Ads by SmartShoppy (Mac)
Written by Tomas Meskauskas on (updated)
What is SmartShoppy?
SmartShoppy is a deceptive application that gives fake promises to save time and money when shopping online by displaying coupons and notifying users of special deals/discounts.
On initial inspection, this app may seem legitimate, however, due to rogue behavior (stealth installation without consent, display of intrusive advertisements, tracking of web browsing activity), SmartShoppy is classed as a potentially unwanted program and adware.
SmartShoppy delivers pop-up, coupon, banner, price comparison, and other similar intrusive advertisement types, none of which originate from users' visited websites and conceal underlying content, significantly diminishing the browsing experience.
In addition, they often lead to websites containing malicious content - clicking them will result in high-risk adware or malware infections. Furthermore, users' web browsing activity is continually monitored, since SmartShoppy collects IP addresses, search queries, URLs visited, pages viewed, and other similar data.
This data might be personally identifiable and shared by developers of SmartShoppy with third parties who often misuse private data to generate revenue. This behavior can lead to serious privacy issues. Therefore, we strongly advise you to remove SmartShoppy adware from your system immediately.
This potentially unwanted program is identical to WebShoppers, CoolShopper, HotShoppy, and a number of other bogus apps. All offer identical functionality, however, none provide any real value. SmartShoppy, and other adware-type applications, are designed only to generate revenue for the developers.
Their purpose is to deliver various intrusive ads and collect personally identifiable information. Therefore, adware provides no significant value for regular users.
How did SmartShoppy install on my computer?
SmartShoppy is available for download on its official website, however, many users install this PUP inadvertently without their consent. This is due to a deceptive software marketing method called "bundling" - stealth installation of bogus programs with regular applications/software.
Developers hide bundled applications within the "Custom" or "Advanced" settings of the download/installation processes - these are often rushed by many users who skip virtually steps during the download/installation procedures. This can lead to inadvertent installation of bogus programs such as SmartShoppy.
How to avoid installation of potentially unwanted applications?
There are two simple steps you should take to prevent this situation. Firstly, analyze each step of the download/installation processes using the "Custom" or "Advanced" settings. Secondly, all offers to download or install third party applications, and opt-out of those already included.
SmartShoppy website frequently asked questions (FAQ):
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Quick menu:
- What is SmartShoppy?
- STEP 1. Remove SmartShoppy related files and folders from OSX.
- STEP 2. Remove SmartShoppy ads from Safari.
- STEP 3. Remove SmartShoppy adware from Google Chrome.
- STEP 4. Remove SmartShoppy ads from Mozilla Firefox.
Video showing how to remove adware and browser hijackers from a Mac computer:
SmartShoppy adware removal:
Remove SmartShoppy-related potentially unwanted applications from your "Applications" folder:
Click the Finder icon. In the Finder window, select “Applications”. In the applications folder, look for “MPlayerX”,“NicePlayer”, or other suspicious applications and drag them to the Trash. After removing the potentially unwanted application(s) that cause online ads, scan your Mac for any remaining unwanted components.
Remove browser hijacker-related files and folders
Click the Finder icon from the menu bar. Choose Go, and click Go to Folder...
Check for browser hijacker generated files in the /Library/LaunchAgents/ folder:
In the Go to Folder... bar, type: /Library/LaunchAgents/
In the "LaunchAgents" folder, look for any recently-added suspicious files and move them to the Trash. Examples of files generated by browser hijackers - "installmac.AppRemoval.plist", "myppes.download.plist", "mykotlerino.ltvbit.plist", "kuklorest.update.plist", etc. Browser hijacker commonly installs several files with the exact same string.
Check for browser hijacker generated files in the ~/Library/Application Support/ folder:
In the Go to Folder... bar, type: ~/Library/Application Support/
In the "Application Support" folder, look for any recently-added suspicious folders. For example, "MplayerX" or "NicePlayer", and move these folders to the Trash.
Check for browser hijacker generated files in the ~/Library/LaunchAgents/ folder:
In the Go to Folder... bar, type: ~/Library/LaunchAgents/
In the "LaunchAgents" folder, look for any recently-added suspicious files and move them to the Trash. Examples of files generated by browser hijackers - "installmac.AppRemoval.plist", "myppes.download.plist", "mykotlerino.ltvbit.plist", "kuklorest.update.plist", etc. Browser hijacker commonly installs several files with the exact same string.
Check for browser hijacker generated files in the /Library/LaunchDaemons/ folder:
In the "Go to Folder..." bar, type: /Library/LaunchDaemons/
In the "LaunchDaemons" folder, look for recently-added suspicious files. For example "com.aoudad.net-preferences.plist", "com.myppes.net-preferences.plist", "com.kuklorest.net-preferences.plist", "com.avickUpd.plist", etc., and move them to the Trash.
Scan your Mac with Combo Cleaner:
If you have followed all the steps correctly, your Mac should be clean of infections. To ensure your system is not infected, run a scan with Combo Cleaner Antivirus. Download it HERE. After downloading the file, double click combocleaner.dmg installer. In the opened window, drag and drop the Combo Cleaner icon on top of the Applications icon. Now open your launchpad and click on the Combo Cleaner icon. Wait until Combo Cleaner updates its virus definition database and click the "Start Combo Scan" button.
Combo Cleaner will scan your Mac for malware infections. If the antivirus scan displays "no threats found" - this means that you can continue with the removal guide; otherwise, it's recommended to remove any found infections before continuing.
After removing files and folders generated by the browser hijackers, continue to remove rogue extensions from your Internet browsers.
Remove browser hijackers from Internet browsers
Remove Safari browser hijackers:
Open the Safari browser, from the menu bar, select "Safari" and click "Preferences...".
In the preferences window, select "Extensions" and look for any recently-installed suspicious extensions. When located, click the "Uninstall" button next to it/them. Note that you can safely uninstall all extensions from your Safari browser - none are crucial for regular browser operation.
Change your homepage:
In the "Preferences" window, select the "General" tab. To set your homepage, type the preferred website URL (for example: www.google.com) in the Homepage field. You can also click the "Set to Current Page" button if you wish to set your homepage to the website you are currently visiting.
Change your default search engine:
In the "Preferences" window, select the "Search" tab. Here you will find a drop-down menu labeled "Search engine:" Simply select your preferred search engine from the drop-down list.
- If you continue to have problems with browser redirects and unwanted advertisements - Reset Safari.
Remove Google Chrome browser hijackers:
Click the Chrome menu icon (at the top right corner of Google Chrome), select "More Tools" and click "Extensions". Locate all recently-installed suspicious extensions, select these entries and click "Remove".
Change your homepage
Click the Chrome menu icon (at the top right corner of Google Chrome) and select "Settings". In the "On startup" section, disable the malicious extension (if present), look for a browser hijacker URL below the "Open a specific or set of pages" option. If present, click on the three vertical dots icon and select "Remove".
Change your default search engine:
To change your default search engine in Google Chrome: Click the Chrome menu icon (at the top right corner of Google Chrome), select "Settings", in the "Search engine" section, click "Manage search engines...", in the opened list look for a browser hijacker URL, when located click the three vertical dots near this URL and select "Delete".
- If you continue to have problems with browser redirects and unwanted advertisements - Reset Google Chrome.
Remove malicious extensions from Mozilla Firefox:
Click the Firefox menu (at the top right corner of the main window) and select "Add-ons and themes". Click "Extensions", in the opened window locate all recently-installed suspicious extensions, click on the three dots and then click "Remove".
Change your homepage
To reset your homepage, click the Firefox menu (at the top right corner of the main window), then select "Settings", in the opened window disable malicious extension (if present), remove the browser hijacker URL and enter your preferred domain, which will open each time you start Mozilla Firefox.
Change your default search engine:
In the URL address bar, type "about:config" and press Enter. Click "Accept the Risk and Continue".
In the search filter at the top, type: "extensionControlled". Set both results to "false" by either double-clicking each entry or clicking the button.
- If you continue to have problems with browser redirects and unwanted advertisements - Reset Mozilla Firefox.
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