By Dennis O’Reilly

Our Oct. 8 Top Story by contributing editor Susan Bradley reported that Google, Bing, and other indexes need to do a better job of policing the ads that appear alongside the search results.

Immediately after Susan’s story was published, describing malware ads that appeared alongside queries on security terms like malwarebytes, such ads temporarily disappeared.



Reader Bill Tone monitored the search-engine results after Susan’s article came out:

• “Apparently, Google and Bing managers have read Susan’s article also. As of now — 10/8/2009 5:32 a.m. EDT — neither Google nor Bing shows any sponsored search results when I search for the Malwarebytes Anti-Malware utility (see attached pics). Isn’t that interesting!”
  

Figure 1. Soon after last week’s Top Story appeared, Google removed the malware ads that previously had accompanied results of Malwarebytes searches.

As Figure 1 shows, the sponsored links were indeed missing from Google’s results for a search of Malwarebytes Anti-Malware utility. Unfortunately, this policy may have lasted for only a brief time.

When I repeated the search earlier this week, a sponsored link to AntiMalware-Software.com appeared on the right. (See Figure 2.) That program is listed by the Precise Security Threat Center and other security sites as malware that attempts to hijack your system and hold it for ransom.


Figure 2. Unfortunately, the malware ads made a comeback in the Google search results very soon thereafter.

Whether the disappearance and reappearance of the malware ads in Google search results is a policy decision or a coincidence is uncertain. But what I know is that, as of Monday afternoon, similar ads didn’t show up when I conducted the same search using Bing.

Ad-blocking browser add-ons are one solution

Several readers suggested using ad blockers to eliminate altogether the threat posed by malware ads. Clive R. Taylor takes ad-blocking one step further:

• “I don’t see any of the sponsored links when I do the same searches in Firefox and IE 8. I run Adblock Plus in FF, so that might explain that absence, but I run no extras nor add-ons in IE. However, I do use OpenDNS. Is that what is preventing them from showing up on my screen? If so, I think it might be worth mentioning again in next week’s newsletter the virtues of using OpenDNS.”
  

The free OpenDNS service may very well be preventing sponsored links from appearing in IE 8. For information on how to set up and use OpenDNS, see contributing editor Becky Waring’s July 9 Top Story, “Use OpenDNS to surf safely with these tricks.”

You’ll find a description and download link for the free Adblock Plus at Mozilla.org’s add-ons site.

Several other readers recommended such free browser add-ons as LinkExtend and Web of Trust (WOT), which alert you to dangerous links before you click them. WS senior editor Ian “Gizmo” Richards wrote about LinkExtend in his March 5 Best Software column (paid content). You’ll find more information about WOT on its home page.

Others recommended alternative search engines, such as Scroogle, that aggregate search results from many different services and strip away the ads.

Taking the malware fight to the big guys

When a small — tiny, really — publication does battle with tech titans such as Google and Microsoft, it’s easy to feel like David facing Goliath without his sling. That’s why it’s doubly encouraging to receive notes such as the one sent to us by Jonathan English:

• “I applaud Susan Bradley’s Top Story of 2009-10-08, ‘Sponsored search results lead to malware.’ With each passing month, Windows Secrets is becoming a more and more effective watchdog to keep the giant corporations on their toes. I wish these companies had the moral discipline to do this themselves, but when that is not the case, media organizations like WS play a critical role on behalf of the consumer. I will try to contribute more $ for my Windows Secrets subscription in the future. Thank you so much.”
  

On behalf of everyone who works hard to bring you this information, you’re welcome — and thank you for reading!

Readers Bill, Clive, and Jonathan will each receive a gift certificate for a book, CD, or DVD of their choice for sending tips we printed. Send us your tips via the Windows Secrets contact page.

The Known Issues column brings you readers’ comments on our recent articles. Dennis O’Reilly is technical editor of WindowsSecrets.com.

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2. Sponsored search results lead to malware
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5. Are criticisms of Vista bogus or legitimate?