Renew Search Adware

Renew Search is the name of a browser extension that promises to do one thing but does something very different.

Renew Search promises users to provide extra search results in case the original search results are not satisfactory. Why one would choose to trust a random browser extension for search results over the big, well-established search engines is a bit of a mystery, but even if we assume a user is searching for this functionality, what they would get out of Renew Search is quite different.

In reality, the extension behaves like ad-supported software, displaying ads inside the user's browser and generating revenue for the extension's makers in the process. The issue here is twofold - you are not only getting intrusive ads while you browse, but those ads may also be potentially dangerous.

A lot of similar adware operates by serving ads from rogue ad networks. This means those ads may lead to misleading sites, malicious pages and questionable content.

Finally, extensions such as Renew Search often track user activity and store data concerning search queries and browsing history - another layer of undesirable behavior.