Feed.thegamesearcher.com Redirect

What is feed.thegamesearcher.com?

Like most search engines of this type, feed.thegamesearcher.com is promoted as useful and legitimate. The developers offer faster searches, improved search results, quick links to various websites, and so on. In fact, this is a fake search engine promoted through a browser hijacker, a potentially unwanted application (PUA) called TheGameSearcher.

Typically, people do not install apps of this type intentionally. When installed, TheGameSearcher changes browser settings and continuously records information relating to users' browsing habits.

Browser hijacking apps can be installed on the Google Chrome, Mozilla Firefox, and Internet Explorer browsers. If installed, TheGameSearcher assigns settings such as the default search engine, homepage, and new tab URL address to feed.thegamesearcher.com.

Once these modifications are made, people with TheGameSearcher installed on their systems are forced to visit this website when they open a browser window (or new browser window), enter a search query into the URL bar, or open new tabs. As with most browser hijackers, it also ensures that these settings cannot be reassigned.

Any changes made are reverted to feed.thegamesearcher.com. The only way to avoid having to visit this website in these circumstances is to uninstall TheGameSearcher application.

As mentioned, feed.thegamesearcher.com is presented as a legitimate search engine, however, provides no unique search results and simply redirects to search.yahoo.com (a legitimate search engine created by Yahoo) and displays associated results. Another problem with this fake search engine and TheGameSearcher browser hijacker is information tracking.

Both gather information relating to users' browsing habits, including IP addresses, geo-locations, all entered search queries, URLs of visited websites, etc.

Note that many PUAs and fake search engines also record personal details. Developers continuously share the information with third parties (potentially, cyber criminals) who misuse it to generate revenue. We recommend that you uninstall all PUAs (including TheGameSearcher) immediately.

Threat Summary:

Name	TheGameSearcher browser hijacker
Threat Type	Browser Hijacker, Redirect, Search Hijacker, Toolbar, Unwanted New Tab.
Symptoms	Manipulated Internet browser(s) settings (homepage, default Internet search engine, new tab settings). Users are forced to visit hijacker's website and search the Internet using their search engines.
Distribution methods	Deceptive pop-up ads, free software installers (bundling), fake Flash Player installers.
Damage	Internet browsing tracking (potential privacy issues), display of unwanted ads, redirects to dubious websites.
Malware Removal (Windows)	To eliminate possible malware infections, scan your computer with legitimate antivirus software. Our security researchers recommend using Combo Cleaner. ▼ Download Combo Cleaner To use full-featured product, you have to purchase a license for Combo Cleaner. 7 days free trial available. Combo Cleaner is owned and operated by Rcs Lt, the parent company of PCRisk.com read more.

There are countless fake search engines on the internet - search.hprimesports.co, search.searchipdf.com, and search.htheweathercenter.org are just some examples.

 Typically, developers trick people into using these search engines by presenting them as useful and legitimate. In fact, they are generally useless and are often used to generate revenue by gathering private information. Using these fake search engines can lead to problems relating to browsing safety, privacy, or even identity theft.

How did TheGameSearcher install on my computer?

TheGameSearcher is available for download on its website, however, people often install these apps inadvertently. Unwanted downloads/installations usually occur through clicked intrusive advertisements or when software developers use a deceptive marketing method called "bundling".

This is used to trick people into installing/downloading PUAs with regular software. In most cases, unwanted apps are hidden in "Custom", "Advanced" or other similar options/settings of the software download or installation set-ups. Despite this, many people cause unwanted installation/download of potentially unwanted applications when they leave setup options unchanged at their default settings.

How to avoid installation of potentially unwanted applications?

To prevent unwanted downloads and installations, download software only from official, trustworthy websites. Do not use dubious sources such as Peer-to-Peer networks (torrent clients, eMule, and so on), unofficial web pages, third party downloaders etc., should not be used.

Check all available settings ("Custom", "Advanced", and other similar sections) when installing software, especially if it is free. Study all checkboxes ticked by default. Do not click intrusive advertisements, especially when visiting dubious websites.

These usually cause redirects to potentially malicious or other untrustworthy websites such as gambling, pornography, adult dating, and so on. If you experience random unwanted redirects or intrusive advertisements on visited websites, check for unwanted apps (extensions, add-ons, and plug-ins) installed on the browser.

Remove all unknown, suspicious apps immediately. The same applies to programs installed on the operating system. If your computer is already infected with TheGameSearcher, we recommend running a scan with Combo Cleaner Antivirus for Windows to automatically eliminate this browser hijacker.

Website promoting TheGameSearcher browser hijacker:

IMPORTANT NOTE! This deceptive site asks to enable web browser notifications.

Therefore, before commencing, perform these steps:

Google Chrome (PC):

• Click the Menu button (three dots) on the right upper corner of the screen
• Select "Settings", scroll down to the bottom and click "Advanced"
• Scroll down to the "Privacy and security" section, select "Content settings" and then "Notifications"
• Click three dots on the right hand side of each suspicious URL and click "Block" or "Remove" (if you click "Remove" and visit the malicious site once more, it will ask to enable notifications again)

Google Chrome (Android):

• Click on the Menu button (three dots) on the right upper corner of the screen and click "Settings"
• Scroll down, click on "Site settings" and then "Notifications"
• In the opened window, locate all suspicious URLs and click on them one-by-one
• Select "Notifications" in the "Permissions" section and click "Block"

Mozilla Firefox:

• Click the Menu button (three bars) on the right upper corner of the screen
• Select "Options" and click on "Privacy & Security" in the toolbar on the left hand side of the screen
• Scroll down to the "Permissions" section and click the "Settings" button next to "Notifications"
• In the opened window, locate all suspicious URLs, click the drop-down menu and select "Block"

Internet Explorer:

• Click the Gear button on the right upper corner of the IE window
• Select "Internet options"
• Select the "Privacy" tab and click "Settings" under "Pop-up Blocker" section
• Select suspicious URLs under and remove them one by one by clicking the "Remove" button

Microsoft Edge:

• Click the menu button (three dots) on the right upper corner of the Edge window
• Scroll down, find and click "Settings"
• Scroll down again and click "View advanced settings"
• Click "Manage" under "Notifications"
• Click the switch under each suspicious website

Safari:

• Click "Safari" button on the bottom of the screen and select "Preferences..."
• Select the "Websites" tab and then select "Notifications" section on the left pane
• Check for suspicious URLs and apply the "Deny" option for each

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Quick menu:

• What is feed.thegamesearcher.com?
• STEP 1. Uninstall TheGameSearcher application using Control Panel.
• STEP 2. Remove feed.thegamesearcher.com redirect from Internet Explorer.
• STEP 3. Remove TheGameSearcher browser hijacker from Google Chrome.
• STEP 4. Remove feed.thegamesearcher.com homepage and default search engine from Mozilla Firefox.
• STEP 5. Remove feed.thegamesearcher.com redirect from Safari.
• STEP 6. Remove rogue plug-ins from Microsoft Edge.

TheGameSearcher browser hijacker 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 any recently installed suspicious applications (for example, "TheGameSearcher"), select these entries and click "Uninstall" or "Remove".

After uninstalling the potentially unwanted applications that cause browser redirects to the feed.thegamesearcher.com website, scan your computer for any remaining unwanted components. To scan your computer, use recommended malware removal software.

TheGameSearcher browser hijacker removal from Internet browsers:

Video showing how to remove browser redirects:

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 extensions, select these entries and click "Remove".

Change your homepage:

Click the "gear" icon (at the top right corner of Internet Explorer), select "Internet Options", in the opened window, remove hxxp://feed.thegamesearcher.com and enter your preferred domain, which will open each time you launch Internet Explorer. You can also enter about: blank to open a blank page when you start Internet Explorer.

Change your default search engine:

Click the "gear" icon (at the top right corner of Internet Explorer), select "Manage Add-ons". In the opened window, select "Search Providers", set "Google", "Bing", or any other preferred search engine as your default and then remove "feed.thegamesearcher.com".

Optional method:

If you continue to have problems with removal of the thegamesearcher browser hijacker, 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 "More tools" and click "Extensions". Locate "TheGameSearcher" and other recently-installed suspicious browser add-ons, and remove them.

Change your homepage:

Click the Chrome menu icon  (at the top right corner of Google Chrome), select "Settings". In the "On startup" section, look for "TheGameSearcher" browser hijacker's URL (hxxp://www.feed.thegamesearcher.com) 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 "feed.thegamesearcher.com", and when located, click the three vertical dots near this URL and select "Remove from list".

Optional method:

If you continue to have problems with removal of the thegamesearcher browser hijacker, 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 on "Extensions" and remove "TheGameSearcher", as well as all other recently installed browser plug-ins.

Change your homepage:

To reset your homepage, click the Firefox menu (at the top right corner of the main window), then select "Options", in the opened window, disable "TheGameSearcher", remove hxxp://feed.thegamesearcher.com 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 "I'll be careful, I promise!".
In the search filter at the top, type: "feed.thegamesearcher.com"
Right-click on the found preferences and select "Reset" to restore default values.

Optional method:

Computer users who have problems with thegamesearcher browser hijacker 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 and click Safari menu, then select Preferences...

In the preferences window select the Extensions tab. Look for any recently installed suspicious extensions and uninstall them.

In the preferences window select General tab and make sure that your homepage is set to a preferred URL, if its altered by a browser hijacker - change it.

In the preferences window select Search tab and make sure that your preferred Internet search engine is selected.

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 top right corner of Microsoft Edge), select "Extensions". Locate any recently-installed suspicious browser add-ons, and remove them.

Change your homepage and new tab settings:

Click the Edge menu icon  (at the top right corner of Microsoft Edge), select "Settings". In the "On startup" section look for the name of the browser hijacker and click "Disable".

Change your default Internet search engine:

To change your default search engine in Microsoft Edge: Click the Edge menu icon  (at the top right corner of Microsoft Edge), select "Privacy and services", scroll to bottom of the page and select "Address bar". In the "Search engines used in address bar" section look for the name of the unwanted Internet search engine, when located click the "Disable" button near it. Alternatively you can click on "Manage search engines", in the opened menu look for unwanted Internet search engine. Click on the puzzle icon near it and select "Disable".

Optional method:

If you continue to have problems with removal of the thegamesearcher browser hijacker, 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:

A browser hijacker is a type of adware infection that modifies Internet browser settings by assigning the homepage and default Internet search engine settings to some other (unwanted) website URL. Commonly, this type of adware infiltrates operating systems through free software downloads. If your download is managed by a download client, ensure that you decline offers to install advertised toolbars or applications that seek to change your homepage and default Internet search engine settings.

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