How to uninstall SearchWebSvc adware

What is SearchWebSvc?

SearchWebSvc is one of the potentially unwanted applications (PUAs) that are part of the AdLoad adware family. These apps are designed to feed users with various intrusive advertisements and promote the address of a fake search engine. 

SearchWebSvc promotes akamaihd.net, an address that redirects visitors to a fake search engine (home.searchpulse.net or search.searchpulse.net).

These apps are designed to collect various information as well. Like a number of other apps from the AdLoad family, SearchWebSvc is distributed through a fake Adobe Flash Player installer. Typically, people download and install adware such as SearchWebSvc and other PUAs unintentionally.

Generally, adware-type applications such as SearchWebSvc display advertisements in the form of coupons, banners, pop-ups, surveys, etc. Users who click these arrive at untrusted web pages or allow the ads to execute scripts designed to download/install unwanted software.

SearchWebSvc and other apps from the AdLoad adware family promote fake search engines. I.e., they operate as browser hijackers as well. Typically, apps that promote addresses of fake search engines assign them as the address of the default search engine, new tab and homepage.

They change browser settings and do not allow users to undo/modify them (only possible if the app that changed them is uninstalled). SearchWebSvc's users are forced to visit akamaihd.net when they open a browser, new tab, or enter search queries as long as this app is installed.

This address redirects visitors to home.searchpulse.net or search.searchpulse.net. These are addresses of identical fake search engines. Fake search engines are classified as such, since they do not generate unique results. They simply display results generated by a legitimate search engine (in this case, search.yahoo.com) or provide misleading information.

Furthermore, PUAs often collect browsing-related information. For example, entered search queries, IP addresses, addresses of visited websites, geolocations, etc.

They sometimes gather sensitive, personal information as well. People behind apps such as SearchWebSvc seek to generate revenue by selling collected details to third parties (potentially, cyber criminals), who then misuse it in other ways.

In summary, users of SearchWebSvc might become victims of identity theft, suffer monetary loss, experience problems with browsing safety, privacy, and other issues. For these reasons SearchWebSvc and other installed PUA should be removed from the browser and operating system immediately.

Threat Summary:

Name	Ads by SearchWebSvc
Threat Type	Adware, Mac malware, Mac virus
Detection Names	Avast (MacOS:Adload-AD [Trj]), BitDefender (Adware.MAC.Generic.16447), ESET-NOD32 (A Variant Of OSX/TrojanDownloader.Adload.AE), Kaspersky (Not-a-virus:HEUR:AdWare.OSX.Cimpli.k), Full List (VirusTotal)
Symptoms	Your Mac becomes slower than normal, you see unwanted pop-up ads, you are redirected to dubious websites.
Distribution methods	Deceptive pop-up ads, free software installers (bundling), fake Flash Player installers, torrent file downloads.
Damage	Internet browser tracking (potential privacy issues), display of unwanted ads, redirects to dubious websites, loss of private information.
Malware Removal (Mac)	To eliminate possible malware infections, scan your Mac with legitimate antivirus software. Our security researchers recommend using Combo Cleaner. ▼ Download Combo Cleaner for Mac To use full-featured product, you have to purchase a license for Combo Cleaner. Limited seven days free trial available. Combo Cleaner is owned and operated by Rcs Lt, the parent company of PCRisk.com read more.

PublicAdviseSearch, MajorChannelSearch and SearchOptical are examples of other adware-type applications that operate in a similar way to SearchWebSvc. Generally, programs of this type feed users with intrusive, often deceptive advertisements and/or collect user-system information.

Most do not deliver any useful features or other value. Generally, adware-type apps and other PUAs are designed only to generate revenue for the developers and simply cause problems.

How did SearchWebSvc install on my computer?

SearchWebSvc and a number of other PUAs from an identical adware family are distributed through fake Adobe Flash Player installers that are promoted on various untrusted, unofficial web pages. This, however, it is not the only way that adware and PUAs are downloaded and installed.

These downloads and installations are often caused by clicking deceptive ads or when software developers distribute them using a deceptive marketing method called "bundling". They use this method to trick people into downloading and installing unwanted apps together with other, regular software.

In most cases, information about included PUAs is provided in "Custom" and "Advanced" settings of the software set-ups. People who download and install programs without checking or changing these settings often allow for PUAs to infiltrate. Deceptive ads cause unwanted downloads and installation when they execute certain scripts.

How to avoid installation of potentially unwanted applications

Various third party downloaders, installers, unofficial pages, Peer-to-Peer networks (e.g., torrent clients, eMule), and other tools and channels are used to distribute unwanted or even malicious applications. Programs and files should be downloaded from official web pages and through direct links.

Download and installation set-ups that contain settings such as "Advanced", "Custom", "Manual" should be checked for offers to download or install additional, unwanted software. Dismiss these offers before finishing the download/installation process.

Intrusive advertisements that are displayed on dubious pages tend to open potentially malicious pages or even cause unwanted downloads/installations. For these reasons, never click these ads. Remove any unwanted extensions, add-ons and plug-ins already installed on the browser immediately.

The same should be applied to programs of this kind that are installed on the operating system. If your computer is already infected with SearchWebSvc, we recommend running a scan with Combo Cleaner Antivirus for macOS to automatically eliminate this adware.

Files related to SearchWebSvc adware that need to be removed:

• ~/Library/Application Support/com.SearchWebSvc
• ~/Library/Application Support/com.SearchWebSvcDaemon

IMPORTANT NOTE! Rogue setups/apps that promote SearchWebSvc adware are designed to create a new device profile. Therefore, before taking any further removal steps, perform these actions:

1) Click the "Preferences" icon in the menu bar and select "Profiles".

2) Select the "SearchWebSvc" profile and delete it.

3) Perform a full system scan with Combo Cleaner anti-virus suite.

After performing these actions, you can proceed with further removal steps for this browser hijacker.

Instant automatic Mac malware removal: Manual threat removal might be a lengthy and complicated process that requires advanced IT skills. Combo Cleaner is a professional automatic malware removal tool that is recommended to get rid of Mac malware. Download it by clicking the button below:
▼ DOWNLOAD Combo Cleaner for Mac By downloading any software listed on this website you agree to our Privacy Policy and Terms of Use. To use full-featured product, you have to purchase a license for Combo Cleaner. Limited seven days free trial available. Combo Cleaner is owned and operated by Rcs Lt, the parent company of PCRisk.com read more.

Quick menu:

• What is SearchWebSvc?
• STEP 1. Remove SearchWebSvc related files and folders from OSX.
• STEP 2. Remove SearchWebSvc ads from Safari.
• STEP 3. Remove SearchWebSvc adware from Google Chrome.
• STEP 4. Remove SearchWebSvc ads from Mozilla Firefox.

Video showing how to remove adware and browser hijackers from a Mac computer:

SearchWebSvc adware removal:

Remove SearchWebSvc-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 adware-related files and folders

Click the Finder icon, from the menu bar. Choose Go, and click Go to Folder...

Check for adware 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 adware - "installmac.AppRemoval.plist", "myppes.download.plist", "mykotlerino.ltvbit.plist", "kuklorest.update.plist", etc. Adware commonly installs several files with the exact same string.

Check for adware 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 adware 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 adware - "installmac.AppRemoval.plist", "myppes.download.plist", "mykotlerino.ltvbit.plist", "kuklorest.update.plist", etc. Adware commonly installs several files with the exact same string.

Check for adware 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 adware, continue to remove rogue extensions from your Internet browsers.

Remove malicious extensions from Internet browsers

Remove malicious Safari extensions:

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.

• If you continue to have problems with browser redirects and unwanted advertisements - Reset Safari.

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 all recently-installed suspicious extensions, select these entries and click "Remove".

• 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".

• If you continue to have problems with browser redirects and unwanted advertisements - Reset Mozilla Firefox.

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