Tampermonkey script that removes banners / fact checking advertisements in chatgpt.com chats (on the fly)

remove-openai-fact-check-banners.js

// ==UserScript==
// @name         OpenAI Remove Fact Checking Banners
// @namespace    http://tampermonkey.net/
// @version      2025-01-23
// @description  Remove advertisements to trust Reuters/AP.. probably CDC too
// @author       Wes Higbee
// @match        https://chatgpt.com/*
// @icon         https://www.google.com/s2/favicons?sz=64&domain=chatgpt.com
// @grant        none
// ==/UserScript==

(function() {
    'use strict';

    // List of approved scam ad text snippets, add a subset of new ads here to remove them automatically
    const approvedSnippets = [
        "The Associated Press, Reuters, ",
    ];

    // Function to check if the element contains any approved snippet
    function containsApprovedSnippet(element) {
        const textContent = element.textContent || "";
        return approvedSnippets.some(snippet => textContent.includes(snippet));
    }

    // WHEN TO RUN:
    // window.addEventListener('load', removeScamAds);
    // observe DOM for dynamically loaded ads:
    const observer = new MutationObserver(removeScamAds);
    observer.observe(document.body, { childList: true, subtree: true });

    // TEST THIS by asking anything about "who won 2020 election" or "did Trump win in 2020"
    
    function removeScamAds() {
        // Select all elements containing the SVG with the unique icon class
        const scamSvgs = document.querySelectorAll('svg.icon-lg.shrink-0.text-token-text-secondary');

        scamSvgs.forEach(svg => {
            // Traverse up to find the parent scam ad container
            const adContainer = svg.closest('.flex.flex-col.gap-2');
            if (adContainer) {
                // Skip if the container does not have text content (yet, so when first loading it doesn't have the message yet... so don't remove it until the message is present so I can check the message)
                const textContent = adContainer.textContent.trim();
                if (!textContent) {
                    console.log("Skipping empty container:", adContainer);
                    return;
                }

                // Check if the content matches any approved snippet
                if (containsApprovedSnippet(adContainer)) {
                    adContainer.remove();
                    console.log('Scam ad removed:', adContainer);
                } else {
                    // TODO alert only once..
                    // Alert for manual review if content doesn't match
                    //console.log("NEW SCAM AD DETECTED, check if it should be removed: ", adContainer.outerHTML);
                    alert("Potential scam ad detected for review:\n\n" + textContent);
                }
            }
        });
    }

})();