What is Search Bay?
Search Bay is a useless browser extension that poses as a search page and may show up as your homepage, new tab page, and default search provider in your Google Chrome browser. As a matter of fact, our malware researchers at anti-spyware-101.com say that this search engine seems to be down for the moment just like its official channels. This is rather suspicious and usually happens when you are dealing with an unreliable piece of software. We have categorized this possible threat sources as a potentially unwanted program, or PUP, although some malware experts may consider it as a browser hijacker due to its capabilities to change your Google Chrome browser settings. Since this PUP does not seem to be functional right now, we cannot tell you what might happen in the future. Still, it is not a good idea to keep this annoying extension in your browser as it can collect information about your browsing habits and possibly target you with potentially unreliable third-party ads. This PUP may also enter your computer in a company of malicious software installers, which means multiple system security threats for you and your PC. We recommend that you remove Search Bay from your computer as soon as possible not to make things worse in your virtual world.
Where does Search Bay come from?
Strangely enough, both the actual search site, searchsbay.com and the promotional Chrome web store page, chrome.google.com/webstore/detail/search-bay/fcdcdlhamlenoljekfpnjdhjcncnafep, are gone. All you will find is an error message in both cases. Now, that is not really promising, right? There is only one thing on the official page that still seem to be functioning and it is the pushy pop-up message ("searchsbay.com/ext?pid=1651&sid=173115718") that is displayed when you land on this URL. This pop-up wants you to add this extension. In fact, there are two types of pop-ups. The other one actually tells you to install this PUP if you want to leave the page. This aggressive marketing technique is not unknown to us, of course.
Schemers set up such traps so that when you get redirected to this URL, you may even accidentally install this useless extension. The question is now, how you can get redirected to it. Well, all it really takes is a click on the wrong content. You may be viewing a suspicious website and you click on a pop-up ad there. But it is also possible that your system is infected with malware that is capable of such a redirection like an adware program, a browser hijacker, and sometimes even a PUP. These threats usually spread in freeware bundles, which may contain a bunch of them to deliver several threats at the same time. If you do not want to infect your system with such a lot, you need to avoid suspicious websites and clicking on corrupt third-party ads as well. Right now, we suggest that after you delete Search Bay, you use a trustworthy malware scanner to find all possible threats on board.
How does Search Bay work?
This PUP is indeed a usual search page that would present to you modified search results. Your search keywords are first forwarded to searchstrategic.com and then, to a Google search results page that could already contain potentially harmful content, such as links to malicious pages and third-party ads. Although this search page does not appear to be working at the moment, you can never know when the server may go back online again. In other words, you should not take this PUP that lightly to keep it in your browser just because it may not work right now. Just because you cannot see it operating, this PUP may actually still collect information about you, i.e., spy on you. This can also mean that it might redirect you to questionable third-party pages or display third-party ads. Clicking on any unreliable content can lead to serious infections as well as online scams. If you do not wish to, for example, let cyber crooks steal your banking details, you should definitely remove Search Bay as soon as possible.
How can I delete Search Bay?
Finally, we can put the smile back on your face since you can really simply eliminate this PUP. We have included our guide for you below this article. Please follows these easy steps if you do not mind a bit of manual "work." But, of course, we also understand if you would rather go for an automated solution. Thus, we advise you to install a decent anti-malware program like SpyHunter. You also need to remember to update your programs frequently to avoid possible cyber attacks based on exploiting outdated software bugs.
Remove Search Bay from your browser
Google Chrome
- Tap Alt+F to open the menu.
- Navigate to More tools.
- Select Extensions.
- Find the extension you want to remove and click on the Trash icon on the right.
- Press Remove in the confirmation window.
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