Getty Images
A browser toolbar is a browser extension on which on-screen buttons, icons, menus or other input or output elements are placed. All major web browsers support toolbar development in order to extend the browser’s GUI and functionality. Alas not all of the toolbars as well as their functions are equally welcomed.
Will anyone guess what names of the annoying toolbars are after I present with their irritatingly great features?
It’s not a secret that most of toolbars try to get users under the flag of “Free”. The toolbars I talk about recruit their consumers very aggressively by distributing the product with spam ads, unrelated software that provides coupon deals, various Codecs or similar programs.
Once the extension is installed and you perform a search, you will see a first “benefit” of having this new toolbar. Your search results will be redirected to the toolbar’s page. Note, your search provider will be changed without your consent. So what, you might say. Not everyone knows that your search results are mixed and you never know which of them are the ones you looked for and which are displayed only because someone paid for their advertisement.
One more annoying feature is an unpleasant surprise when you open your bookmark list, especially if you organized it according to your needs and likes before. It will be reorganized for you by adding new WebPages which you had no intention of visiting.
It’s not only your search page that is being hijacked by these toolbars. Your home page will be changed as well. As if this weren’t enough, your work will be constantly interrupted by pop-up ads. If you have a low computer memory, you will see a noticeable slow down in all of your computer processes.
It’s not only your search page that is being hijacked by these toolbars. Your home page will be changed as well. As if this weren’t enough, your work will be constantly interrupted by pop-up ads. If you have a low computer memory, you will see a noticeable slow down in all of your computer processes.
Have you already guess what the top 5 most annoying toolbars are? If not, here is a list:
- Incredibar. It comes from company that has a long history of installing itself on ones PC. It has not stopped doing so even now, by distributing their toolbar bundled with various shareware.
- Babylon toolbar. Why one would need translation software when installing a codec or some sort of video player anyway? And it is particularly nasty to remove, as the uninstaller will not change all the settings back. To remove this one, you might need to run antimalware program or perform setting repair like in this Babylon toolbar removal guide.
- FunMoods. Although FunMoods looks fun, it will show more advertisements and blend paid and free search results.
- Searchqu. This toolbar is made by ASK.com, and comes bundled with other software as well. One will scratch their heads thinking how this particular software landed into ones PC.
- Coupon toolbars. There are plenty of these too many to list. Each one is installed with different “free” software and tries to sell something.
If I haven‘t convinced you into avoiding them yet, I will give one more reason. Such toolbars, classified as hijackers, not only interrupt your daily work with computer but may also gather information about your activities on the Net and provide it to the marketing companies. So if you are concerned with your privacy rights, this should be one more point to consider. If you have your own thoughts, share it in comments.