Unable to open any sponsored (google ads) link in chrome and safari on macbook

Question

Level 1

14 points

Unable to open any sponsored (google ads) link in chrome and safari on macbook

Beginning last week, i'm unable to open any link in chrome or safari from google ads. Chrome gives me a "connection refused" error.

This site can’t be reached

www.googleadservices.com refused to connect.Try:

Checking the connection
Checking the proxy and the firewall

ERR_CONNECTION_REFUSED

"In safari I get a "Safari Can't Open page ... because address is invalid"

There are no firewalls or VPNs on anywhere on my network that would cause this. I've cleared caches and cold rebooted. Still having the issue. It started suddenly and seems to only be happening on Apple devices on my network. Any one have any ideas? Also note, I have a Ubiquity network with 2 fiber ISPs (one is a fail safe).

Thanks!

Posted on Nov 6, 2024 6:31 AM

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Answer 1

smshypllws79 Author

Level 1

14 points

Nov 6, 2024 7:24 AM in response to varjak paw

I've discovered that if I enable Private Relay in my iCloud settings, I can now access sponsored links in Safari AND Chrome on my iPhone. When enabled on my MacBook Pro, I am able to access sponsored links in Safari but NOT Chrome. Clearly this is an apple issue and this started after the latest OS update.

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Answer 2

varjak paw

Level 10

178,102 points

Nov 6, 2024 7:43 AM in response to smshypllws79

I don't have anything close to the current version of macOS on my system and I am unable to open the link you posted. I also tried with Firefox and it still fails with a 404 error. So this does not appear to be an issue with macOS or even Safari, unless you are actually referring to sites other than the link you posted.

FWIW, I searched for "Google Ad Services" and the URL you posted does not appear anywhere. This is the URL Google themselves returns for that service:

https://ads.google.com/intl/en_us/start/overview-ha/?nis=8

Regards.

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Answer 3

smshypllws79 Author

Level 1

14 points

Nov 6, 2024 8:08 AM in response to varjak paw

Not sure why you tried clicking on that link. It's just an error message. The actual link is:

https://www.googleadservices.com/pagead/aclk?sa=L&ai=CG6aqbIkrZ4rEJJ7xoNgPqIG74QiJnI2We-zJ3JvaEd-d34zvCggAEAMgyZiiCygDYMmWnIvApNgPoAHT8-X0AsgBAcgD2CCqBGhP0LXLQdtP85OysEWUSvOTEiyoxuh5eeScMnVByFor5-5piHph24JpAWE47xAh9LEysbNe2X2QBCgqd8j1E3MIQBoVa6vWunPJwnwdzpNjnHj0UkQp3pO-JqlCc0OOgoyMWT23fwdBUMAE8_i_iMIEgAWQTogFxaHMm0ugBmaAB5WMmosBiAcBkAcBqAfruLECqAemvhuoB7masQKoB_PRG6gH7tIbqAf_nLECqAfK3BuoB5KvsQKoB7uksQKoB9izsQKoB9imsQKoB8qpsQKoB6K6sQKoB-q6sQKoB5m1sQKoB961sQKoB9uqsQKoB9CqsQKoB9ywsQKoB-qxsQKoB5S4sQKoB-y4sQKoB763sQKoB5bJsQKoB4PDsQKoB5XJsQKoB87KsQKoB5bJsQKoB5fJsQKoB9_JsQKoB4nKsQKoB77JsQKgCKzJpQSwCAHSCC0QAjIEg-CADjoQwvGAgICABILAgMCFoICAAkIBBEjR7PMqUAlYiqq1jYHIiQOaCS5odHRwczovL3d3dy5tb3NzaW5jLmNvbS9zZWctbGlnaHRib3gtZGlzcGxheXMvsQl5F6G6uxI1SbkJE0uY_ng6nFL4CQGYCwGqDAIIAdoMHQoKEPD-5aiG7r_7YRICAQNAAUoCAhlSBQMHCAkp6AwGqg0CVVO4DQHIDQGCFBgIAhIUaWxsdW1pbmF0ZWQgbGlnaHRib3iIFAjIFJX_sdi-m6D_btAVAfgWAYAXAZIXCRIHCAEQAxitAroXBDgBSAHgFwLKGAIQANAYAYgZAQ&co=1&ase=2&gclid=CjwKCAiAxKy5BhBbEiwAYiW--3nITZwie2y0Pw57ijAC6d0DwtRyK-v72u7Js1ZxWofA0SvnezXHhhoCWhQQAvD_BwE&nis=6&ved=2ahUKEwj6z66NgciJAxUDk4kEHRrBLwwQ0Qx6BAgHEAE&cid=CAASFORoqhoVtALGtbAZz5zG50zteV6V&dblrd=1&sival=AF15MEAjaH1MhFhOZgq74Jll8wy6DZfNh8-zBKbo5mqjzRja6zTCwwDMKyt6vnTkAw2ieSxv8PffNAWDvwAh2zF-P1nuI8N8Aidn4RbkmgLyfYciCBTwxdLftA25GBG3HebLr37ap_Q4HUfa3-Nm2DDdAar7u-inlIqUOwuu9102biqeqwc76Wg&sig=AOD64_1OBLPKokYy3XZLYmHAjsFw3mhzkw&adurl=https://www.mossinc.com/seg-lightbox-displays/%3Futm_source%3Dgoogle%26utm_medium%3Dad%26utm_campaign%3Dlightbox_google_ads%26utm_term%3Dilluminated%2520lightbox%26matchtype%3Dp%26device%3Dc%26gad_source%3D1

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Answer 4

varjak paw

Level 10

178,102 points

Nov 6, 2024 8:20 AM in response to smshypllws79

You said:

Beginning last week, i'm unable to open any link in chrome or safari from google ads. Chrome gives me a "connection refused" error.

This site can’t be reached

www.googleadservices.com refused to connect.Try:

So absent any other information, it appeared to me that was the site you were trying to reach. It helps when you ask a question if you provide full and accurate details.

Perhaps someone else here who has a current version of macOS and Safari can test your actual link and see if it works for them or not. The link works fine for me with Safari 17.6.

Regards.

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Answer 5

varjak paw

Level 10

178,102 points

Nov 6, 2024 6:59 AM in response to smshypllws79

It not working on my system either, so clearly that URL is wrong or just not working at present. You'll need to ask Google what the current correct URL is now.

Regards.

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