Traffic Factory - How to remove

Traffic Factory is an adult advertising network — it displays ads on behalf of advertisers. If you see their ads online, that just shows that that’s who the ads were delivered by.

While Traffic Factory is not any sort of malware, some victims of adware viruses might be exposed to an unusual number of their ads. Most of the ads are safe, there are always some that are malicious. If the ads are excessive, annoying, unsolicited, and endless, that means that some adware program has infected your device — and it’s using Traffic Factory to push ads to you.

Are ads by Traffic Factory safe?

The advertiser reviews of Traffic Factory are mixed but what’s important to the public who are forced to see the ads is their safety and quality. Unfortunately, a lot of those who use networks like Traffic Factory are advertisers who aren’t allowed to use the safer, more trustworthy networks, such as AdSense or Facebook, due to restrictions on the subject and honesty of the ad.

It’s difficult for advertisers to get approved for AdSense, for example. Thus, some look for less strict networks. This means that a network like Traffic Factory ends up promoting comparatively more unsafe content. In that sense, it’s similar to PopAds, Propeller Ads, adCash, and other networks that are frequently misused by cybercriminals.

Traffic Factory is an adult ad-network and adult websites are more likely to be associated with adware than an average website. Some ads on adult sites are safe, but a lot forward you to misleading pages, such as fake lotteries like the 5-billionth search, or a notification spammer like Bigclicker.me. If a malicious ad slips through Traffic Factory’s review process and you click on one, it could do a lot of harm:

• Impersonate a social network or something more serious, like a bank, and steal your credentials by landing you on a fake login page.
• Deliver malware (this especially applies to those who don’t keep their software up-to-date).
• Scams and generally misleading content can cost you money in the long term.

Traffic Factory claims that they use targeting to make the ads more efficient, which means that they make use of your profile that contains some of your browsing habits. You can look at Traffic Factory’s privacy policy to find out more, but this shows a way in which your browsing data is so valuable and why so many actors online are eager to get their hands on it.

Symptoms of adware infections

In order to know whether the ads that you see are a result of an adware virus, check if your computer shows any of these symptoms:

• New web browser tabs and windows opening without your interference.
• Ads looking different than usual.
• Unexpected pop-ups that link suspicious websites.
• The search results page looks different than before.
• Your browser home page looks different than before.

Adware can exist as a browser add-on, a desktop program, a few browser settings, or a combination of all of these.

Even though Traffic Factory can display annoying pop-unders that cover the content of a website, that is just a normal ad. If ads online are being displayed by this network, that doesn’t mean that they’re a result of an adware virus. But if you believe that Traffic Factory is being abused by adware, you can let them know and, hopefully, the company does something about it.

How to remove excessive ads by Traffic Factory

If you suspect that your device is infected with adware that keeps showing you ads, including ones by Traffic Factory, there are some things you can do that are more-or-less the same for every adware infection.

First, review your browser settings and remove or disable any browser add-ons that could be causing a problem. Some adware extensions are actually called “Ads by… ” and “Promotions by…”, but others are disguised as a utility that makes no mention of advertising. Disable any suspicious ones and see if that stops your ads. Uninstall any that might be responsible.

Next, you need to scan your device with an aggressive anti-malware program, such as Spyhunter (PC) or Combo-Cleaner (Mac). Sometimes adware infections are distributed in bundles, that is, installed together with some free programs. Bundlers are sometimes detected by the more aggressive antivirus programs that flag unethical behavior. Even if an application is safe if it installed adware on your computer, that will give you an idea of how to avoid future infections.

Automatic Malware removal tools

How to remove Traffic Factory Ads using Windows Control Panel

Many hijackers and adware like Traffic Factory 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 Traffic Factory Ads . You can click on "Name" or "Installed On" to reorder your programs and make Traffic Factory 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 Traffic Factory Ads from macOS

Delete Traffic Factory from your applications.

1. Open Finder.
2. In the menu bar, click Go.
3. Select Applications from the dropdown.
4. Find the Traffic Factory Ads 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 Traffic Factory 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 Traffic Factory Ads, 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 Traffic Factory 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 Traffic Factory Ads. Click on the trash bin icon next to Traffic Factory 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 Traffic Factory 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.

TopRemoving Traffic Factory 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 Traffic Factory 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 Traffic Factory, 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 Traffic Factory 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 Traffic Factory Ads. Click on the "Remove" icon next to Traffic Factory 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 Traffic Factory Ads from Safari (Mac OS X)

• Click on the Safari menu.
• Choose Preferences.
  
• Click on the Extensions Tab.
• Click on the Uninstall button near the Traffic Factory. 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 Traffic Factory Ads, 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.