Adware Report: Why Google Can't Be Trusted to Protect Your PC


We uncover the glaring holes in Google's malware detection algorithms

Google is now blacklisting sites for allegedly "harming people's computers". If a site fails to meet their web safety "guidelines" (for instance, by installing unwanted programs), it will be flagged with a warning message such as the one in the screenshot below. Clicking on the link shows you a dire warning that you are in danger. There is no way to click through to the site. To visit it, you have to manually cut-and-paste the URL into your browser address bar. Very few people do this, so the end result is that these sites end up losing virtually all of their Google traffic. This is devastating to most sites because Google usually accounts for the vast majority of traffic.


This is what you see when you come across a blacklisted site in Google. Yes, that is us (don't believe them).

Can you rely on these warnings to keep you safe? Here's proof that you can't.

SpyAxe is a notorious rogue software that took the internet by storm in December, 2005. This program downloaded itself onto countless computers, nagging the user with endless popups into buying the program to remove the spyware on their computers. The program itself did nothing except install a number of other Trojans in the background. There is speculation that over 100,000 people were affected and many of them paid SpyAxe $40 a pop to buy this bogus product.

The website is still around, and Google seems to think they are safe for you to visit. On the left is the SiteAdvisor warning and on the right is Google's search results. Notice no warning:


SiteAdvisor 1, Google 0

SpyAxe was cloned as soon as people started realizing it was a scam. There were a bunch of clones under names like SpywareStrike, SpyFalcon, and so on. These sites are still around and you can readily download their Trojan-loading malware if you stumble across their site. No warning from Google though:


Oops, missed another one. Maybe it's just a fluke.

In October, AdwareReport (us) found a cache of branded adware installers at ExactSearchBar.com. Why? Because we hate spyware and that's what we do. The funny thing is that we found it by searching on Google. They happen to think these are ok for you though. If you want to try out this at home, the URL is http://exact searchbar .com/Download/Standalone/exactSetup.exe (remove spaces). Do this only at your own risk!! FYI - there are about 2 dozen branded loaders, and you wouldn't believe the companies whose names are on them (you've heard of many of them).

Here's what SiteAdvisor and Google think about this as well:


We found a cache of adware loaders at this site and so did SiteAdvisor. Google missed all of them though.

There are countless other examples, some of which I've listed below (and I have plenty more in my back pocket in case these come down). What we've proven here is that even while Google/StopBadware are blacklisting high-quality, reputable sites that are innocent of intentionally spreading malicious software, they are doing a very poor job of finding the sites that are known malware offenders.

Think this sucks? Read how they're screwing us.

Other known malware sites that Google thinks are perfectly safe ...

Visit at your own risk (spaces inserted to prevent accidental clicking). All of these URLs were working and none were flagged as "badware" on Google when I posted this. I expect them to be removed shortly and/or Google will start flagging them.

  • http://www.en browser.com/SnackMan.exe ... known adware, installs other Trojans in background.
  • http://www.error guard.com ... rogue PC repair application that makes use of false positives, consumes CPU cycles, and continually spawns friggin' annoying nag popups.
  • http://gogo tools.com/gogotoolsinstaller.exe ... toolbar, adware, BHO, monitors browser activity
  • http://killand clean.com/KillAndCleanSetup.exe ... rogue spyware remover. Scam.
  • http://kazaa.com ... the P2P file sharing service, riddled with adware. If you don't think this screws up your computer, you're nuts.
  • http://www.sexy-scr een-savers.com ... tons of bundled toolbar,spyware, and adware installers, including ClickSpring and Webhancer
  • http://www.purity scan.com/download-public/PuritySCAN2.exe ... installs clickspring and causes lots of nasty popups on your PC. Don't touch this with a ten foot pole.
  • http://spy sheriff.com ... system hijacker. This one is so common that we have an article dedicated to it.
  • http://www.123 mania.com/GIDCAI32.cab ... here's the cab install file which is used as the source of a drive-by install.

All articles and reviews are copyright 2004, Gooroo, Inc. All Rights Reserved.

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