Do you know what WOW search is?
It is very probable that you might meet WOW search nowadays. Actually, you should know that it basically stands for wow.utop.it, which is even classified as a browser hijacker. Our specialists have found out that different kinds of browsers might be affected; however, the extension only works for Google Chrome at the time of writing. If you already have noticed it on your PC, you should not keep the browser hijacker that distributes WOW search on your system because you will not be allowed to set your preferred homepage and search engine unless you get rid of it first. As you have probably understood, browser hijacker might set your default homepage and search engine to wow.utop.it. You might expect to be exposed to other undesirable activities if you keep it on your PC as well. Thus, we believe that there is no point in risking.
If you have installed the extension for Google Chrome, which is called Tab Plus, it is very likely that you will be taken to wow.utop.it from it. The application itself is not harmful. It just offers to provide you with weather forecast, flip clock, search field, and the like. However, if you try to enter any keyword into this search box, you will notice that you are redirected to wow.utop.it. It is said that all these search results are powered by Bing, Google, and Yahoo!; however, you should still use it carefully because you will never know whether there are no sponsored links among all those results.
WOW search screenshot
Scroll down for full removal instructions
There is yet another reason why we do not recommend using WOW search. It has been found out that it is very probable that this browser hijacker collects a great deal of information regarding your activities on the web. It is rather suspicious to reveal such data as browsing history, the content that you access, and similar data. Besides, you should avoid other search engines based on the same domain, for instance, suchmaschine24.utop.it, pluginext.utop.it, and utorrent4chrome.utop.it. They all act the same as wow.utop.it; thus, we do not recommend keeping any of them on your system.
You can get rid of WOW search whenever you want to. As it is not a very easy process, you should follow the instructions provided below. You can also erase it automatically; however, you will have to acquire a reliable malware remover like SpyHunter. We believe that it is worth investing in it, especially if you cannot boast about your experience in malware removal.
How to erase WOW search
Internet Explorer
- Open your browser and tap Alt+T.
- Select Manage Add-ons.
- Click Toolbars and Extensions.
- Locate the unwanted extension and click Disable.
- Select Search providers from the menu on the left.
- Select a new search engine and click Set as default.
- Click on the undesirable search provider and then select Remove.
- Tap Alt+T again and then select the General tab.
- Enter your homepage URL and click OK.
Mozilla Firefox
- Launch your browser and then locate the search provider icon at the upper part.
- 2. Click on the icon and then go to Manage Search Engines…
- Select a search provider that you wish to erase.
- Click Remove.
- Tap Ctrl+Shift+A and then select Extensions.
- Locate the extension that needs to be erased and click on it.
- Select Remove/Disable.
- Tap Alt+T and click on the General tab.
- Type in your homepage URL near Home Page.
- Click OK.
Google Chrome
- Launch your browser and tap Alt+F to open the Chrome menu.
- Select Tools and then go to Extensions.
- Click on the extension and then click on the recycle bin icon.
- Select Remove.
- Click Settings (you will find them on the left).
- Mark Open a specific page or set of pages.
- Click Set pages.
- Add a new URL and click OK.
- Under Appearance, mark Show Home button and click Change.
- Change/Add URL and then click OK.
- In the Search section, click Manage search engines…
- Click on the new search provider and select Make default.
- Click on the unwanted search engine and Click X to erase it.
In non-techie terms:
You should not trust such search engines that enter your system without permission because you will never know what they are capable of. WOW search is not an exception; it has been found out that it might cause inconvenience. Besides, there is no guarantee that you will receive normal search results. Thus, we do not recommend keeping it on your PC.
Aliases: WOWsearch.