HeadlineAlley New Tab - How to remove

HeadlineAlley is for quickly accessing breaking news about all topics from entertainment to politics. It replaces your new tab page with hp.myway.com/HeadlineAlley/ttab02/index.html or a page that looks like it. Though HeadlineAlley might appear useful at first, it’s considered to be a browser hijacker – an extension that unfairly takes over browser settings and shows ads to the user. Sometimes HeadlineAlley even gets installed without the knowledge of the user. Also, it’s not useful – it just gives you a few links to popular news sites, that’s it.

HeadlineAlley is a new tab extension that’s made to promote the MyWay search engine:

Type of program	Browser hijacker Adware
Problems with HeadlineAlley	Collects browsing data Tries to control which search engines are used Doesn’t offer good functionality, can easily be replaced with bookmarks Gets installed without informing the user properly
Distribution of the extension	Installed manually Downloaded by unrelated free programs Advertised with misleading ads
Remove HeadlineAlley	Delete malware (SpyHunter for Windows, Combo Cleaner for MacOS) Remove HeadlineAlley and related extensions manually

Problems with HeadlineAlley

Here are a few reputable antivirus programs detecting HeadlineAlley as some sort of malware, PUP, or adware: VirusTotal link.

HeadlineAlley is not necessarily malware, as it’s not very dangerous. But there’s no doubt that this extension exists to take advantage of people who don’t realize they installed it or don’t know how browsers, extensions, search engines, and privacy online work. There are so many browser extensions that do this (FunPopularGames, EasyDocMerge, RecipeSearch, etc.) – new tab hijacking must be a lucrative business.

HeadlineAlley makes money by advertising to users in MyWay.com and Ask.com. It also collects private browsing data on its users. This works best when the HeadlineAlley remains installed for a long time and becomes part of the user’s routine. That way, MyWay.com gets a regular user who can be advertised to. As HeadlineAlley is owned by the same company as MyWay.com, this cooperation makes total sense.

Of course, other websites and extensins do the same thing – they advertise and they collect information about you. HeadlineAlley is just a bit worse because of a few reasons:

• A lot of rules prevent honest actors from collecting too much private information about you or using it for advertising. For example, your queries on most search engines remain private. HeadlineAlley gets around those rules and collects your browsing history, search queries, and other data.
• HeadlineAlley prevents you from choosing which search engine you want to use on the new tab page. There are plenty of new tab browser extensions that allow users to select which search engine they want to use. Only MyWay is possible with HeadlineAlley.
• HeadlineAlley should not be on your new tab page anyway. It should appear in the extension pop-up page. Oh, but then it couldn’t push MyWay.com.
• Honest distribution is not how HeadlineAlley reaches most of its users. Many people are tricked into installing it.

How HeadlineAlley gets installed

Some people claim that HeadlineAlley was installed without their permission. This isn’t surprising – Mindspark’s (that’s the developer) installation methods are often shady.

One of the ways that HeadlineAlley gets installed is by being distributed by various free programs. HeadlineAlley gets included in the installer and installed be default, unless you open advanced settings and find the options to refuse it. This is pretty dishonest and it tricks many users into downloading unwanted stuff that they then have trouble removing (some unwanted programs are really persistent and refuse to be uninstalled).

You can also just install HeadlineAlley by going to its main website. Though, people don’t exactly go there. More like, low-quality ads on converter, streaming, and pirating sites take them to HeadlineAlley. Often, users are given the wrong impression that they must install the extension to continue using the site they were on. Other times, they’re given the impression they’re downloading a completely different program or file.

Either way, the end result is that HeadlineAlley is installed, and the user isn’t sure how. They didn’t want it, they didn’t intentionally get this extension.

Also, HeadlineAlley spreads other hijackers. Search Extension by Ask, especially. This extension is also owned by the same company. Unlike HeadlineAlley, which takes over the new tab page, Ask takes over the address bar and opens search results in Ask.com.

How to remove HeadlineAlley

Uninstall HeadlineAlley, Search Extension by Ask, and related browser extensions. This is easy to do manually, but you would probably benefit from an anti-malware scan, too. If some bundler installed HeadlineAlley, or if an adware infection forced your browser to download some unwanted stuff, they could cause more problems later. You can delete malware using anti-malware programs like SpyHunter for Windows or Combo Cleaner for MacOS, or you can review your applications and programs installed around the time that redirects by HeadlineAlley started. Scan the suspicious programs and get rid of them if they’re problematic.

Automatic Malware removal tools

TopRemove malicious extensions from Internet Explorer

• Press on the Gear icon→Manage Add-ons.
  
• Go through Toolbars and extensions. Remove everything related to HeadlineAlley New Tab 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 HeadlineAlley, 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 HeadlineAlley New Tab 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 HeadlineAlley. Click on the trash bin icon next to HeadlineAlley New Tab 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 HeadlineAlley, 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 HeadlineAlley New Tab 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 HeadlineAlley 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 HeadlineAlley New Tab, 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.