Eco Search Redirects - How to remove

Eco Search is a new tab replacer. It doesn’t seem to be part of any charity or non-profit efforts. It just posts nice pictures on the browser’s home page. It also changes the search engine settings so that Bing.com delivers search results. It’s not a coincidence that Eco Search can access your data on Bing.com. Overall, Eco Search doesn’t appear to be dangerous but it also doesn’t appear to be trustworthy.

About Eco Search:

Classification	PUP, browser hijacker.
Effects of Eco Search on the browser	Photographs on the new tab page, hidden frequently visited links, Bing delivering search results.
Problems and issues	Eco Search’s relation to Searchfuel and other suspicious websites, hijacking the search engine settings to force Bing.com, reading data on Bing.com.
Removing Eco Search	Uninstall suspicious extensions, check your computer for PUPs with the help of anti-malware apps like Combo Cleaner for Mac, Spyhunter for PC, and others.

What is Eco Search

Not very Eco

Eco Search is a browser add-on that changes your home page. It changes the home page to remove all the frequently-visited site links, pinned links, and bookmarks. Eco Search just shows a search field and a background picture with a rural vista or a beautiful landscape (and with links to Addonsearch.net at the bottom). When you use Eco Search’s search box to type a query in, Bing.com returns the results.

So, that’s it. Eco Search is a browser extension that changes your home page and makes Bing.com deliver your search results.

It is important to not mix up Eco Search with Ecosia. Ecosia is a search engine that donates some of its profits that it earns by showing ads with search results to plant trees. When searching for “eco search” online, both Ecosia and Eco Search come up. It is possible that some people install Eco Search thinking that it is Ecosia. But these two are not related.

I looked at Eco Search’s terms of service and privacy policy on Addonsearch.net, as well as on Searchfuel.co. I didn’t see any mention of donations or charity of any kind.

There did use to exist a site Ecosearch.org, a nonprofit search engine that donated its profits to charities. It was called EcoSearch and it does not exist anymore. Eco-search.org still exists but it doesn’t appear to be popular or to have been kept up at all. It’s also unrelated to Eco Search. There also used to exist Ecosearch.co which wanted help planting 500,000 trees. All these sites used Google to deliver their search results. They all prominently displayed their mission of planting trees and donating some of their profits to help the environment.

Eco Search, on the other hand, seems to just be a new tab and a Bing redirect. That’s fine, but just be aware of it. While Eco Search may try to project an image of an eco-friendly add-on, it is not that.

Accessses your searches

When installing Eco Search, you get to see what permissions it needs to work:

• Read and change your data on all Addonsearch.net and all Bing.com sites.
• Replace the page you see when opening a new tab.
• Change your search settings to Addonsearch.net.

Well, this is more than just replacing your new tab. You can’t choose to use another search engine when Eco Search restricts it. There’s no reason for this, though. Plenty of new tab extensions let you choose which site you want to use to search the internet.

Also, why does Eco Search need access to Bing.com? It could use this to inject advertisements and to log all of your actions on Bing.com. I don’t know that it does that, I did not see any injected ads. Still, it is concerning and Eco Search does not explain why it needs this access besides offering “optimized search suggestions”, which is a worthless explanation.

Another concern is Sarchfuel.co’s privacy policy. According to Eco Search’s privacy policy, some of its search services are provided by Searchfuel. Searchfuel is a ClientConnect site. It is related to Trovi.com, Powerofsearches.com, and other genuine search hijackers. Having its features delivered by a potentially malicious site? That’s not good for Eco Search.

Searchfuels’ privacy policy reveals that it’s way more intrusive than Addonsearch.net and it doesn’t bode well for Eco Search. Here are some highlights:

• Data is collected about third-party software installed on the user’s computer. IP, hardware data, and language are also logged.
• The user’s browsing activity, including which sites they visit, what content they see, which ads they click, what they search for, and their location.

To be fair, Searchfuel claims that most of this information is considered to be PII (personal information) and is not easily shared. Still, it is a lot of data and the company does not have a good reputation.

Removing Eco Search

It is advisable to remove Eco Search. If you want to see beautiful pictures on your home page, you can set one yourself. First, remove all browser extensions that control your new tab page. Then, set your own background image. In Chrome, open a new tab with the plus ‘+’ button at the top, then look for a button called “Customize” at the bottom. Click it and pick out a background or upload your own. You can do this on other Chromium browsers, such as the new Edge, too. Firefox makes this a bit difficult, you need to create a text file and put it in a folder.

Alternatively, use a safe browser extension. Pick one that’s simple – one that doesn’t appear to be commercial or to have a profit motive. Also, make sure that its reviews are genuine: not all positive, commenting on specific features, etc. Check permissions and do not install an extension that asks for risky ones, like accessing your data on all the sites that you visit.

To make sure that there is no malware or junkware on your computer, scan it with an anti-malware application, like Combo Cleaner for macOS, Spyhunter for Windows, and others. If the scan finds anything suspicious, remove it. When Eco Search is so closely related to sites like Trovi, it’s best to be careful.

Automatic Malware removal tools

Remove browser extensions

TopRemoving Eco Search Redirects 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 Eco Search Redirects. Click on the trash bin icon next to Eco Search Redirects 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 Eco Search Redirects, 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 Eco Search Redirects 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 Eco Search Redirects. Click on the "Remove" icon next to Eco Search Redirects 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 Eco Search Redirects 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 Eco Search Redirects 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 Eco Search Redirects, 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.