Do you know what PopStop is?
PopStop might be introduced to you as a beneficial extension that can automatically close pop-ups and redirect advertisements when you browse the web. Without a doubt, most people find online ads incredibly annoying, and they do not want to waste time with promotional content when watching videos on youtube.com, when scrolling down their social media feeds, or when shopping. That is why ad-blocking applications and extensions are extremely popular these days. Unfortunately, not all adblockers are equal, and while some can eliminate ads and make the browsing experience more peaceful, others can inject even more ads. We advise removing PopStop because it does not actually block ads and also because it reads browsing history and runs in a completely unpredictable manner. If you want to learn how to delete this PUP (potentially unwanted program), continue reading.
Our research team has tested PopStop in our internal lab, and we can assure you that this extension does not offer legitimate ad-blocking services. Ads continued to show up after the PUP was installed. Nonetheless, over 20,000 people had downloaded this extension onto their Google Chrome browsers from chrome.google.com/webstore/detail/popstop/dpnebmclcgcbggnhicpocghdhjmdgklf, which means that it was capable of duping them. The official website is popstop.safepage.website, but at the time of research, the link routed to Bing Search. It is possible that the site will become functional again in the future. While it is possible that many people have downloaded the PUP from the Chrome Web Store, which should be connected to the official website, we believe that third-party installers could be involved as well. If you have used unfamiliar installers, or if you do not remember installing the add-on, you must scan your system immediately to check if there are other threats that must be removed.
PopStop screenshot
Scroll down for full removal instructions
At the time of research, it was not possible to access a Privacy Policy, a Terms of Use agreement, and other legal statements that are important. Due to this, there are a lot of questions left unanswered when it comes to PopStop. The Chrome Web Store installer informs that the PUP can read browsing history, but it is not clear what kinds of data-tracking tools are employed, how the gathered information is handled, if other parties have access to that information, or if the PUP has other functions. Considering that it does not block ads, it is possible that the creator of the extension has hidden agenda, and we are worried that that could endanger the security of its users. Ultimately, the PUP is useless and also unpredictable, and these are the reasons we recommend deleting it from Google Chrome ASAP. Before you do that, we advise scanning the system because you do not want to overlook other threats.
The guide below explains how to delete PopStop and how to clear browsing data on Google Chrome just in case the PUP can employ intrusive cookies or permit third parties to plant their own cookies to spy on you. If other threats exist, you can use the search tool at the top to find the guides you need for manual removal, or you can install a trusted anti-malware tool that can automatically remove PopStop along with all other threats. If you are planning on replacing the PUP with a working adblocker, please make sure that you do research before installation so as not to expose yourself to new threats.
Remove PopStop from Google Chrome
- Open the browser and then tap Alt+F keys.
- In the menu that opens on the right, click More tools.
- Select Extensions to find all installed extensions.
- Click the Remove button next to the PUP.
- Launch the Clear browsing data menu by tapping Ctrl+Shift+Delete keys.
- Move to the Advanced tab and, first, select a time range.
- Mark the boxes you want and then click Clear data.
In non-techie terms:
Even though PopStop claims to block advertisements, it certainly cannot do that. Instead, it reads browsing history, and it is possible that it has other functions as well. That is hard to deny or confirm, given that the official website is unreachable, and there is no way to access legal information about the PUP. All in all, because the extension has been proven to be ineffective, we are sure that users will want to remove it even if they do not care about their virtual security. It should be possible to delete PopStop manually using the guide above, but if other threats exist, we recommend implementing an anti-malware program that could automatically remove the PUP and all other threats simultaneously.