My Classifieds List Browser Hijacker - How to remove

My Classifieds List is a browser extension which sets myclassifiedslist.net as the new tab page and Yahoo as their new search engine. The extension doesn’t look like a dangerous or malicious application, but it’s worth considering if it deserves access to your browser when it is little more than some adware.

What does My Classifieds List do?

Once My Classifieds List is added to your browser, it sets a new tab page — myclassifiedslist.net. This page has a search bar, some quick links, it shows the weather and time. At the top, it has a toolbar that also has links.

My Classifieds List’s links lead to various websites which have classified ads by individual sellers, such as Craigslist, Close5 Ads, and others. On its own, this might be very convenient — having links to your favorite classifieds sites all in one place (though you cannot personalize that list).

If you click on the given links, My Classifieds List simply opens a new tab page for the website. That’s about all that My Classifieds List does for classified ads.

Users of My Classifieds List might be surprised at first by the search bar in the middle of myclassifiedslist.net taking them to Yahoo instead of their usual search engine. The search bar has nothing to do with classifieds (other than that it has ads in the search results).

In what ways can it be dangerous?

Distribution methods

Bundling is used in the installation of My Classifieds List to promote partner extensions. It’s not a very ethical strategy: people can easily end up installing programs without meaning to and without explicitly agreeing to it. The developers bundling other applications with theirs often intentionally obscure the option to refuse the promoted software. This is because PPI — pay per install — is the monetization model often used by bundlers. So, My Classifieds List bundling two other extensions with it does not inspire trust.

The two extensions that I saw promoted with My Classifieds List were SearchEncrypt and Maps Directions Search. They are optional, but the installation is styled in such a way that there is no clear way to refuse the two additional extensions, which is a problem. People shouldn’t feel like they have to install unwanted software just to use My Classifieds List.

If that wasn’t enough, browser hijackers like My Classifieds List are sometimes distributed by aggressive adware. Websites like vexacion.com, Armelacronket.pro, and others can be seen linking to browser hijackers — and these sites work by hijacking a user’s browser, too, as well as showing endless pop-ups. By the way, if you are seeing them and new tabs being opened periodically without you doing anything, you definitely have some adware infecting your computer.

Bizarrely, the description text of My Classifieds List is being used online to advertise weird medicine. My Classifieds List is probably not connected to this. I didn’t look into it much.

Ads and privacy

The search engine that My Classifieds List uses is Yahoo, a site notorious for including a ridiculous number of ads in the search results. Yahoo’s ads can make Oath some money, and some browser extensions help Yahoo spread and receive a share of the revenue. This isn’t malicious, but it is a bit dishonest. It is not always in the user’s best interest to use a particular search engine. You probably have your favorite, and you should be able to use it.

The privacy policy of My Classifieds List reveals that the extension was developed by Eightpoint Technologies, a company that’s also developed extensions like Convert-myfiles.link, Email Anytime, Email.onesearch.org, and quite a few others. The policy reveals that My Classifieds List and the other extensions collect device hardware and software information, your search queries, and all the ads you clicked on — among other things. My Classifieds List tells you why they want all that information:

To help advertisers and publishers connect with you to offer relevant advertising in their apps and websites.

That’s why it’s easy to say that My Classifieds List acts like adware. Instead of offering a good product and displaying a few ads, the extension offers the smallest minimum product that they can get away with, aggressively push it on people who are supposed to become loyal audience for the ads.

How to uninstall My Classifieds List

My Classifieds List can be removed by going to your browser settings and removing the extension from there (more detailed guide below). Check your notification permissions, too — only allow notifications from websites that you trust and want to send you updates.

If you think that adware has infected your machine, you can use Spyhunter (for Windows), Combo-Cleaner (for Mac), or another antivirus program that you trust. They should be able to find and get rid of any adware.

Automatic Malware removal tools

Uninstall My Classifieds List

How to remove My Classifieds List using Windows Control Panel

Many hijackers and adware like My Classifieds List Browser Hijacker 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 My Classifieds List . You can click on "Name" or "Installed On" to reorder your programs and make My Classifieds List Browser Hijacker 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 My Classifieds List from macOS

Delete My Classifieds List Browser Hijacker from your applications.

1. Open Finder.
2. In the menu bar, click Go.
3. Select Applications from the dropdown.
4. Find the My Classifieds List  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.

TopHow To remove My Classifieds List Browser Hijacker from Google Chrome:

• Click on the 3 horizontal lines icon on a browser toolbar and Select More Tools→Extensions
  
• Select all malicious extensions and delete them.
  
• Click on the 3 horizontal lines icon on a browser toolbar and Select Settings
  
• Select Manage Search engines
  
• Remove unnecessary search engines from the list
  
• Go back to settings. On Startup choose Open blank page (you can remove undesired pages from the set pages link too).
• If your homepage was changed, click on Chrome menu on the top right corner, select Settings. Select Open a specific page or set of pages and click on Set pages.
  
• Delete malicious search websites at a new Startup pages window by clicking “X” next to them.
  

(Optional) Reset your browser’s settings

If you are still experiencing any issues related to My Classifieds List Browser Hijacker, reset the settings of your browser to its default settings.

• Click on a Chrome’s menu button (three horizontal lines) and select Settings.
• Scroll to the end of the page and click on theReset browser 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 My Classifieds List Browser Hijacker from Firefox:Top

• 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 My Classifieds List Browser Hijacker 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.
  
• If your homepage was changed, click on the Firefox menu in the top right corner, select Options → General. Enter a preferable URL to the homepage field and click Restore to Default.
  

(Optional) Reset your browser’s settings If you are still experiencing any issues related to My Classifieds List , 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.
  
• ChooseTroubleshooting Information on the Help menu.
  
• Click on theReset Firefox button.
  
• Click on the Reset Firefox button on the confirmation box. Mozilla Firefox will close and change the settings to default.
  

If the problem persists, scan your system with an anti-malware program to identify malicious entries.

How to remove My Classifieds List Browser Hijacker from Microsoft Edge:Top

• Click on the menu button on the top right corner of a Microsoft Edge window. Select “Extensions”.

• Select all malicious extensions and delete them.

• Click on the three-dot menu on the browser toolbar and Select Settings

• Select Privacy and Services and scroll down. Press on Address bar.

• Choose Manage search engines.

• Remove unnecessary search engines from the list: open the three-dot menu and choose Remove.

• Go back to Settings. Open On start-up.
• Delete malicious search websites at Open specific page or pages by opening the three-dot menu and clicking Delete.

(Optional) Reset your browser’s settings If you are still experiencing any issues related to My Classifieds List Browser Hijacker, reset the settings of your browser to its default settings

• Click on Edge's menu button and select Settings. Click on the Reset Settings button on the left.
• Press the Restore settings to their default values option.

• 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 My Classifieds List Browser Hijacker from Safari:Top

Remove malicious extensions

• Click on Safari menu on the top left corner of the screen. Select Preferences.
  
• Select Extensions and uninstall My Classifieds List and other suspicious extensions.
  
• If your homepage was changed, click on Safari menu on the top left corner of the screen. Select Preferences and choose General tab. Enter preferable URL to the homepage field.
  

(Optional) Reset your browser’s settings(older versions) If you are still experiencing any issues related to My Classifieds List Browser Hijacker, reset the settings of your browser to its default settings.

• Click on 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.