Ads by WeatherBuddy
Written by Tomas Meskauskas on (updated)
What is WeatherBuddy?
WeatherBuddy is a rogue application claiming to provide local weather forecasts. Judging on appearance alone, WeatherBuddy may appear legitimate and useful, however, this app often infiltrates systems without users' consent.
Furthermore, it delivers intrusive online advertisements and gathers information relating to Internet browsing activity. For these reasons, WeatherBuddy is categorized as a browser hijacker and a potentially unwanted program (PUP).
Following successful infiltration, WeatherBuddy employs a "virtual layer" to generate pop-up, banner, coupon, and other similar advertisements. The virtual layer enables placement of third party graphical content on any site. Therefore, the displayed ads often conceal underlying content of visited websites, thereby significantly diminishing the Internet browsing experience.
Furthermore, they might redirect to malicious websites containing infectious content - even accidental clicks can result in high-risk adware or malware infections.
WeatherBuddy gathers various information that might be personally identifiable (IP addresses, URLs visited, pages viewed, search queries, etc.) - this is shared with third parties (potentially, cyber criminals) who misuse personal details to generate revenue.
Thus, the presence of a data-tracking app can lead to serious privacy issues or even identity theft. We strongly advise you to eliminate WeatherBuddy from your computer immediately.
WeatherBuddy has very similar characteristics to dozens of other potentially unwanted programs such as Video Abductor, Alpha Shoppers, Shoppers Tab, and many others. All adware delivers fake promises to provide 'useful functionality', however, these claims are simply attempts to give the impression of legitimacy.
In fact, adware-type applications are designed only to generate revenue for the developers and are useless for regular users. Rather than providing any value, adware-type apps deliver intrusive online advertisements and collect various user-system information.
How did WeatherBuddy install on my computer?
WeatherBuddy is free for anyone to download on its official website, however, most users install this PUP inadvertently, without their consent. This is due to a deceptive marketing method called "bundling" used by WeatherBuddy's developers. Bundling is stealth installation of third party applications with regular software.
Developers hide bundled apps within the "Custom/Advanced" settings of the download or installation processes. Rushing these processes and skipping steps exposes systems to risk of various infections and puts users' privacy at risk.
How to avoid installation of potentially unwanted applications?
There are two simple steps you should take to prevent system infiltration by PUPs. Firstly, never rush when downloading and installing software - choose the "Custom/Advanced" settings and closely analyze each step. Secondly, opt-out of all additionally-included programs and decline offers to download/install them.
Deceptive free software installer distributing WeatherBuddy adware:
Official WeatherBuddy adware installation set-up:
Screenshot of WeatherBuddy application:
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Quick menu:
- What is WeatherBuddy?
- STEP 1. Uninstall WeatherBuddy application using Control Panel.
- STEP 2. Remove WeatherBuddy adware from Internet Explorer.
- STEP 3. Remove WeatherBuddy ads from Google Chrome.
- STEP 4. Remove 'Ads by WeatherBuddy' from Mozilla Firefox.
- STEP 5. Remove WeatherBuddy extension from Safari.
- STEP 6. Remove rogue plug-ins from Microsoft Edge.
WeatherBuddy adware removal:
Windows 11 users:
Right-click on the Start icon, select Apps and Features. In the opened window search for the application you want to uninstall, after locating it, click on the three vertical dots and select Uninstall.
Windows 10 users:
Right-click in the lower left corner of the screen, in the Quick Access Menu select Control Panel. In the opened window choose Programs and Features.
Windows 7 users:
Click Start (Windows Logo at the bottom left corner of your desktop), choose Control Panel. Locate Programs and click Uninstall a program.
macOS (OSX) users:
Click Finder, in the opened screen select Applications. Drag the app from the Applications folder to the Trash (located in your Dock), then right click the Trash icon and select Empty Trash.
In the uninstall programs window, look for "WeatherBuddy", select this entry and click "Uninstall" or "Remove".
After uninstalling the potentially unwanted program that causes WeatherBuddy ads, scan your computer for any remaining unwanted components or possible malware infections. To scan your computer, use recommended malware removal software.
Remove WeatherBuddy adware from Internet browsers:
At time of research, WeatherBuddy did not install its browser plug-ins on Internet Explorer, Google Chrome, or Mozilla Firefox, however, it was bundled with other adware. Therefore, you are advised to remove all potentially unwanted browser add-ons from your Internet browsers.
Video showing how to remove potentially unwanted browser add-ons:
Remove malicious add-ons from Internet Explorer:
Click the "gear" icon (at the top right corner of Internet Explorer), select "Manage Add-ons". Look for any recently-installed suspicious browser extensions, select these entries and click "Remove".
Optional method:
If you continue to have problems with removal of the weatherbuddy adware, reset your Internet Explorer settings to default.
Windows XP users: Click Start, click Run, in the opened window type inetcpl.cpl In the opened window click the Advanced tab, then click Reset.
Windows Vista and Windows 7 users: Click the Windows logo, in the start search box type inetcpl.cpl and click enter. In the opened window click the Advanced tab, then click Reset.
Windows 8 users: Open Internet Explorer and click the gear icon. Select Internet Options.
In the opened window, select the Advanced tab.
Click the Reset button.
Confirm that you wish to reset Internet Explorer settings to default by clicking the Reset button.
Remove malicious extensions from Google Chrome:
Click the Chrome menu icon (at the top right corner of Google Chrome), select "Tools" and click "Extensions". Locate all recently-installed suspicious browser add-ons, select these entries and click the trash can icon.
Optional method:
If you continue to have problems with removal of the weatherbuddy adware, reset your Google Chrome browser settings. Click the Chrome menu icon (at the top right corner of Google Chrome) and select Settings. Scroll down to the bottom of the screen. Click the Advanced… link.
After scrolling to the bottom of the screen, click the Reset (Restore settings to their original defaults) button.
In the opened window, confirm that you wish to reset Google Chrome settings to default by clicking the Reset button.
Remove malicious plug-ins from Mozilla Firefox:
Click the Firefox menu (at the top right corner of the main window), select "Add-ons". Click "Extensions", in the opened window, remove all recently-installed suspicious browser plug-ins.
Optional method:
Computer users who have problems with weatherbuddy adware removal can reset their Mozilla Firefox settings.
Open Mozilla Firefox, at the top right corner of the main window, click the Firefox menu, in the opened menu, click Help.
Select Troubleshooting Information.
In the opened window, click the Refresh Firefox button.
In the opened window, confirm that you wish to reset Mozilla Firefox settings to default by clicking the Refresh Firefox button.
Remove malicious extensions from Safari:
Make sure your Safari browser is active, click Safari menu, and select Preferences....
In the opened window click Extensions, locate any recently installed suspicious extension, select it and click Uninstall.
Optional method:
Make sure your Safari browser is active and click on Safari menu. From the drop down menu select Clear History and Website Data...
In the opened window select all history and click the Clear History button.
Remove malicious extensions from Microsoft Edge:
Click the Edge menu icon (at the upper-right corner of Microsoft Edge), select "Extensions". Locate all recently-installed suspicious browser add-ons and click "Remove" below their names.
Optional method:
If you continue to have problems with removal of the weatherbuddy adware, reset your Microsoft Edge browser settings. Click the Edge menu icon (at the top right corner of Microsoft Edge) and select Settings.
In the opened settings menu select Reset settings.
Select Restore settings to their default values. In the opened window, confirm that you wish to reset Microsoft Edge settings to default by clicking the Reset button.
- If this did not help, follow these alternative instructions explaining how to reset the Microsoft Edge browser.
Summary:
Commonly, adware or potentially unwanted applications infiltrate Internet browsers through free software downloads. Note that the safest source for downloading free software is via developers' websites only. To avoid installation of adware, be very attentive when downloading and installing free software. When installing previously-downloaded free programs, choose the custom or advanced installation options – this step will reveal any potentially unwanted applications listed for installation together with your chosen free program.
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