Directhit.com Ads - How to remove

Directhit.com is a search engine by Ask Media Group. Or rather, it looks like a search engine (a site for searching the internet) but behaves more like an advertising site. It’s promoted by and it promotes browser hijackers (extensions that make unwanted changes in your web browser). On its own, Directhit.com is not dangerous, but it’s worth it to check why it’s showing up in your browser.

About Directhit.com:

Type of threat	Adware.
Problems with Directhit.com	Not enough features to make it a good search engine, too many ads in search results, too many deceptive ads.
How adware spreads	Ads and browser hijackers promote sites like Directhit.com.
How to remove Directhit.com	Find and remove browser hijackers, check your computer for malware with Combo Cleaner for Mac, Spyhunter for PC, others.

Directhit.com Adware

Directhit.com is a search engine by Ask Media Group. It appears to use Google-generated search results and ads. The problem is, the ads that Directhit.com shows are too many. Sometimes, they are also low-quality and lead to browser hijackers and other advertising sites. At the same time, Directhit.com has none of the features that would make it an attractive search engine, like filtering results by date or type.

And yet, despite lacking any useful features and its results being filled with way too many ads, Directhit.com is estimated to be getting over 3 million visits per month.

Rather than being a search engine, Directhit.com is an advertising site. People end up on Directhit.com after they click a search result on another search engine, such as Hidemyhistory.co, Web-explore.com, Hidemysearches.com, Searchincognito.com, and others.

Directhit.com is advertised on those sites and it itself shows a lot of ads. The difference must be profitable for its owner, Ask. This is called ad arbitrage. This doesn’t mean that Directhit.com is bad – but it is on the same level as clickbait. It’s wastes time and it fails to provide any useful features or content. And it sometimes leads to malware.

I mean, just look at some ads on Directhit.com for a query of a particular program, Zoom. They mention Zoom in their headings even though they have nothing to do with it! Three of those links lead to browser hijackers.

This sort of thing happens with Google, too. But in my experience, it’s way more prominent on alternative search sites.

Causes of unwanted search ads

If you only see ads for Directhit.com and other search engines occasionally, that’s not unusual. Google itself sometimes displays ads to Izito and Zapmeta. That’s not good but it’s not a problem on your end.

However, if you see repeated and constant ads that lead to other search engine results, that could be a problem. You might have a bad browser extension installed.

In my experience, search engines like Directhit.com are advertised by other search engines. But the original cause is usually a search-hijacking browser extension. Those other search sites that I mentioned – Hide My History, Search Incognito, etc. – come to web browsers with browser extensions.

I’ve seen those browser extensions be bundled with other browser hijackers and offered by deceptive ads. They may also come bundled with free programs. The company behind Directhit.com, Ask, is related to Mindspark, which makes a ton of toolbars and browser-hijacking extensions, like FileSendSuite, which is being promoted by Directhit.com right now.

How to remove Directhit.com ads

If you do see ads for Directhit.com and other search sites too often, then examine what extensions are installed on your browser. There might be something there that is changing your search settings.

You can find your extensions by opening the main menu of your browser (the three-dot menu in the upper right or, on Macs, the name of the browser in the upper left of the screen), then Settings/Preferences, then Extensions.

In Settings, you can also find the Search Engine section and see which browser extension has control over it.

While a lot of browser hijackers claim to have useful features, you should check their privacy policies and their reputation and decide for yourself if they’re worth your trust.

You can also find bad browser extensions and adware bundlers (programs that might allow junkware to be installed without your knowledge) by scanning your computer with an anti-malware program (Combo Cleaner for macOS, Spyhunter for Windows, and others).

While Directhit.com is not dangerous on its own, it’s popularized by browser hijackers – the same hijackers that it advertises. And in the end, no value is added for the user, only their time is wasted.

Automatic Malware removal tools

Remove unwanted browser extensions

TopRemoving Directhit.com Ads from Chrome

• Click on the menu button on the top right corner of a Google Chrome window. Select “Settings”.
  
• Click “Extensions” on the left menu bar.
• Go through the extensions list and remove programs you do not need, especially similar to Directhit.com Ads. Click on the trash bin icon next to Directhit.com Ads or other add-ons you want to remove.
  
• Press on the “Remove” button on the Confirmation window.
  
• If unsure, you can disable them temporarily.
  
• Restart Chrome.

(Optional) Reset your browser’s settings

If you are still experiencing any issues related to Directhit.com Ads, reset the settings of your browser to its default settings.

• Click on Chrome’s menu button (three horizontal lines) and select Settings.
  
• Scroll to the end of the page and click on the Reset settings button.
  
• Click on the Reset button on the confirmation box.
  

If you cannot reset your browser settings and the problem persists, scan your system with an anti-malware program.

How to remove Directhit.com Ads from Microsoft Edge:Top

• Click on the menu button on the top right corner of a Microsoft Edge window. Select “Extensions”.

• Go through the extensions list and remove programs you do not need, especially similar to Directhit.com Ads. Click on the "Remove" icon next to Directhit.com Ads or other add-ons you want to remove.

• Press on the “Remove” button on the Confirmation window.

• If unsure, you can disable them temporarily.

• Restart Microsoft Edge.

TopRemoving Directhit.com Ads from Firefox

• Click on the menu button on the top right corner of a Mozilla window and select the “Add-ons” icon (or press Ctrl+Shift+A on your keyboard).
  
• Go through Extensions and Addons list, remove everything Directhit.com Ads related and items you do not recognise. If you do not know the extension and it is not made by Mozilla, Google, Microsoft, Oracle or Adobe then you probably do not need it.
  

(Optional) Reset your browser’s settings If you are still experiencing any issues related to Directhit.com Ads, reset the settings of your browser to its default settings.

• Click on the menu button on the top right corner of a Mozilla Firefox window. Click on the Help button.
  
• Choose Troubleshooting Information on the Help menu.
  
• Click on the Reset Firefox button.
  
• Click on the Reset Firefox button on the confirmation box. Mozilla Firefox will close and change the settings to default.
  

If you cannot reset your browser settings and the problem persists, scan your system with an anti-malware program.