Beware Of Browser Hijacks & Fake Google Ads

May 22, 2018 - 8:23 am 7 by
Filed Under Google

Google Hijack

Image credit to Shutterstock

Every now and then I see people post screen shots of Google search ads that look suspicious because (a) they are irrelevant to the query and (b) kind of hidden and hard to see. More recently, I've been seeing more and more examples of these in the forums and on social media.

They most often come because there is malware or some sort of extension on your browser, hijacking the Google search results, to show forms of adware or malware instead of Google's real ads.

John Mueller from Google responded to one of these recently on Twitter saying "Yeah, that looks more like a plugin or other kind of browser hijacker than a normal search result...."

Here is a screen shot of what it looks like (click to enlarge):

click for full size

So if you see this, it does look very similar to normal Google search results, but they are off and someone who has experience, will pick up on it.

Forum discussion at Twitter.

 

Popular Categories

The Pulse of the search community

Follow

Search Video Recaps

 
Google March Core Update Done, HCU Recoveries, Site Reputation Abuse & AI Topics - YouTube
Video Details More Videos Subscribe to Videos

Most Recent Articles

Search Forum Recap

Daily Search Forum Recap: May 8, 2024

May 8, 2024 - 4:00 pm
Bing Ads

Bing Tests Clear Distinction Between Free & Paid Search Results

May 8, 2024 - 7:51 am
Google Search Engine Optimization

Google: Having News In Your Site Name Is Fine

May 8, 2024 - 7:41 am
Bing Ads

Bing Ads Carbon Neutral Label Goes Green

May 8, 2024 - 7:31 am
Google

Google Product Review Summary Labels Snippet

May 8, 2024 - 7:21 am
Google Maps

Google Local Business Profile Reviews Listings Updated

May 8, 2024 - 7:11 am
Previous Story: Google "Similar To" Carousel For Local Search Results