Search-gamez.com Search Redirects - How to remove

Search-gamez.com takes search queries, logs them, and then sends them to Yahoo.com, which displays the results. In other words, Search-gamez.com is a type of Yahoo redirect virus.

Search-gamez.com can be stopped by uninstalling the SearchGamez browser extension. And it should be stopped because Search-gamez.com offers no features and no value; all it does is collect data and show ads.

Search-gamez.com in short:

Type of threat	Adware, browser hijacker.
How to remove Search-gamez.com	Uninstall SearchGamez, find and remove other malware (you can use antivirus scanners like Spyhunter for PC, Combo Cleaner for Mac, and others), block unwanted pop-up ads.
How Search-gamez.com changes the browser	Forces web search results to come back in Yahoo, causes more ads to be displayed with search results, collects your search queries and other data.
How adware gets installed	Advertised deceptively, installed by other programs.

How to remove Search-gamez.com

Remove SearchGamez

Search redirects by Search-gamez.com to Yahoo.com are caused by the SearchGamez browser extension. It takes over your browser’s default search engine setting and replaces it with Feed.search-gamez.com. Feed-search-gamez.com gets to control where your search queries are sent – and it’ll only stop once you get rid of SearchGamez.

The instructions for removing a browser extension can be found at the bottom, together with the instructions for how to change your search engine settings. There’s a possibility that you can’t remove SearchGamez because your browser is controlled by an organization or administrator. Some malicious browser hijackers abuse this setting because it allows them to stop victims from removing the extension. Luckily, you can get around this, although it is a little complicated.

Find and remove other malware

And remember to check your other extensions and programs on your computer. You can use an antivirus scanner, such as Spyhunter for Windows, Combo Cleaner for macOS, and others – make sure that they are configured to detect potentially unwanted programs. You should also check your items manually.

If you do find malware other than Search-gamez.com, remove it.

Block unwanted notifications

Search-gamez.com offers notifications. If you’re getting any pop-up ads from Search-gamez.com even after removing the SearchGamez extension, block unwanted notifications.

• Chrome – type “chrome://settings/content/notifications” in the address box.
• Edge (Chromium) – type “edge://settings/content/notifications” in the address box.
• Firefox – open Settings, Privacy & Security, scroll down to Permissions, and click on Settings next to Notifications.

if you see other addresses besides Search-gamez.com, you can block them, as well. This is reversible, so don’t worry. Just click the button to the right of the address that you want to stop sending you pop-up ads and select the Block option. Remove works too, but it allows the site to ask you to allow notifications again.

How SearchGamez affects the browser

Search-gamez.com doesn’t make any obvious changes to the browser. In fact, when SearchGamez is installed, you might not even notice right away. however, it does have important effects on your browsing and your privacy:

• Search-gamez.com takes over your searches. It sends your queries to Yahoo. Based on what I have tried, the same query on Search-gamez.com consistently produces a few more ads in the Yahoo search results than you would see if you just used Yahoo.com.
• As long as SearchGamez is installed, Search-gamez.com is in control over your search engine. You can’t change it without removing SearchGamez or installing another search engine replacer on top.
• Search-gamez.com collects search logs (what you search for), visited pages, ads that you clicked on, as well as other data about your computer and your internet service provider. This all is considered non-personal information.
• Earlier, Search-gamez.com asks you to allow its notifications. It uses them to show pop-up ads on the screen.

All this, and Search-gamez.com provides no value whatsoever to the user. It’s just Yahoo as the default search engine, but with more ads and less privacy.

How Search-gamez.com spreads

Installed without the victim’s knowledge

One of the ways that Search-gamez.com appears in people’s browsers is via ads on movie streaming sites. You might be familiar with illegal streaming sites – they tend to have really obnoxious ads. They need to, in order to afford to stay up. That’s why the ads are so many and so unavoidable – not even ad-blockers are able to stop them all.

It’s up to the users to navigate around the ads to get to their videos. But it doesn’t always work, in part because ads for Search-gamez.com are so deceptive. They look like download buttons or warnings/requirements to get a browser extension. They don’t look like traditional ads. So, they’re able to trick some people into following their instructions and unwittingly installing the SearchGamez extension.

There are other ways that Search-gamez.com may spread, like by being downloaded in an infected installer. This is another way that malware infects computers – by hitching a ride with some random free program.

Together with other malware

According to traffic analytics, it appears that Search-gamez.com leads to these kinds of websites:

• Ads, including online stores, VPNs, and junkware.
• Adware sites like Notify-service.com.
• Other, related search hijackers, such as Convertrz-search.com and Videoz-searchs.com.

When you’re removing Search-gamez.com, look for other adware, as well. Malicious programs promote each other and if you got infected with one, you can easily get infected with another.

Automatic Malware removal tools

Fix browser settings

TopHow To remove Search-gamez.com Search Redirects 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 Search-gamez.com Search Redirects, 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 Search-gamez.com Search Redirects 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 Search-gamez.com Search Redirects, 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 Search-gamez.com Search Redirects 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 Search-gamez.com Search 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.
  
• 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 Search-gamez.com Search 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.
  
• 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.