Lots of players have complained of issues between IE and FT. All my colleagues who play (played) switched away from IE to other browsers, particularly Chrome and Firefox, because they were having endless problems. I use both Chrome and FF and have never had the kind of problem you are describing.
As well, no matter what browser you are using, you should install the appropriate add-on for ad blocking. In Chrome, I have the ad-block installed, so I get absolutely no ads on my FT page... none, nada, zip. It's wonderful.
