By Damilola Emmanuel, who makes Tabmoat. Updated .
On a free streaming site, be careful with that box. In the case I took apart, there was no movie behind it at all: the page showed a full film’s running time for a short clip, stopped it after ten seconds and covered it with the box. Close the tab, and don’t give that site your email or card details.
What did I find behind one?
I opened one of these sites in my browser and checked the video file the page was really playing. The player said the film was 1 hour 51 minutes long. The actual video file was 34 seconds. The site’s own script paused it at 10 seconds, then put up a “create a free account to continue watching” box.
So the film I was “watching” didn’t exist, and signing up couldn’t have changed that.
How can I tell a fake wall from a real one?
Signs it’s fake:
- It sends you to sign up on a different website from the one you’re on.
- It asks for card details for something it calls free.
- The video stops at the same spot every time you reload.
- Seeking past the pause just brings the box back.
What does Tabmoat do with these boxes?
Tabmoat looks for the wording these walls use. Some sites load the box early and keep it invisible until the video stops, so Tabmoat checks for it before it shows and hides it as soon as it’s on the page. Sites that put the box back every time you move the video get it hidden again each time.
Tabmoat also shows a small notice saying what it hid, and when it can tell, how long the video on the page really is. If the page only had a short clip, the notice tells you, so you can stop waiting for a film that isn’t there.
Is it the same as an “ad blocker detected” box?
They’re different boxes. Some sites check whether you use an ad blocker and cover the page until you turn it off. Tabmoat handles those too: it stops the detection scripts on its list before they run, and hides “disable your adblocker” boxes that match the usual wording.
Questions people ask
I already signed up. What now? If you gave card details, contact your bank and ask them to block payments to that merchant. Change the password if you reused one from somewhere else.
Do all free movie sites do this? Not all of them. On the sites where I saw it, the same pages also opened ad tabs when you click Play.
Will Tabmoat hide real sign-in pages? It looks for boxes with this “sign up to keep watching” wording laid over a page. A sign-in page you open yourself isn’t the same thing, and “verify you are human” checks are left alone. If it ever hides something it shouldn’t, email me the page address at support@middledott.com.