What is Fake Search Results (Virus) and How to Fix It?

Unless you’re completely new to the internet, you’ve had to deal with plenty of annoying spam. These days, spam takes the form of just about anything. It can be in email, social networks, instant messaging, blog comments, QR code, and just about everything else you can think of. It can be pesky to individuals, and costly to large organizations that need to spend thousands on equipment and software to prevent it.

Recently there’s been a new threat in the world of spam. This time it happens when you click your back button and a page of fake search results shows up. We did some research to get to the bottom of it.

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What is it?

“Fake search results” is a slightly misleading name for this new kind of spam. When you search Google, there’s nothing fake about what you see. The problem comes after that. Let’s say you visit a page and then try to use the back button to go back to your original search results. When you click the back button, you’ll be directed to a new page that looks quite a bit like search results. However, every link is just an advertisement, usually for the same place. Spammers have found a way to insert pages you’ve never gone ton into your browsing history.

Why should you care?

If you’re a casual internet browser then you probably already know spam when you see it. You’re not going to respond to an email in broken English telling you an ancestor from a foreign land has left a large sum of money for you that can be transferred once you respond with your bank account number. These fake search results are meant to trick you and can show up when you least expect it.

If you’re a business owner, you want to be even more aware of this spam. Let your employees know what to look for and advise them to never click on anything fishy. The last thing you want is for an employee to click a link with a virus. A quick meeting to explain the risks of spam could save you a lot of money and hassle in the long run.

Also Read: The 12 Best Tools To Protect Your Password

What can you do if it happens?

Whatever you do, don’t click on the links. Your best bet is to just close the window and start over. It will seem annoying, but it only takes a few seconds. You could try a different browser, but that won’t always work. Plus, if a site is spamming you, you probably don’t want to go back to it. If it upsets you enough, you can report the site to Google.

What is Google going to do?

At this point, we’re not really sure. It looks like they’re not really sure, either. They state on their blog that they may take action on such sites. The key word there is “may.” Notice they’re not promising anything. It could be that they’ll work on a plan to crack down on these sites and completely shut them down. Only time will tell. In the meantime, be smart while you browse the web and be on the lookout for fake search results. Hopefully, you won’t see them much longer.

About Author:

Courtney Gordner loves blogging about what is going on with the technology and Freight Broker world.

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