Blekko toolbar - how to eliminate browser redirects to blekko.com?
Blekko is a search engine that aims to be a spam free search results search provider. It's a community based search engine which tries to fight spam results in search engines, it has it's own crawler and human curation features. On it's own this website and it's search engine is not malicious and is not related to any type of malware or virus infections. However computer users complain that they get redirected to Blekko.com unwillingly. Such redirect problems are related to installation of blekko toolbar - this browser plug-in modifies computer user's Internet browsers settings and changes it's homepage and default search engine to blekko.com
If you feel that you haven't downloaded and installed this browser add-on by yourself, probably it came bundled with some free software that you have downloaded from the Internet (for example download.com offers to download this toolbar using their download client). On it's own blekko toolbar is not malicious, it has several quick launch buttons for social networks and weather forecast. To avoid unwilling installation of such browser extensions computer users should always pay close attention when downloading and installing free software from the Internet - it's a very common monetization strategy to bundle free software with additional Internet browser add-ons. As stated above redirects to blekko.com are not related to malware infections, it's a direct consequence of blekko toolbar installation.
Blekko is a legitimate search engine and it's safe to use it for your daily Internet searches, results seems to be legitimate - this website is not related to malware. However Blekko toolbar comes bundled with Anti-phishing Domain Advisor (a browser add-on by Panda labs) which is known to display unwanted ads and coupon offers. If you have installed blekko toolbar by yourself and you are aware of redirects to blekko.com you don't need to perform any removal steps shown in this article, however if you feel that you haven't installed this toolbar and you feel annoyed by redirects to this website you can use this removal guide and eliminate such redirect issues.
Blekko redirect removal:
Windows 7 users:
Click "Start" ("Windows Logo" in the bottom left corner of your desktop), choose "Control Panel". Locate "Programs and Features". Look for "Blekko Search Bar, Anti-phishing Bar" select these entries and click Uninstall.
Windows XP users:
Click "Start", choose "Settings" and click "Control Panel". Locate and click "Add or Remove Programs". Look for "Blekko Search Bar, Anti-phishing Bar" select these entries and click Remove.
After uninstalling Blekko Toolbar scan your computer for any left unwanted components or possible malware infections. Recommended anti-spyware software.
Scan your computer for possible malware infections
Blekko toolbar removal from browsers:
Remove Blekko Toolbar from Internet Explorer:
Click "Tools" (or gear icon in Internet Explorer 9), select "Manage Add-ons". Look for Visicom Media Inc. related entries (Blekko Search Bar, Blekko Search Bar Toolbar, Blekko Search Bar Helper Object) and disable them. To change your homepage from blekko.com to your preferred: Click "Tools" (or the gear icon in Internet Explorer 9) select "Internet Options", in the opened window remove blekko.com and enter your preferred domain which will open every time you launch Internet Explorer.
Remove Blekko Toolbar from FireFox:
Click "Tools" (at the top of the window), select "Add-ons". Click on "Extensions" and disable "Blekko Search Bar" or "SpamFreeSearch". To reset your homepage click "Tools", then select "Options", in the opened window remove blekko.com and enter your preferred domain.
Remove Blekko from Google Chrome:
Click on a wrench or bars icon (top right of the screen), select "Tools" and click on "Extensions". Locate this entry: "Blekko Search Bar" select it and click on a trash can icon. To change your homepage from blekko.com to you preferred - click on the wrench (bars) icon, select "Settings". In "On startup" section click "set pages", hover your mouse over blekko.com and click the x symbol. Now you can add your preferred website as your homepage.
To change your homepage in Google Chrome: Click "Bars" icon (top right corner), select "Settings", in "On Startup section" click on "Set pages" (open a specific page or set of pages), remove blekko.com and enter your preferred.
To change your default search engine in Google Chrome: Click on the "Bars" icon (top right corner), select "Settings", in "Search" section click "Manage Search Engines...", remove Blekko and add or select your preferred.