TheWeb.com Redirects - How to remove

TheWeb.com is a legitimate search engine, but ads for it and redirects to it can be caused by a malicious browser extension or by an adware infection. Seeings TheWeb.com redirects and ads other search sites in your internet search results is a bad sign and you should scan your computer with an antivirus app if that happens.

In short about TheWeb.com redirects:

Type of threat	Potentially unwanted program (PUP), adware.
How TheWeb.com redirects appear	Advertised by other, shady search engines, caused by browser-hijacking extensions.
Symptoms and issues	More ads than results in internet search results, many of the ads are links to other search result sites, browser’s new tab page and default search engine are hijacked.
Remove TheWeb.com redirects	Scan your computer with an antivirus program (Combo Cleaner for macOS, Spyhunter for Windows, etc.) and remove detected malware, find and remove suspicious browser extensions.

Adware leads to TheWeb.com

I occasionally ran into TheWeb.com when I was looking into the various browser hijackers and other malicious browser add-ons that we write about. There also exist a few complaints by people seeing ads for TheWeb.com, among other sites, fill up their screen every time they search for something online. Here’s how it probably goes:

• people are tricked into installing a malicious browser extension,
• the browser extension changes their search settings so that it can manipulate their search engine and results,
• the person’s search results are now full of ads (often more ads than search results),
• many of the ads are links to other search engines, which also show ads for other search engines,
• TheWeb.com redirects are advertised on some of these shady websites.

TheWeb.com is an internet search engine – a website that lets you search for information and shows the results that match your query. The results are links to various websites. A few of the links are paid ads, as that’s how search engines make their money and remain free to use.

TheWeb.com is made by CBS Interactive, together with Answersite.com. These sites are safe, legitimate, and just fine to use. They don’t go overboard with ads and they appear to show relevant search results. Although TheWeb.com could use a few more functions because, as it is, it’s a really barebones search engine.

However, TheWeb.com appearing in your browser unexpectedly can indicate that you’ve got an adware extension installed. That’s because TheWeb.com is advertised on a bunch of low-quality, malicious search engines: Hidemysearches.com, Info.com, Searchincognito.com, Kensaq.com, Izito.com, and others. These sites are the problem because they only exist to hijack people’s browsers, force more people to use them, and then sell the advertising space.

TheWeb.com redirects are a similar problem to Yahoo.com hijacks: a decent search engine is used by malicious apps. Like Yahoo.com, TheWeb.com is associated with some potentially bad browser extensions, like Access Gov Docs, Maps Now, Shipment Tracker, TV Streaming Online, Satellite and Earth Map, and others.

How to remove TheWeb.com redirects

So, if seeing TheWeb.com redirects shows that you have adware on your device, how do you go about removing it?

Most of the time, issues with web browsers (excessive ads, changed home and new tab pages, changed search engine) are caused by bad browser extensions. The easiest way to confirm this is to open a private window because browsers extensions are disabled in this mode.

Open the main menu of your web browser (usually, the button on the top right), you should see the option to open a private or Incognito window. Do is and then try searching for something. What do the search results look like? If they’re still full of ads and TheWeb.com redirects, then you might have adware on your computer. But if the results are more-or-less clean, then there’s a browser extension you need to get rid of.

Finding this extension that’s responsible for injecting TheWeb.com ads and redirects, and messing with your search results might not be easy. A quick way would be to scan your computer with an anti-malware program that can detect PUPs (potentially unwanted programs), such as Combo Cleaner for Mac, Spyhunter for PC, etc. However, not all browser malware is well detected.

You can also manually disable or remove your browser extensions until the TheWeb.com redirect problem goes away. I put the instructions for removing extensions at the bottom. You can narrow down which extensions are suspicious by clicking on the Details button to read their permissions. Suspicious permissions include:

• reading and changing your data on Google.com and Bing.com (or on all sites that you visit),
• changing the default search engine,
• controlling the page that opens when you open a new tab.

Disable each and every one of your extensions until excessive ads, new tab hijacks, and TheWeb.com redirects all go away. You never know what a malicious browser extension looks like. Some are disguised as system apps. Some have well-functioning features and were only recently patched to hijack browsers. So, don’t trust any of them. Instead, test them for yourself.

Automatic Malware removal tools

How to remove browser extensions

TopRemoving TheWeb.com 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 TheWeb.com Redirects. Click on the trash bin icon next to TheWeb.com 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 TheWeb.com 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.

TopRemoving TheWeb.com 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 TheWeb.com 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 TheWeb.com 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.

How to remove TheWeb.com 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 TheWeb.com Redirects. Click on the "Remove" icon next to TheWeb.com 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.

TopRemove malicious extensions from Internet Explorer

• Press on the Gear icon→Manage Add-ons.
  
• Go through Toolbars and extensions. Remove everything related to TheWeb.com Redirects 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 TheWeb.com Redirects, 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.