Do you know what Google is Tracking Your Searches is?
If you have seen or are still seeing annoying pop-up advertisements called Google is Tracking Your Searches, we would highly recommend reading our report to learn more about them since their appearance could mean there might be potentially dangerous software on the system. Our researchers say these ads are most likely shown by adware applications that might manage to settle in without the user noticing it. At least for some time because with each day it may show more and more annoying advertisements forcing the user to find out what is causing them. What’s more, if you clicked Google is Tracking Your Searches pop-ups, you could have downloaded unreliable applications that we will talk about further in the text. After reading it, we advise users to follow the removal guide located below the text to stop these ads from showing up again and deleting possible threats.
Google is Tracking Your Searches ads are promoting a suspicious search extension called Privacy Switch. Besides the pop-ups, the add-on is also available on the Chrome Web Store page (chrome.google.com/webstore/detail/privacy-switch/fmnjaffompeopfiipodgdnilejddodnf?hl=en) where it is advertised as a tool that can help users keep their online searches private. To answer the question how the application makes one’s searches private the description explains the extension will introduce you to a new search engine called Search.myprivacyswitch.com.
Moreover, Privacy Switch description on Chrome Web Store page says Search.myprivacyswitch.com will let you “search the web without having your search history or other Personally Identifiable Information (PII) being tracked.” However, if you go to Search.myprivacyswitch.com Privacy Policy document’s "What We Collect" section you will find a statement claiming the tool can gather “the search terms that you enter into the search box.” It seems to us search history and search keywords are quite the same things; thus, we believe this is a case of false advertising since the application claims the search engine will not gather user’s search history when in reality it might collect his search keywords.
At this point, you may wonder how Google is Tracking Your Searches pop-ups’ presented tools might use the anonymous information they could gather while you surf the Internet. The answer is again in the Search.myprivacyswitch.com Privacy Policy document. The statement we found there say the search engine’s creators may share “the anonymous information we collect with others for in order to serve you search results and advertisements within the browser.” This means the user could receive targeted advertisements and given the software’s developers do not hold themselves responsible for the third-party content there are no guarantees the ads will be safe to interact with. In other words, it is possible some part of them could be potentially dangerous, e.g., the ads might promote adware, potentially unwanted programs, or even harmful applications like viruses, Trojans, and so on.
All things considered, it does not look like Google is Tracking Your Searches pop-ups are suggesting reliable tools. On the contrary, it seems these tools could gather anonymous user information to bring targeted advertisements from the third party. Therefore, if you still see these ads, we advise you not to interact with them and follow the first part of the removal guide placed below. If you did click them and now have Privacy Switch and its search engine on your browser we advise you to follow the second part of instructions as well provided you wish to eliminate this software. Lastly, it is important to mention the suggested deletion steps may not help all our readers or they might seem to be too complicated for some users, in which case we would recommend using a reputable antimalware tool instead. It can detect threats for you, so you could erase all potentially dangerous applications quickly and without much effort.
Eliminate Google is Tracking Your Searches ads
Windows XP/Windows Vista/Windows 7
- Navigate to the Start menu.
- Access the Control Panel.
- Pick either Uninstall a program or Add or Remove Programs.
- Identify the suspicious application responsible for Google is Tracking Your Searches pop-ups
- Select the unreliable tool and click Uninstall.
Windows 8/Windows 10
- Tap Windows Key+R.
- Insert Control Panel and press OK.
- Choose Uninstall a program.
- Find the recently installed program that could be showing these pop-ups.
- Mark it and press Uninstall.
Erase Privacy Switch and restore browser settings
- Press ALT+F.
- Select Settings and tap More tools.
- Pick Extensions and locate Privacy Switch.
- Press the trash bin button near it.
- Select Remove.
- Then press Windows Key+E.
- Get to this particular location: %USERPROFILE%\Local Settings\Application Data\Google\Chrome\User Data\Default
- Locate Preferences, Secure Preferences, and Web data.
- Right-click the given files separately and select Delete.
- Close the Explorer.
- Empty Recycle bin.
In non-techie terms:
Google is Tracking Your Searches are annoying pop-up ads that promote unreliable tools called Privacy Switch and Search.myprivacyswitch.com. These applications are supposed to guarantee your privacy by not collecting particular data, but sadly, they do not hold to their promise completely as some of the data they should not gather could still be recorded. Because of this, we advise users not to click these suspicious ads and not to add the unreliable software they promote. Also, to help users eliminate these irritating pop-ups, we have prepared a removal guide you can find just above this text. The second part of it is for users who installed the mentioned extension and now wish to erase it. Another way to deal with the ads and the suspicious programs they promote is to acquire a trustworthy antimalware tool and perform a full system scan.