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 Core Update Coming, Ranking Volatility, Bye Search Notes, AI Overviews, Ads & More - YouTube
Video Details More Videos Subscribe to Videos

Most Recent Articles

Search Forum Recap

Daily Search Forum Recap: July 25, 2024

Jul 25, 2024 - 10:00 am
Google Ads

Google Again: We Will Test Ads In AI Overviews Soon

Jul 25, 2024 - 7:51 am
Bing Search

Microsoft Now Testing Bing Generative Search Experience

Jul 25, 2024 - 7:41 am
Bing SEO

Reddit Blocked Bing Search & Others But Not Google

Jul 25, 2024 - 7:31 am
Local Search

Apple Maps Web Version Launches Beta

Jul 25, 2024 - 7:21 am
Google Ads

Google Local Service Ads Shows Phone Number On Hover

Jul 25, 2024 - 7:11 am
Previous Story: Google "Similar To" Carousel For Local Search Results