EasyWay Search Redirect - How to remove

EasyWay is a browser extension that makes maps very easily accessible to you. It is very useful for when you don’t want to open a new tab to see a map, or when you want to search for locations in maps very quickly. However, for some reason, EasyWay also hijacks your search engine to redirect your search queries to the Yahoo site.

EasyWay is overwhelmingly targeted at users from the USA and uses some very aggressive advertisements to get in front of the eyes of potential users. And it’s not the only hijacker that’s spread by adware viruses: Maps Now, Easy Maps Now, MyMapsExpress, etc. EasyWay is not malicious, it does not threaten your cybersecurity, it’s even useful — so, why does a practical browser add-on need to use the services of adware to be promoted and to force you to use the Yahoo website?

Is EasyWay safe

Yes, EasyWay is not a virus, despite annoyingly redirecting your search queries to a search website infamous for putting a ridiculous number of ads in the results. In fact, forcing you to use some specific search engine is a staple of browser hijackers. So, that’s a bit of a quality-of-life downgrade.

People who don’t carefully read the installation warnings that Chrome provides (or who didn’t install EasyWay themselves) might be surprised to learn that the add-on can read and change all of your data on any website, which enables it to not just observe what you do online, but also change how sites are displayed to you. And though EasyWay’s privacy policy says that your search queries, though captured, are not used for advertising, it also says that your data (though it’s not specified what data) is used for advertising to you. Some people are not concerned about this sort of thing, after all, it’s normal for ads to be based on our browsing habits, but it can be good to be aware of EasyWay’s monetization — advertisements.

Through EasyWay’s privacy policy, the extension is associated with IronSource, which seems to be a legitimate ad-network (someone who connects advertisers with an audience). Though it’s a legitimate company, there are complaints that IronSource has served some adware in the past, that it bundles a variety of adware with its programs, and that it uses deceptive installation tactics — or that ironSource’s clients got past the company’s review and abuse its platform to deliver adware.

Remove EasyWay

That — uninstalling a browser extension — should be easy, unless a background program is managing the extension and installing it in the background, in which case, after each removal, EasyWay would come back. In that case, you need to look for that program in your list of installed programs, such as using your Control Panel or the Applications folder. You can supplement the search with a scan using Spyhunter (Windows), or Combo-Cleaner (Mac), or another anti-malware program that you trust.

If you decide to remove EasyWay and you use the Chrome browser, you should be able to right-click on the icon of EasyWay (a little purple marker on a purple background), see a little menu unfurl, and click on the “Remove from Chrome…” option. Alternatively, expand the main menu, click on “Settings”, and pick “Extensions” out of the menu on the left.

That said, it is entirely up to you if you want to keep using the EasyWay add-on. Just be aware of how it’s monetized and why it redirects your search. Unfortunately, there is no way at the moment to keep using EasyWay while changing which search engine is used by your browser, so the extension remains a mild browser hijacker.

How EasyWay spreads and how to avoid hijackers

The first piece of advice to become informed about a piece of software — a program, a product, an unfamiliar website — is to review the reviews. However, that’s not exactly possible to do with EasyWay — because it has almost no reviews, despite the thousands of users. That probably shows that EasyWay is not found by people organically, but through ads, bundles, redirects. That said, if there were any reviews to look at, they should be honest, not completely positive, addressing precise features and changes. Ideally, there would also be replies from the developer. The identity of EasyWay’s developer is somewhat opaque but they do offer an email address, which is appreciated.

Bundling is common and happens because of downloading free programs that, like EasyWay, are free, look useful, but have some features that make them not totally secure. To avoid bundlers, try to change where you get your software from and use the developer’s website whenever possible. Even the original developers sometimes bundle add-ons with their software, so be careful during installation and read everything — warnings about included apps are sometimes hidden in the middle of a paragraph, it can be quite ridiculous.

Redirects and infected websites, and even adware sites spread EasyWay, which are the most common on shady sites, such as “free” video streaming websites, filesharing pages, and shortened URLs. EasyWay and other extensions are a very common product those super-aggressive ads promote. Just be careful online, try to look for safe websites which care about the safety of their users and don’t partner with dishonest ad-networks.

Automatic Malware removal tools

TopHow To remove EasyWay Search Redirect from Google Chrome:

• Click on the 3 horizontal lines icon on a browser toolbar and Select More Tools→Extensions
  
• Select all malicious extensions and delete them.
  
• Click on the 3 horizontal lines icon on a browser toolbar and Select Settings
  
• Select Manage Search engines
  
• Remove unnecessary search engines from the list
  
• Go back to settings. On Startup choose Open blank page (you can remove undesired pages from the set pages link too).
• If your homepage was changed, click on Chrome menu on the top right corner, select Settings. Select Open a specific page or set of pages and click on Set pages.
  
• Delete malicious search websites at a new Startup pages window by clicking “X” next to them.
  

(Optional) Reset your browser’s settings

If you are still experiencing any issues related to EasyWay Search Redirect, reset the settings of your browser to its default settings.

• Click on a Chrome’s menu button (three horizontal lines) and select Settings.
• Scroll to the end of the page and click on theReset browser 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.