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 Flux, AdSense Ad Intent, California Link Tax & More - YouTube
Video Details More Videos Subscribe to Videos

Most Recent Articles

Google Search Engine Optimization

Google: We Won't Change The 301 Redirect Signals For Ranking & SEO

Apr 24, 2024 - 7:51 am
Google

Google Image Search Tests Tablet Like Design Interface

Apr 24, 2024 - 7:41 am
Google Search Engine Optimization

Google: Our Link Best Practices Doc Are Still Good Guidelines

Apr 24, 2024 - 7:31 am
Google Ads

Google Ads Established In Extensions

Apr 24, 2024 - 7:21 am
Bing Search

Bing Tests Lock Icon In New Search Snippet Location

Apr 24, 2024 - 7:11 am
Search Forum Recap

Daily Search Forum Recap: April 23, 2024

Apr 23, 2024 - 4:00 pm
Previous Story: Google "Similar To" Carousel For Local Search Results