Just started getting ads in Google search results

[Red_Machine]

So today, I've noticed that I've started getting ads on the top of my Google search results. They don't appear right away, there a period of a few seconds after I make the search where they're not there, and suddenly they pop in. It makes no mention of who the ads come from, it just says "Ads X", with the X being a dismiss button that I've noticed you have to be pixel-perfect in your mousing in order to be able to hit. Not only this, but these ads are also interspersed with the search results, masquerading as legitimate search results. They do not disappear when I dismiss the ads via the X button.

Sites that these ads link to:

downloadsearch.cnet.com
pronto.com
jobinga.co.uk

This has only started happening today. This could be adware, but it's been a long time since I've had that, and I have McAfee AntiVirus Plus and WebAdvisor enabled in Firefox. Anyone else seeing this?

EDIT: The sits the ads link to change depending on your search.

 

[Divide Overflow]

Nope, but I use uBlock Origin.

 

[Red_Machine]

Ah yes, I forgot to mention that I also use uBlock Origin. I'm also getting the occasional redirect, so it's likely to be adware then. I'll run a scan with McAfee and if it doesn't find anything I'll try a dedicated adware remover.

 

[eidairaman1]

Malware bytes, Spyware Blaster.

 

[Red_Machine]

Nothing I've scanned with has come up with anything. Adware was always a pain in the ass to get rid of in the past, and I distinctly remember Ad-Aware was the only program I ever had any success with. However, Ad-Aware has now changed to being an antivirus software and no longer offers an adware remover. So I'm stumped right now.

EDIT: After installing Malwarebytes, I'm getting popups where it's blocking worldnaturenet.xyz all the time. I can't seem to find a specific guide on how to deal with this, it's just generic instructionals that masquerade as specific ones.

 

[byebyegoogle]

I have the same problem as OP, and it's driving me crazy.
I'm seriously considering switching to another search engine now.
Did you find a solution?

 

[Solaris17]

What kind of router do you have? There is malware going around that hits all the popular ones and changes DNS.

 

[BiggieShady]

There is malware going around that hits all the popular ones and changes DNS.

Interesting. Is there any shortlist? Considering how there's gazillion devices that use same hardware.

 

[Solaris17]

Interesting. Is there any shortlist? Considering how there's gazillion devices that use same hardware.

hm sorry, I dont have the white paper for that particular exploit anymore, but I know it was globally active as little as a month ago. There is also a new exploit going around however that doesnt change DNS. https://blog.talosintelligence.com/2018/05/VPNFilter.html but remediation for both exploits was a firmware flash (first) followed by a reboot and reconfigure.

If your overdue you should do it anyway. Contrary to the name of the exploit VPN does not need to be enabled on your device. I would encourage everyone to make the changes TBH.

 

[John Naylor]

It's Google ... they don't have a product to sell so how ya think they make their money ?

No matter what ya use to stop it, MS, Google and everybody else is thinking how to make money tracking you and sending you targeted ads.

You can cut it down, but staying ahead is going to be a challenge. Privacy Badger, using FF's secure browsing, AdBlockers will

 

[Red_Machine]

What kind of router do you have? There is malware going around that hits all the popular ones and changes DNS.

I have a custom router supplied by my ISP, and I've looked into it myself and there's no way to change the DNS servers on it, they locked out that option.

I have the same problem as OP, and it's driving me crazy.
I'm seriously considering switching to another search engine now.
Did you find a solution?

The problem seems to have disappeared. I disabled a couple extensions that I wasn't using (AdF.ly Skipper ★WORKING: 9/13/2017★ and Mixcloud Downloader), and it seemed to go away. No idea if that actually fixed it, because neither of those extensions have been updated in a while, but look through your extensions for any you don't use and try disabling them.

 

[eidairaman1]

I have a custom router supplied by my ISP, and I've looked into it myself and there's no way to change the DNS servers on it, they locked out that option.


The problem seems to have disappeared. I disabled a couple extensions that I wasn't using (AdF.ly Skipper ★WORKING: 9/13/2017★ and Mixcloud Downloader), and it seemed to go away. No idea if that actually fixed it, because neither of those extensions have been updated in a while, but look through your extensions for any you don't use and try disabling them.

Those have not been updated recently by the creators of those utilities?

 

[Red_Machine]

My extensions update automatically, so I don't tend to keep track. But they were last updated in february and april, respectively. Malwarebytes was reporting that it was constantly blocking a particular domain whenever I navigated a website, so I did some googling and people started having problems with this domain a few months ago, I think march was the earliest report. People were talking about disabling extensions they don't use and saying that fixed the problem, so I gave it a go and it seems to have worked.

 

[micropage7]

i suspect add on browser or something that you later update, just try disable all first

 

[RejZoR]

DuckDuckGo ftw

 

[remixedcat]

check your host file

 

[newtekie1]

People were talking about disabling extensions they don't use and saying that fixed the problem, so I gave it a go and it seems to have worked.

Yep, 9 times out of 10 when I get called out for a problem like this, it is a browser extension causing it. It annoys me that anti-malware programs often don't pick up browser extensions in their scans. But I have just made it a habit of checking all the browser's extensions and disabling anything I don't recognize.