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Now This is Just Wrong! Posted by Patrik @ 23:03 GMT

Searching for good things with bad results is something that now happens on a regular basis, like the example we blogged about the other day. But now it's personal - searching for "f-secure" leads to rogue products. This time it's not via SEO (Search Engine Optimization) but through malicious Google ads. As you can see in the screenshot below there's an ad pointing to update-xp.com. You have to click on search twice for it to come up and it doesn't seem to happen every time.

google_fssearch_1.jpg

Let's check it out. It leads to a page talking about Fix F-Secure Problems.

google_fssearch_2.jpg

Let's download and install this fix tool on a clean XP SP3 machine and see what it is.

google_fssearch_3.jpg

Amazing! 1303 total problems found whereof 1277 couldn't be removed in the unregistered version. Let's try to register.

google_fssearch_4.jpg

Surprise! We have to pay $34.95 to register and remove all the "problems".

Last bit of irony, it claims that Windows is up-to-date but as you can see from the screenshot below 36 updates are actually missing.

google_fssearch_5.jpg

This has been reported to Google so hopefully it will be removed soon.

Updated to add: Google have now removed the malicious ad. Prompt action from them, we appreciate the assistance.