Taboola Ads - How to remove

Taboola Ads is an advertising service. Taboola Ads are native ads – ads that look like article headlines, search results, etc. – and they can be found on many popular websites. Though Taboola Ads has been often accused of showing lots of junk content and fake news, it usually delivers safe, if unhelpful, ads. Sometimes, though, a scammer, fraudster, or some cybercriminal takes advantage of Taboola to deliver their dangerous content to unsuspecting users in the form of a click-bait headline on a reputable site.

It’s normal to see ads by Taboola Ads online. It partners with some very high-profile sites, like MSN, NBC, and Bloomberg. However, if your browser is filled with Taboola Ads in a way that they’re interfering with your browsing, distracting you, and delivering unsafe content, this could be caused by an adware infection. Adware viruses can take control of your browser, make it show ads everywhere, open new windows, redirect links, etc. Their only goal is to show ads to more people. Additionally, Taboola ads have been used by scammers to deliver malicious ads.

To find out if there’s adware on your device, or if you simply visited sites that show a bit too many ads, you can scan your computer with your anti-malware program. You can use Combo Cleaner for Mac, SpyHunter for PC, Malwarebytes, or another program that you trust. Adware infections are seen as a mild threat, but they’re still very disruptive. Anti-malware and antivirus programs can detect infections and warn you about them. They can also assist in removing them.

If your Taboola ads are being pushed by an adware virus, the adware should be removed immediately:

Sources	Websites that show Taboola ads, adware viruses installed on your computer, malicious browser add-ons.
Dangers of Taboola ads	Too many ads distract during browsing, deceptive ads promoting dangerous software, password-stealing sites, and tech support scams.
Removal of Taboola adware	Scan your computer for adware ( for PC), check your installed browser add-ons and disable the suspicious ones.
Type of issue	Adware, spam, click-bait.

Adware also comes in the form of browser add-ons, the guide to remove them is at the bottom of the article — it can all be accomplished manually without any additional software needed.

To learn more about specific features of Taboola Ads please continue reading this article. If you have some questions regarding the removal process or the item itself, feel free to ask us for help in the comments section below and we will try to provide you with a reasonable solution.

Taboola Ads and malicious ads

Ads that look like normal content

For some background information, Taboola serves native ads and content in boxes labeled “Around the web” and “Recommended for you”. The California-based advertising company has been accused of distributing fake news (More about Taboola). Because Taboola ads look like real headlines, they make sites that use Taboola look neat and not cluttered with ads. Users are more likely to pay attention to Taboola ads when they think that they’re looking at real content.

In order to make sure that the ads are safe, advertising companies check them. But that’s not always done well enough. Propeller Ads Media, AdStark network, Infolinks, and many other ad-serving companies have been blamed for distributing inappropriate and malware-laden advertisements. The Taboola network has also received its fair share of criticism, and at the end of September (2017), this lashing has gotten worse.

Malicious ads

In September of 2017, Taboola was noticed to be exploited by hackers. Crooks appear to have contributed to domains like MSN.com with malicious advertisements (Taboola served malvertising on MSN.com). The MSN.com website promoted content which was regular for Taboola, but after users clicked on the boxes with ads, they were immediately redirected to technical support scams. The scams are messages from fake “Windows Security” that tried to trick people to type in their usernames and passwords. In addition, the scam urged people to contact the +1-833-335-1333 toll-free helpline which was used by scammers to sell fake support plans.

Taboola did not do a great job in removing malicious ads that were leading to the tech support hoax (Taboola ads exploited to distribute technical support scams). This scam only aimed to frighten users into revealing information about themselves and paying for bogus security.

By clicking on the deceptive ads, people were expecting to see Infinitymedia.online, but they were redirected to 4vxadfcjdgbcmn.ga instead. The latter domain presented the scam. In addition to this information, we have also learned that vicious advertisers did not cover their tracks. Their hostname is linked to a multitude of other technical support scams (How did hackers take advantage of Taboola?).

Low-quality ads

Complaints about Taboola ads range from automatic redirects to malicious sites, to ads that only lead to more ads (Taboola, Outbrain and the Chum Supply Chain).

The types of Taboola ads vary, but most of them are quite worthless:

• A fake warning about a virus having infected your computer (“Your Windows Is Infected With 5 Viruses!”). These lead to tech support scams, very dangerous.
• A get-rich-quick scheme. A headline that promises a way to make a lot of money quickly leads to an investment scam or a work-at-home scam.
• Ads that open slideshows and other websites that are mostly ads. These just waste your time.
• Ads that open internet search results on sites like Yahoo.com.
• Phishing sites. These are pages that look just like the login page of your favorite social network, except every time someone types in their username and password, the site’s owners record this info.
• Fake download pages for trusted programs. This includes fake software updates that spread real malware.

Not all ads that Taboola shows are malicious, but the more ads you’re exposed to, the bigger the chance that a malicious one does attack you.

Please, be careful when clicking on a link online. Taboola ads are always labeled, so remember to be careful when you see them. If the Taboola network does not properly review the content it agrees to promote, that’s a problem for all the users of the internet. Website owners that include Taboola ads might be unknowingly endorsing visitation to scam domains and the visitors might have a bad experience, clicking on what they think is an article, and ending up on a scareware site.

About Taboola Ads

Clickbait

Taboola is a legitimate online advertising service, but many of its promoted stories, articles and websites employ  “clickbait” titles meant to trick people. Eye-catching lies have been distributed by Taboola: articles that have titles of “The hearing aid of the future is here”, “27 stars who hate the president”, “Kate Middleton drops jaws, providing Prince William is a lucky man”. All these buzzing articles contain no verisimilitude whatsoever and are produced merely for the purpose of getting more people to click.

The concept of fake news is not new: it has been around for a while. You probably have noticed advertisements that redirect people to articles like “11 child celebrities you wouldn’t recognize today!”. Security researchers have dared to call Ads by Taboola spam and indicated that their distribution is disrespectful to Internet users. Most of the content that the service spreads uses words to criticize and shame other people, mostly celebrities and politicians.

A global power in the advertising business

Recently, Taboola merged with Outbrain. It’s now a $2 billion company with access to over 2 billion people and it competes with advertising giants like Facebook and Google.

Millions of people click on these articles on a daily basis and raise revenues for Taboola. When they do, often they’re taken to a website that has even more ads next to low-quality content. This can be discouraging but it might also be normal – that is, your computer might not be infected at all, and yet, you’d still be seeing the ads. The ads could infect your computer with some unwanted software.

Founder of Taboola, Adam Singolda, has addressed the critics’ reviews and even assembled a team to remove fake news and deceptive articles from their service. However, to withhold tons of advertisements is not an easy task. Therefore, we advise you to be cautious when faced with content from Taboola.

Privacy

Privacy is always an issue when it comes to advertising. Taboola collects people’s IP addresses, operating system, sites clicked on, the previous site visited, location, and, in some cases, gender. Taboola adjusts ads to each user according to collected data. It doesn’t matter which site you’re on, if you use a private browser window, or even if you use a different device, Taboola may still be able to recognize you. If it does, it will continue to target ads to your interests. That’s one of the selling points that the ad company uses to appear attractive to new advertisers. And that’s the main goal of developers of Taboola Ads because they get paid every single time you click on their content.

Distribution methods of Taboola Ads adware

Taboola Ads are displayed on thousands of websites and might be unavoidable, although you can learn to ignore them. Despite the intriguing headlines, these ads often only lead to more ads and rarely ane valuable content, so you’re not missing anything by not clicking them.

If an ad by Taboola is redirecting you to a malicious website, report it to the publisher (the site that the ad appeared on).

If the ads are unusually numerous, there’s a chance that you’re dealing with an adware virus which needs to be removed immediately. Scan your computer with a reputable anti-malware program and remove malware if any is found.

Automatic Malware removal tools

Adware usually comes bundled with other freeware that can be downloaded from the Internet. I.e. when you download and install some free software from an unreliable website, it might be installed alongside without even warning you.

To avoid this happening, always pay close attention to the installation process of freeware. Never skip any steps and always opt for a custom or advanced install mode. Only this way you will be able to see all available options and make needed changes. If during the installation you notice that some additional software that you are not aware of is being installed alongside – immediately cancel the installation because it can possibly be Taboola Ads adware or any other unwanted program.

Manual removal of Ads by Taboola Ads

How to remove Taboola using Windows Control Panel

Many hijackers and adware like Taboola Ads install some of their components as regular Windows programs as well as additional software. This part of malware can be uninstalled from the Control Panel. To access it, do the following.

• Start→Control Panel (older Windows) or press Windows Key→Search and enter Control Panel and then press Enter (Windows 8, Windows 10).
• Choose Uninstall Program (if you don't see it, click in the upper right next to "View by" and select Category).
• Go through the list of programs and select entries related to Taboola . You can click on "Name" or "Installed On" to reorder your programs and make Taboola Ads easier to find.
• Click the Uninstall button. If you're asked if you really want to remove the program, click Yes.
• In many cases anti-malware programs are better at detecting related parasites, thus I recommend installing Spyhunter to identify other programs that might be a part of this infection.

How to remove Taboola from macOS

Delete Taboola Ads from your applications.

1. Open Finder.
2. In the menu bar, click Go.
3. Select Applications from the dropdown.
4. Find the Taboola app.
5. Select it and right-click it (or hold the Ctrl and click the left mouse button).
6. In the dropdown, click Move to Bin/Trash. You might be asked to provide your login password.

TopRemove malicious extensions from Internet Explorer

• Press on the Gear icon→Manage Add-ons.
  
• Go through Toolbars and extensions. Remove everything related to Taboola Ads and items you do not know that are made not by Google, Microsoft, Yahoo, Oracle or Adobe.
  
• Close the Options.

(Optional) Reset your browser’s settings

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

• Press on the Gear icon->Internet Options.
  
• Choose the Advanced tab and click on the Reset button.
  
• Select a “Delete personal settings” checkbox and click on the Reset button.
  
• Click on the Close button on the confirmation box, then close your browser.
  

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

TopRemoving Taboola 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 Taboola. Click on the trash bin icon next to Taboola 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 Taboola, 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.

TopRemoving Taboola 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 Taboola 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 Taboola 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.

How to remove Taboola 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 Taboola. Click on the "Remove" icon next to Taboola 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 Taboola from Safari (Mac OS X)

• Click on the Safari menu.
• Choose Preferences.
  
• Click on the Extensions Tab.
• Click on the Uninstall button near the Taboola Ads. Remove all other unknown or suspicious entries too. If you are not sure whether you need the extension or not, you can simply uncheck the Enable check-box to disable the extension temporarily.
  
• Restart Safari.

(Optional) Reset your browser’s settings

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

• Click on the Safari menu on the top left corner of the screen. Select Reset Safari.
  
• Select which options you want to reset (usually all of them come preselected) and click on the Reset button.
  

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

Manual removal