Google is aiming to rid its Chrome Internet browser from ad injectors after it found that almost 200 ad injectors exposed millions of users of the browser to malicious software.
Over 5 percent of Google site users have one or more ad injectors installed, with half of those having two or more, and one-third having four or more.
"People don't like ad injectors for several reasons: not only are they intrusive, but people are often tricked into installing ad injectors in the first place, via deceptive advertising, or software 'bundles.' Ad injection can also be a security risk, as the recent 'Superfish' incident showed," said Google in a blog post.
Ad injectors were found on all operating systems and are essentially small programs that insert ads or even replace existing ads on websites that users visit. Google has reportedly received over 100,000 complaints related to ad injection since January 2015. That's more complaints than are received due to network errors, performance issues or any other problem.
Researchers also identified 34 percent of ad injectors as malware, with 192 Chrome extensions affecting 14 million users. These extensions have since been disabled by Google. Not only that, but Google will also release more information about ad injectors on Chrome on May 1.
Google went on to say in its report that ad injectors benefit very few people. In fact, advertisers and publishers don't even benefit from these programs.
"Advertisers often don't know their ads are being injected, which means they don't have any idea where their ads are running. Publishers, meanwhile, aren't being compensated for these ads, and more importantly, they unknowingly may be putting their visitors in harm's way, via spam or malware in the injected ads," continued the company.
Google has a number of ways to fight ad injectors. For example, in Chrome, developers of extensions must adhere to a set of guidelines, which includes a guideline saying that extensions must have a "narrow and easy-to-understand purpose."
The company also said that it does not ban ad injectors completely, saying that people who want to install the software are able to. Despite this, ad injectors that sneak ads into a Web browser will not be welcome on Chrome. Google will show users a warning if they are about to download software that might be deceptive.
The news comes shortly after it was found that an ad injector pre-installed on Lenovo's laptops contained a massive security flaw, allowing hackers to far more easily access a users computer.
