Google Toolbar

[Bucket]

I've noticed something today. The text on my browser window is littered with yellow-underlined words. This happened right after I installed Google Toolbar to get rid of popups. When I hover over these words, a tip shows up that would obviously lead to a link with your typical popup trash in it. Some keywords I've seen are: DVD, Dating, Money, and the like. I'm pretty sure this isn't a Toolbar feature. Ad-Aware isn't picking up anything, and there's nothing in my Installed Programs. If you've never heard of this before, then I'd like to warn you all about a brand-new spyware feature. Or maybe this is spyware that utilizes a bug in Google Toolbar, I don't know.

Anyway, are there any suggestions(short of recommending more ad-killers or Mozilla)?

[Sephiroth]

maybe google toolbar is spyware?

never used it so i would not know

[Ichor]

No it's not. It has a few functions, but most people get it for the sole purpose of blocking popups.

[Fredrik]

Get more antispyware programs, install Opera.

[Liam]

that spyware is called ezula i think, i've had it before and it is pretty lame. just run ad-aware or spybot, or both if you want to make sure you get it.

[Dron]

Liam said:

that spyware is called ezula

God that was on my nerves. It kept coming back and back. Then I realized another spyware program kept installing it again and again

[Sephiroth]

right now i am repairing my dad's system. adware removed a spyware app but it killed his networking ability. spyware pisses me off more than anything.

[Arckra]

The most annoying spyware ever is Marketscore. It'll download itself again if you delete it and update itself with out you knowing.

Heh, I got home one day to find my little dearest cousin (I have no siblings, but a ton of cousins) playing on the computer. She looked over and said happily to me, "I made your internet faster!"

[DaJuice]

My google pop-up blocker stopped working a few days ago:/

[iori]

I just use the one embedded into firefox..

[Arckra]

I use pop-up stopper pro. It works quite well and makes this cute little sound every time it stops a pop-up.

[Ultraviolet]

Gee, that couldn't possibly ever get annoying.

[Dron]

The worst Adware ever is Adserve which I think is related to the Sasser worm. It took forever to delete it and now it came back again after I deleted every file related to it.

[Arckra]

Ultraviolet said:

Gee, that couldn't possibly ever get annoying.

:p I rarely get pop-ups, but if I wanted to I could turn off the sound.

[DoomDiz]

I fuckin hate spyware!!!! I always get those crappy ones with hidden re-installers. Those thing are like those stupid clown balloon thingys. ya keep punching them, but they always pop right back up and laugh in your face!!!!

[fodders]

DaJuice said:

My google pop-up blocker stopped working a few days ago:/

If the Google Toolbar Popup
Blocker doesn't seem to be working, you may want to check your computer
for parasitic software. This software is often bundled with free programs
such as Kazaa and BearShare and can trigger pop-up ads that appear at
timed intervals, no matter where you're surfing on the web.

The following articles offer a more in-depth description of the problems
caused by unsolicited software:

http://www.doxdesk.com/parasite/
http://news.com.com/2100-1023-257592.html

Unfortunately, the Google Toolbar's Popup Blocker cannot stop pop-up ads
generated by these third-party programs. If you'd like to check your
computer for this type of software, you may be interested in installing
Spybot's 'Search and Destroy' and Lavasoft's 'Ad-Aware.' These programs
attempt to identify and remove parasitic software. They can be downloaded
at:

http://security.kolla.de/index.php?lang=en&page=download (Search and
Destroy)
http://www.lavasoft.de/support/download/ (Ad-Aware)