How to Find Out the Address of Flash Ads

If you're curious as to where the embedded Flash advertisement that is displaying on a Web page originated, you can find the address from which it was downloaded in your web browser. All displayed Web elements, including Flash ads, are recorded with the file size, access date, and an Internet address. Knowing the address of a Flash ad will allow you to block it from an ad-filtering program or download it to store a permanent copy on your hard drive.

Internet Explorer

• 1

  Launch the Internet Explorer Web browser. Type the Web page address of the page upon which the Flash ad appears into the address bar near the top of the program window and press the "Enter" key. If the Flash ad appears sporadically, you may need to press the "F5" key to reload the page several times for the ad to appear.

• 2

  Click the "Tools" menu and choose "Internet Options."

• 3

  Click the "General" tab. Click the "Settings" button located under the Browsing History heading.

• 4

  Click the "View Files" button to open the Temporary Internet Files directory. This is the directory that contains files that have been downloaded during the course of browsing the internet.

• 5

  Click the "View" menu and choose "Details" viewing mode. Click the "View" menu again and select "Arrange Icons By," "Type."

• 6

  Scroll down to the listed SWF files. If you are unsure which SWF file is the Flash ad, right-click the file and choose "Open" to open the file in a new browser window.

• 7

  Click on the Flash ad filename to select it. The Internet address will be displayed in the Internet Address column.

Mozilla Firefox

• 1

  Launch the Mozilla Firefox Web browser. Type the Web page address of the page upon which the Flash ad appears into the address bar and press the "Enter" key. Refresh the page by pressing the "F5" key until the Flash ad appears.

• 2

  Press and hold the "Ctrl" key and tap "T" to create a new tab. Type "about:cache" in the address bar and press the "Enter" key.

• 3

  Click the "List Cache Entries" link under the Disk Cache Device header.

• 4

  Press and hold the "Ctrl" key and tap "F" to bring up the search bar. Type "swf" into the search bar and press the "Enter" key to highlight the most recent Flash file that has been downloaded.

• 5

  Right-click on the Internet address link for the SWF file and choose "Open in New Tab." Click the new tab, then click the link at the top of the page to open the Flash file. If the SWF file is the Flash ad you are seeking, click the "Back" button. The link at the top of the page is the address of the Flash ad.

Google Chrome

• 1

  Launch the Google Chrome Web browser. Type the address of the page on which the Flash ad appears in the address bar and press the "Enter" key.

• 2

  Right-click on a blank area of the Web page, then click "View Page Source."

• 3

  Press and hold the "Ctrl" button and tap "F" to bring up the search bar. Type "swf" in the search bar and press the "Enter" key to find links ending in "swf."

• 4

  Right-click the first link you find and select "Open Link in New Tab." Click the new tab to view the SWF file.

• 5

  Repeat steps 3 and 4 until you find the Flash ad you are seeking. The URL in the address bar of the tab displaying the SWF file is the address of the Flash ad.