What is Funnysearching.com?
Funnysearching.com is nothing more than a browser hijacker that masquerades as a safe and reliable search engine. Its developers distribute it in a malicious fashion, and we recommend that you remove it because of that. Its purpose is to replace your browser’s homepage address and compel you to use it for processing your search queries. Its search results, however, can feature promotional links of unknown origin and some of them might even pose a risk to your computer’s security and your personal privacy. It was also configured to collect anonymous information to tailor the promoted links according to your personal interests.
What does Funnysearching.com do?
The concept of hijacking a browser is fairly simple. Funnysearching.com is distributed via malicious bundled installers that install it secretly. The installers are designed to interact with the web browser and replace its homepage address. Our malware researchers say that this hijacker can be set as the homepage of Google Chrome, Mozilla Firefox, and Microsoft Internet Explorer. Nevertheless, in some cases, it might even replace the new tab page of Chrome and possibly even Firefox.
Once on your computer, this browser hijacker will look and works like a regular search engine. Its main page features a digital clock and a nature-themed background image. It looks similar to Myluckysites.com which is also a browser hijacker. Funnysearching.com redirects all search queries to Google.com, but our researchers say that that does not shield you from unreliable content. This hijacker’s creators can modify the search results to include promotional links that look safe to click but can actually redirect you to an infected website that contains malicious software downloads or scam site that poses as a legitimate online shopping platform.
Our researchers believe that in order to generate as much advertising revenue as possible, this hijacker was configured to collect non-personally identifiable information about its users to customize the advertising campaign and generate as much income as possible. Researchers say that Funnysearching.com should collect information that includes but might not be limited to your browsing history, entered search queries, browser type, Internet Service Provider name, and Internet Protocol address. While this information is not personal, we do not recommend that you allow this hijacker’s developers obtain it as they use it for deceptive advertising purposes.
Where does Funnysearching.com come from?
Truth be told, there is no information on where this hijacker comes from, but it is evident that it comes from one secretive company because both Funnysearching.com and Myluckysites.com have not been digitally signed by any company. Without a doubt, this hijacker and its clone have not been signed intentionally as they are malicious search engines. Apart from its shady origins, this hijacker is also distributed in a highly dishonest manner.
As mentioned at the beginning, Funnysearching.com is distributed via malicious bundled installers. Researchers say that these installers were configured to install this hijacker without your knowledge or consent and you cannot deselect its installation. You can come across such malicious installers if you visit shady freeware hosting websites. So, indeed, this hijacker’s origins and distribution method are as shady as they get. Therefore, we recommend that you remove it.
How do I remove Funnysearching.com?
Without a doubt, Funnysearching.com is one malicious search engine that can cause you many issues if you decide to keep it. It can collect information about you and use it to customize and tailor promotional links presented in its search results. The promotional links can pose a threat to your computer’s security and your personal privacy, so we suggest using the guide featured below to remove this hijacker from your browser ASAP.
Remove Funnysearching.com manually
Microsoft Internet Explorer
- Press Windows+R keys and type regedit.
- Click OK.
- Once in the Registry Editor, go to HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Internet Explorer\Main
- Locate the Start Page string and right-click it.
- Select Modify and replace the Value data from http://funnysearching.com/ to your desired address.
- Click OK.
Mozilla Firefox
- Press Windows+E keys.
- Enter C:\Users\{User name}\AppData\Roaming\Mozilla\Firefox\Profiles\{Mozilla ID} in the address bar and hit Enter.
- Locate a file named prefs.js and open it with Notepad.
- Locate the string user_pref("browser.startup.homepage", " http://funnysearching.com/");
- Replace http://funnysearching.com/ with your desired address.
Google Chrome
- Press Windows+E keys.
- Enter C:\Users\{User name}\AppData\Local\Google\Chrome\User Data\Default in the address bar and hit Enter.
- Locate Preferences, Secure Preferences and Web Data files.
- Open each one of them with Notepad and replace http://funnysearching.com/ with your desired address.
tested removal of Funnysearching.com*
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