Well?

Millennial here. The true answer is None Of The Above. The actual download button is just a blue link somewhere on the page, probably among all of the torrent info.

This is the correct answer. It might also be the filename shown. If you can put your cursor over that it might become underlined. All big Download buttons are not to be trusted.
- It always irked me back in the day when cnet was still a useful source because they modeled their buttons that way. Then they eventually became the garbage the site appeared to be at first glance.
Came here to say this. Closest onscreen would probably be the grey "Download or Watch" button not trying to get your attention in any way.
- "or watch" is a red flag.
The real download button only shows up after 30 seconds.
The file name looks like a link, it’s at least a slightly different color than the other text.
Gen Z here. I usually look for the magnet link to copy paste into my torrent client. I think that bypasses the download button problem.
- I might be biased against that from the ages of dialup, where torrenting almost always ended up failing if you also seeded, but you felt guilty if you leeched.

Trick question, the link is a plain blue hyoerlink near the bottom of the page you haven't scrolled to yet

Or the download is already under way, and started once you arrived at the page
- Starts after a 25 second delay

Stop. Install your favorite ad blocker, like ublock origin. Refresh.

Work smarter not harder

Back in my day, we didn't have no fancy ublock origin
- YEA! We just kept closing popups till we got the right one!!!!
- No lie, this is how I learnt keyboard hotkeys as a kid. I'd click middle mouse to open a link on the site in a new tab, with my hand ready to go on Ctrl + W. The nanosecond I detected a fake site, I'd closer that sucker and move onto the next link.
  Oh boy did I bring a lot of viruses on my computer in the process in the name of efficiency & greed (& hefty amount of stupidity).
About 2 years ago I spent most of a Christmas sorting out my MIL's new laptop, uninstalling junk and whatnot, and I tossed ublock origin on there. A few days ago I came back to sort out the Realtek audio drivers which uninstalled themselves via Windows Update. I find she has an entirely different laptop now, branded as"Acemagic" but through the magic of forced Microsoft Sign-in ublock origin synced to Edge on this new laptop, and there was no crapware installed despite the laptop clearly being in use for about 6 months already!
TL;DR install ublock origin on your parents computers to save yourself some trouble down the line
Even with uBlock Origin, some pirate sites still have this problem because the ads either are not typical ad elements or are not in the block list. Very common with sites that host pirated android apps, in my experience.
- Yes but it does solves the pop up issue completly.
If you didn't give your parents computer, digital syphilis are you really a millennial?
Why was it ever disabled to start with?
Every time a dodgy site has asked me to disable it, it still doesn't work, and now you have a bunch of tracking cookies and has to look at ads for other porn sites.
Install Radarr and avoid torrent websites completely.

You drag the button. If it takes with it more than just a button, it is an ad.

I just hover over and read URLs if I'm not sure.
This is the real answer
- I actually didn't know that. I would mouse over and look at the url.

No matter where you click, it'll open some pop-unders for the first few clicks.

It's a trick question. This window is a pop-up

But only the first click

In the very top right of the browser window, there should be a little 'X' button. That's the one you wanna click.

non, you wait for the donwload to start automatically, if not, update all your adblocks and try the button with no url when you hover over it

I honestly don't see one that looks right.

You click on the file name

The vanilla HTML button on the bottom

"Download or watch" implies that is a link to a streaming service.

The little grey button at the bottom of the screen

But only if that’s what your OS’s native dialog buttons look like
Jpeg of a windows dialog button while you’re using Linux? That’s a trap.
- I'm not downloading an OGG file
Sorry, bub, that's a virus. It was actually the file name itself.
- The download is supposed to be a movie and the filename is a rar. Congrats on the new virus!
- The filename doesn't stand out in any way

The ones that don't say "advertisement" under.. as a gen z that commits regular piracy

There are 3 "downloads" there without advertisement written under them. Just use the most basic looking button, it's like how the holy grail is the most plain looking one.
That or just use devtools/inspect elements.
- Nah, I back out if that Frankenstein curse of a website and go somewhere else to find the download. There is no glory to be found here.
- It looks like 3 actually have advertisement under them. Gross
- How do dev tools help? As a web dev, I know that easily may provide no valuable info
- When you hover your mouse over a clickable area that will send you somewhere, the address shows up at the bottom of your browser. You look at where the link is pointing in order to choose correctly.
  Also, none of the above. I use VPN + LibreWolf browser with built in good adblocking + a site like thepiratebay.org + using the magnet links from my search and download my movies and shows with QBittorrent.
That leaves four
- The top 2 of the remaining have that white bar which also means an ad usually, so it's either the orange or the plain one imo

Look at all the peasants with no arrs.

Peasants have 35 Rs!
- Guess how many strawberries with 5 R's I'm holding on my left hand while riding a pterosaur?
  What a fun and imaginative scenario! Riding a pterosaur and holding strawberries (with 5 R’s!) in your left hand—now that’s a scene straight out of a fantastical adventure.
  Let me guess… You’re holding fouRRRRR strawberries! (That’s four with five R’s, for extra emphasis and strawberry power.)
  If I’m wrong, maybe you can give me a clue—or tell me if the pterosaur is jealous of your fruity snack! 🍓🦖

bottom most

100%

Editing the URL so it directs to the file

Curious. The only winning move is not to play.

Install an adblocker and take the guesswork away, but likely the orange one at the bottom.

It’s actually the one below that. It says “Download or watch”
- "or watch" part is still pretty sus
I'd say the same if I had to pick, although they all look pretty shady lol
An adblock doesn't necessarily help here. Those work by blocking pictures from being loaded from domains that usually serve ads. Here, they're likely hosting the download link images on their own server, but they'll send you someplace you don't want to go.

The real answer is a question - Is the timer still running ?

alt-f4

Or just close the tab.

Bottom white one?

I'll go with the small red download button in the middle.

It could be the very bottom one, but it probably says advertisement under that and it's just been cropped out.

But even the correct button is likely to launch you into a popup to try and get you to download a "downloader" of some description, as if that's not literally the sole function of a fucking web browser, and then suddenly you've been taken to livejasmin.com or a sketchy gambling site targetted at Asians.

Same, small red one in the middle makes the most sense if it is one of those buttons at all

None of them.

I don't see the tiny blue link, so probably none.

As a millenial: i have no idea. I haven't seen ads on a download page in such a long time. Really takes me back...

It's still prevalent, even with uBlock, if you try to pirate from direct-download sites.

Adblock, also if you're not sure you can inspect element

🧲 links ftw, simply ctrl-u ctrl-f magnet:

Why are you looking for magnet links on a direct download site?
- why are you using a direct download site? 😂
  (i don't recognize which site the screenshot is of, but i have definitely seen "download" ads like this on some shitty torrent sites...)

My grandma told me to click them all until one works.

Kobiyashi Maru it

None of them.

The bottom one downloads malware.

The rest of them are the malware itself if you dare to click.

This is why they said "you wouldn't download a movie." Because it's a risky click.

Nah, movies are fine. Keep OS and VLC and pdf viewers updated, turn on "show extentions". For .mp4 .mkv .pdf .epub its almost impossible to become malware.
Executables, however... 👀

A strange game. The only winning move is not to play.

As an early Z - I certainly didn't expect so many people here to struggle with it so much.

They've lost their edge, softened by a sedentary drip feed of Netflix and ad blockers.

The most plain looking one, or the one left after AdBlock has hidden all the rest. Or depending on the site and how far into it you've clicked, potentially none of them because it'll start automatically after a few moments in some places.

I'd say you'd have to click the file name to download the file.

The real download link is loading.

None. All viruses