Ads don't work so websites are using your electricity to pay the bills

Pirate Bay and Showtime turned to forcing unknowing visitors to mine cryptocurrency, using computers rather than eyeballs on ads to generate money

With the continuing collapse in online advertising revenues, websites are turning to other methods to pay their hosting bills - including using visitors' computers and phones to mine cryptocurrency.

It's a controversial practice, with some likening it to running malware on visitor's computers, but it is a potentially lucrative endeavour for websites. The downside is that at best it slows down visitors' machines, and at worst it can also drain their batteries or send their electricity bills soaring.