Remove Smartmediatabsearch.com Browser Hijacker

Gergana Ivanova

Gergana has completed a bachelor degree in Marketing from the University of National and World Economy. She has been with the STF team for three years, researching malware and reporting on the latest infections. She believes that in times of constantly evolving dependency of network connected technologies, people should spread the word not the war.

More Posts

Follow Me:

This article aims to help you with the removal of Smartmediatabsearch.com hijacker from affected browser and system. Follow the detailed guide to remove this nasty app completely from your PC.

The website Smartmediatabsearch.com belongs to the company Imali Media Ltd. It is classified as a browser hijacker due to its capability to land on users’ systems without their knowledge and alter basic browser settings. In case of infection, its dubious domain could appear on the homepage and each new tab page while its search engine could be set as a default one. Furthermore, once this hijacker gains access to your browser, it could spy on online activities and deliver a lot of intrusive advertisements. Keep reading to understand how to remove it completely from your affected PC.

Threat Summary

Name	Smartmediatabsearch.com
Type	Browser Hijacker, PUP
Short Description	The suspicious domain Smartmediatabsearch.com can be set as homepage and new tab page in each affected browser. Its rogue search engine replaces the default one.
Symptoms	The homepage and new tab page of affected browsers display the main page of Smartmediatabsearch.com hijacker. Many advertisements flood the browser and make it sluggish.
Distribution Method	Freeware Installations, Bundled Packages
Detection Tool	See If Your System Has Been Affected by Smartmediatabsearch.com Download Malware Removal Tool
User Experience	Join Our Forum to Discuss Smartmediatabsearch.com.

Smartmediatabsearch.com – Methods of Distribution

Smartmediatabsearch.com is most likely to be distributed in software bundles. This method is preferred by many developers of potentially unwanted programs like Smartmediatabsearch.com as users are easily tricked into installing them programs along with the primary app. So remember which was the last app you installed on your PC. It could be the reason why you see Smartmediatabsearch.com hijacker in your browser. The installers of various free apps incorporate some additional components that sneak into the system if you miss to opt out their installation. Unfortunately, information about their existence is often not available in the regular configuration steps. As in some cases, it could be found in the Advanced/Custom options, it is advisable to choose them each time you install a new app.

In order to find all suspicious apps installed on your system, it is recommendable to scan it with advanced anti-malware tool.

Smartmediatabsearch.com is believed to hijack frequently used web browsers like Google Chrome, Mozilla Firefox, Internet Explorer, and Safari.

Smartmediatabsearch.com – More About Its Impact

The idea of Smartmediatabsearch.com website is to provide searching services and quick access to several popular sites like Facebook, Gmail, Netflix, and eBay to online users. Its design resembles a lot the look of some major search engines. However, unlike them Smartmediatabsearch.com could land on your system without your knowledge and then alters some basic settings in the installed browsers without asking for permission. These are only part of the reasons why it is classified as a browser hijacker and as a one, it is better to be removed than used.

After it implements all the modifications and affects the browser, you can see its main page to appear on the homepage and each new tab page. Also, its dubious search engine could replace the default one in order to blackmail you into using its services.

As it gets clear from its main page, the hijacker is powered by a company called Step it App. The official website of this company reveals that it provides advertising platform that connects developers of free apps with advertisers. Apparently, its purpose is to stimulate more developers to release free apps and help them monetize their projects by adding in-app advertisements. As a result by using the apps that are powered by Step it App including Smartmediatabsearch.com, you will see a lot of advertisements that attempt to trick you into clicking on them so that developers could get paid by advertisers.

All the ads may slow down the performance of the running apps, browser and even system. At worst, the next pop-up, pop-under, banner, in-text ad or image ad you click could land you on a compromised web page that is set to deliver severe malware directly on your PC.

Yet another reason why you should remove Smartmediatabsearch.com hijacker is the hoax search engine it pushes. On the one hand, it does not display its own search results but just redirects to Yahoo search. On the other hand, it could modify search results and send data of all your search queries to its servers. Keep reading to learn more about data collection practices of this nasty hijacker.

Smartmediatabsearch.com – Privacy Policy

The first thing that gets cleaaer then you open the privacy policy of Smartmediatabsearch.com hijacker is name of its owner – Imali Media Ltd. In fact, this hijacker is not the first known to be developed by this comapny. Our team detected and reported several other websites that are similar to Smartmediatabsearch.com and alike it harass online users. Some of them are Search.newtab-tvsearch.com, Mediatvtabsearch.com and Funcybertabsearch(.)com.

The policy further reveals that Imali Media Ltd.‘s products are able to collect automatically specific details from users’ browsers and store them on their servers. Thus, by using the services of Smartmediatabsearch.com you agree with that it will obtain the following data:

• Your IP (internet protocol) address
• The type of browser you use
• The time at which you visited the site
• Which pages you visited throughout the site

Information you provide that can be collected:

• Your name
• Your email address
• Country of origin
• Your nickname
• Telephone number
• Website
• Company
• Job title

Unfortunately, a sure consequence of data collection is its use for advertising purposes. Be careful if deceptive blanks pop up on your screen as the hijacker may try to trick you into providing some personally identifiable details that at worst may be used for identity theft. Such fishy blanks may also enable Imali Media Ltd. to disclose your information to third-parties of unknown origin. In case that you want to prevent the hijacker from collecting your data, you need to remove it completely from the affected device.

Remove Smartmediatabsearch.com Browser Hijacker

The steps listed below will help you to remove Smartmediatabsearch.com hijacker completely from affected Chrome, Firefox, Explorer, and Safari browsers. In the guide that follows, you will also find how to remove this nasty program from your Windows system. There are two removal approaches – manual and automatic. In case that after the manual removal you still experience redirects to Smartmediatabsearch.com, you need to scan the system for some leftovers. With the help of an advanced anti-malware tool, you can easily locate and eliminate all leftovers.

Note! Your computer system may be affected by Smartmediatabsearch.com or other threats.
Scan Your PC with SpyHunter
SpyHunter is a powerful malware removal tool designed to help users with in-depth system security analysis, detection and removal of threats such as Smartmediatabsearch.com.
Keep in mind, that SpyHunter’s scanner is only for malware detection. If SpyHunter detects malware on your PC, you will need to purchase SpyHunter’s malware removal tool to remove the malware threats. Read our SpyHunter 5 review. Click on the corresponding links to check SpyHunter’s EULA, Privacy Policy and Threat Assessment Criteria.

To remove Smartmediatabsearch.com follow these steps:

1. Uninstall malicious programs from Windows

OFFER

Manual Removal Usually Takes Time and You Risk Damaging Your Files If Not Careful!

We Recommend To Scan Your PC with SpyHunter

Keep in mind, that SpyHunter’s scanner is only for malware detection. If SpyHunter detects malware on your PC, you will need to purchase SpyHunter’s malware removal tool to remove the malware threats. Read our SpyHunter 5 review. Click on the corresponding links to check SpyHunter’s EULA, Privacy Policy and Threat Assessment Criteria

How to Uninstall malicious programs from Windows:

Here is a method in few easy steps that should be able to uninstall most programs. No matter if you are using Windows 10, 8, 7, Vista or XP, those steps will get the job done. Dragging the program or its folder to the recycle bin can be a very bad decision. If you do that, bits and pieces of the program are left behind, and that can lead to unstable work of your PC, errors with the file type associations and other unpleasant activities. The proper way to get a program off your computer is to Uninstall it. To do that:

Hold the Windows Logo Button and “R” on your keyboard. A Pop-up window will appear (fig.1).

In the field type in “appwiz.cpl” and press ENTER (fig.2).

This will open a window with all the programs installed on the PC.
Select the program that you want to remove, and press “Uninstall” (fig.3).

Follow the instructions above and you will successfully uninstall most programs.

2. Clean your Browser and Registry from Smartmediatabsearch.com

Remove Smartmediatabsearch.com by cleaning your Browser and Registry.

Remove an extension from Mozilla FirefoxRemove an extension from Google Chrome Remove an extension from Internet Explorer Remove an extension from Microsoft Edge Fix registry entries created by Smartmediatabsearch.com on your PC.

Start Mozilla Firefox. Open the menu window

Select the “Add-ons” icon from the menu.

Select the unwanted extension and click “Remove“

After the extension is removed, restart Mozilla Firefox by closing it from the red “X” button at the top right corner and start it again.

Start Google Chrome and open the drop menu

Move the cursor over “Tools” and then from the extended menu choose “Extensions“

From the opened “Extensions” menu locate the unwanted extension and click on its “Remove” button.

After the extension is removed, restart Google Chrome by closing it from the red “X” button at the top right corner and start it again.

Start Internet Explorer:

Click on the gear icon labeled ‘Tools’ to open the drop menu and select ‘Manage Add-ons’

In the ‘Manage Add-ons’ window.

Select the extension you want to remove and then click ‘Disable’. A pop-up window will appear to inform you that you are about to disable the selected extension, and some more add-ons might be disabled as well. Leave all the boxes checked, and click ‘Disable’.

After the unwanted extension has been removed, restart Internet Explorer by closing it from the red ‘X’ button located at the top right corner and start it again.

Start Edge

Open the drop menu by clicking on the icon at the top right corner.

From the drop menu select “Extensions”.

Choose the suspected malicious extension you want to remove and then click on the gear icon.

Remove the malicious extension by scrolling down and then clicking on Uninstall.

Some malicious scripts may modify the registry entries on your computer to change different settings. This is why cleaning your Windows Registry Database is recommended. Since the tutorial on how to do this is a bit long and tampering with registries could damage your computer if not done properly you should refer and follow our instructive article about fixing registry entries, especially if you are unexperienced in that area.

IMPORTANT!
Before starting the Automatic Removal below, please boot back into Normal mode, in case you are currently in Safe Mode.
This will enable you to install and use SpyHunter 5 successfully.

Use SpyHunter to scan for malware and unwanted programs

3. Scan for malware and unwanted programs with SpyHunter Anti-Malware Tool

Scan your PC and Remove Smartmediatabsearch.com with SpyHunter Anti-Malware Tool and back up your data

1. Install SpyHunter to scan for Smartmediatabsearch.com and remove them.2. Scan with SpyHunter, Detect and Remove Smartmediatabsearch.com. Back up your data to secure it from malware in the future.

Step 1: Click on the “Download” button to proceed to SpyHunter’s download page.

Download

Malware Removal Tool

It is recommended to run a scan before purchasing the full version of the software to make sure that the current version of the malware can be detected by SpyHunter. Click on the corresponding links to check SpyHunter’s EULA, Privacy Policy and Threat Assessment Criteria.

Step 2: Guide yourself by the download instructions provided for each browser.

Step 3: After you have installed SpyHunter, wait for it to update automatically.

Step 1: After the update process has finished, click on the ‘Malware/PC Scan’ tab. A new window will appear. Click on ‘Start Scan’.

Step 2: After SpyHunter has finished scanning your PC for any files of the associated threat and found them, you can try to get them removed automatically and permanently by clicking on the ‘Next’ button.

Step 3: If any threats have been removed, it is highly recommended to restart your PC.

Back up your data to secure it against attacks in the future

IMPORTANT! Before reading the Windows backup instructions, we highly recommend to back up your data with a cloud backup solution and insure your files against any type of loss, even from the most severe threats. We recommend you to read more about it and to download SOS Online Backup .

SOS Online Backup

Gergana Ivanova

Gergana has completed a bachelor degree in Marketing from the University of National and World Economy. She has been with the STF team for three years, researching malware and reporting on the latest infections. She believes that in times of constantly evolving dependency of network connected technologies, people should spread the word not the war.

More Posts

Follow Me:

Gergana Ivanova

Gergana has completed a bachelor degree in Marketing from the University of National and World Economy. She has been with the STF team for three years, researching malware and reporting on the latest infections. She believes that in times of constantly evolving dependency of network connected technologies, people should spread the word not the war.

More Posts

Follow Me:

Gergana Ivanova

Gergana has completed a bachelor degree in Marketing from the University of National and World Economy. She has been with the STF team for three years, researching malware and reporting on the latest infections. She believes that in times of constantly evolving dependency of network connected technologies, people should spread the word not the war.

More Posts

Follow Me:

Gergana Ivanova

Gergana has completed a bachelor degree in Marketing from the University of National and World Economy. She has been with the STF team for three years, researching malware and reporting on the latest infections. She believes that in times of constantly evolving dependency of network connected technologies, people should spread the word not the war.

More Posts

Follow Me: