It seems a bit over the top scanning websites before you even visit them, doesn't it?
Yes, that's why I have disabled the "link scanner" in AVG. I noticed this as soon as I installed V8, it was taking ages to open a web page.
Double Left click on the AVG icon in the bottom toolbar, it brings up the "Overview" page. Double left click on the "link scanner" enables you to untick the box "Enable AVG search-Shield"