June 17, 2004
Spyware/Adware Hijacks Google Search Results
In the June 16 issue of Search Engine Lowdown, Andy Beal reports that unintentionally installed adware/spyware can hijack your Google results and infect the results page with unwanted links. It doesn't actually hijack the actual results, it just changes the results after delivery to the desktop. You can see an example here.
Unfortunately this information came out just one day too late for me. Yesterday, after years of carefully avoiding downloading or opening of unknown files, I accidently hit the ENTER key and opened an unknown ZIP file from the web, which sent over 300 adware/spyware files into my computer, including the one that hijacked my Google results.
These are unbelievably nasty little beasts that are almost impossible to remove without software. After about 3 hours, which included searching some excellent discussion boards on adware/spyware removal, running Lavasoft's AdAware, Spybot Search-and-Destroy, and Spysweeper, I finally managed to rid myself of the perpetrators. (In fact, Spysweeper worked the best of all three, and was the only one able to get rid of the Google hijack.)
March 14, 2003
Search Toolbars as Spyware
If any readers have downloaded and used the special search toolbars from sites like Google or Teoma, you might want to think again after you read Cade Metz's article "Is Google Invading Your Privacy?" in the February 26 2003 issue of PC Magazine.
Marketed as a tool to let you use the web more easily, some downloadable toolbars are simply spyware products that let the companies track your clicks. This information comes as no surprise to those of us working in the search business, where so much free stuff comes with a price -- either privacy or quality -- but most users remain blissfully unaware.