Search.couponsimplified.com

You may be given the impression that Search.couponsimplified.com is a reliable and safe search engine, but nothing could be further from the truth as we have classified this search engine as a browser hijacker. We classified it as such because of the way its developers distribute it. Hence, it is installed secretly and replaces your browser’s homepage address without your knowledge or approval. Therefore, you should consider removing it from your computer as soon as you can. In this article, we go into more detail about Search.couponsimplified.com, so if you have it on your browser, we recommend that you read this article.

Search.couponsimplified.com was created by the same developers as Search.searchlypackage.com, Search.searchcounn.com, Search.dm-cmf.com, and many others. Officially, all of these “search engines” were developed by Polarity Technologies Ltd., a company whose name does not exist outside the confines of the end-user agreements of those browser hijackers. Still, it is all about presentation and details such as the company name might come in handy when trying to convince users that it is a legitimate search engine and not some scam page. Nevertheless, with all those past browser hijacker releases there is no denying that Polarity Technologies’ search engines are malicious.

Search.couponsimplified.com and all of its clones are known to be bundled with questionable and outright malicious bundled software installer. Such installers can be found on numerous shady free software hosting sites that bundle freeware with adware, browser hijackers, and potentially unwanted programs. Those sites make money of bundling those programs, and the installers are often configured to deceive users and hide additional software so that users would install it accidentally. Therefore, that is how this browser hijacker could get onto your browser. We have yet to find a working sample that directly and secretly injects this hijacker into a browser, but we are almost certain that there is such an installer.

In any case, if Search.couponsimplified.com replaces your browser’s homepage, then you are free to replace it. However, we want to point out that some users might not notice the change or ignore it altogether. While you can use Search.couponsimplified.com as a regular search engine, it must be said that it redirects all searches through Yahoo because it does not have its own search algorithm. However, regardless of the fact that it relies on Yahoo for search results, this hijacker can customize the search results and include promotional links that look like regular links. The problem is that those links that redirect you to malicious websites that can infect your PC with all kinds of malware that may include adware, ransomware, fake anti-virus applications, ransomware, and so on.

In regards to personalized advertising it must be said that, like its clones, this particular browser hijacker was configured to collect some information about you. It gathers anonymous information that it can acquire legally using browser cookies. In short, it collects information that includes but is not limited to your IP address, Internet Service Provider domain name, browsing history, and entered search terms. All of this information is used to customize and personalize the advertising campaign to generate more click and advertising revenue.

There is no denying that Search.couponsimplified.com is malicious. The way in which it is distributed cannot be called anything other than malicious because it involves replacing your browser’s homepage address without your knowledge or approval. Its search results can feature links to unreliable websites, and it collects information about you to subject you to as much of its promoted links as possible because Search.couponsimplified.com is part of a large web monetization campaign and its main objective is to produce revenue. However, because its promoted links come from unknown sources, you should remove it from your PC.

Search.couponsimplified.com removal guide

Microsoft Internet Explorer

1. Hold down Windows+R keys.
2. Enter regedit in the dialog box and click OK.
3. In the Registry Editor, navigate to HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Internet Explorer\Main
4. Locate Start Page on the right side of the window and right-click it.
5. Select Modify and replace http://search.couponsimplified.com with another URL.
6. Click OK.
7. Exit the Registry Editor.

Google Chrome

1. Hold down Windows+E keys.
2. Enter C:\Users\{User name}\AppData\Local\Google\Chrome\User Data\Default in the address line and hit Enter.
3. Find Preferences, Secure Preferences and Web Data files.
4. Right-click and delete them.
5. Empty the Recycle Bin.

Mozilla Firefox

1. Hold down Windows+E keys.
2. Go to C:\Users\{User name}\AppData\Roaming\Mozilla\Firefox\Profiles\{Unique Mozilla user ID} in the address box.
3. Open prefs.js with Notepad.
4. Replace http://search.couponsimplified.com in user_pref("browser.startup.homepage", " http://search.couponsimplified.com");
5. Save and Close.