What is Search.searchsmart.bid?
Search.searchsmart.bid is a threat you may come across if you act carelessly when installing new browser extensions. That is because this browser hijacker was noticed being distributed with an add-on considered to be a potentially unwanted program. Also, it is vital to mention the application can be received only by those who use Google Chrome as neither the doubtful search engine nor the extension carrying it seems to be compatible with this browser. What’s more, our researchers at Anti-spyware-101.com have noticed the threat might have a way to present the user with possibly malicious advertising content from unknown third parties. No doubt, clicking such material could bring you trouble, which is why we recommend not to take any chances with it and eliminate this browser hijacker. In order to help users get rid of Search.searchsmart.bid faster we will be placing removal instructions a bit below the text, so if you require any help feel free to use them.
Where does Search.searchsmart.bid come from?
Just as mentioned earlier, Search.searchsmart.bid might travel with an add-on created for Google Chrome. The extension’s name could be SearchsmartDS Search or something similar. Our researchers say you might download it from Chrome Web Store page, its official site (searchsmart.bid), or accidentally with bundled installers from unreliable file-sharing web pages. If the last scenario sounds familiar, we would advise you to be more careful when downloading installers from doubtful web pages. In fact, it would be wiser to keep away from them and download tools only from reputable websites. P2P file-sharing networks is never a good choice because they can contain possibly malicious installers and so while trying to get some program free of charge you could accidentally install a threat too.
How does Search.searchsmart.bid work?
Once the user installs the extension Search.searchsmart.bid could be bundled with, the browser hijacker may change user’s default homepage or search engine. We would not recommend getting used to such changes, because if you start using the newly presented search engine, you may begin receiving unreliable advertisements from unknown third parties. As you can imagine, the ads might promote various content and from lots of different sources. Thus, there is a risk some of the advertisements could offer to download other browser hijackers, adware or even malware. Besides, the suspicious ads might ask the user to submit private information for fictitious lotteries, surveys, etc. As you probably realize, clicking such ads or doing what they ask could be dangerous and if you do not want to endanger your computer or your private information, it would be smarter to avoid the third-party ads displayed by Search.searchsmart.bid. However, our researchers claim a better choice would be to remove this browser hijacker and search the Internet with google.com or other reliable search engines.
How to remove Search.searchsmart.bid?
Obviously, since Search.searchsmart.bid might be spread with an add-on known as SearchsmartDS Search, the first step to get rid of the browser hijacker is to eliminate the mentioned extension. After doing so, our researchers advise deleting a couple of files that may have been modified by the threat to change the browser’s homepage or other settings. Each of these tasks should be explained in detail in our manual deletion instructions located at the end of this text. If you think this might be a bit too difficult, you could try a different option. What we have in mind is downloading a legitimate antimalware tool and scanning the system with it. Right after the scan, the hijacker’s data could be erased along with other possible threats at once.
Search.searchsmart.bid
- Open Google Chrome.
- Press ALT+F.
- Access Settings and click More tools.
- Choose Extensions.
- Look for an add-on called SearchsmartDS Search or just SearchsmartDS.
- Press the trash bin button near the hijacker.
- Select Remove to eliminate it.
- Leave the browser.
- Press Windows key+E.
- Search for the given path: %USERPROFILE%\Local Settings\Application Data\Google\Chrome\User Data\Default
- Find files called Preferences and Secure Preferences.
- Right-click both of them separately and choose Delete.
- Close File Explorer.
- Empty your Recycle bin.
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