason at Avangardo. Just a warning, but Microsoft Security Essentials (MSE) may think your hosts file was hijacked, so if you have issues make sure to allow the changes through MSE.
Also, you may need to restart your computer, in case flushing the dns cache doesn't work. It seems when you make a lot of changes to the hosts file Windows doesn't reload it.
On Skype 6.14 it re-enabled these options, you'll want to disable (uncheck) them:
A new method has emerged that works in Skype 6.13 and Skype 6.14, works on Windows using Internet Explorer settings, from Chris123NT:
Open up Control Panel > Internet Options.
Security > Restricted Sites > Sites
Type in https://apps.skype.com, and click Add.
Again, click Add, then Close, then OK. Now open up Skype, click on the home button, and hopefully the ad banner should disappear and not come back!
protected by Community♦Jan 29 '14 at 22:02
Thank you for your interest in this question. Because it has attracted low-quality or spam answers that had to be removed, posting an answer now requires 10 reputation on this site (the association bonus does not count).
Would you like to answer one of these unanswered questions instead?