Remove Traffic Junky (Tutorial)

Traffic Junky is a legitimate advertisement service that might be abused by adware apps

Traffic Junky ads

Ads by Traffic Junky is an online marketing platform that, according to its creators, “helps advertisers and publishers to achieve their marketing goals.” However, website authors who did try using this service were highly disappointed, as promised traffic did not meet the expectations.

Additionally, users mentioned that their websites were plagued with malicious advertisement banners that lead to truly insecure domains. Regular internet users complained about intrusive ads by TrafficJunky on Google Chrome, Internet Explorer, Mozilla Firefox, Safari, and other browsers. While some of them might direct users to harmless sites, others might show inappropriate, X-rated content or expose visitors to scams, resulting in monetary losses, installation of malware/potentially unwanted programs, or personal information disclosure to cybercriminals.

The annoying redirects are typically initiated by adware^[1] – a potentially unwanted program that disturbs users' web time by displaying pop-ups, banners, coupons, pop-unders, video, and audio ads, etc. Because of such invasive behavior, users even refer to it as “Traffic Junky virus.”

Summary
Name	Ads by traffic junky
Type	Adware, advertising network
Distribution	Software bundling, suspicious websites
Browsers	Google Chrome, Internet Explorer, Mozilla Firefox, Safari, Opera, etc.
Symptoms	Advertisement banners, pop-ups, pop-unders and other intrusive ads disturb browsing activities
Main dangers	Malware infection, sensitive data leak
Removal	Use our ads by traffic junky elimination guide below or opt for automatic PUP elimination using security software
Optimization	To make sure all the changes made by adware are reverted, use Fortect Intego as a PC repair tool

Potentially unwanted programs often infiltrate users' machines when they are prompted to click questionable links or via software bundling. The latter is most prominent, and users are still unaware of this deceptive marketing technique used by adware developers. To avoid adware infection, make sure you check the installation process of free software thoroughly.

Ads mostly appear as banners and are especially prevalent on X-rated sites such as PornHub (pop-ups, pop-unders, in-text links, full-page ads, etc., may also sometimes show up). If you are not willing to expose your computer to suspicious or even unsafe websites, you should avoid clicking on any “Ads by Traffic Junky” prompts. Considering many people are using their phones, accidental taps might be possible due to the shifting/loading page, however.

While the related ads might be simply embedded within websites, persistent ad activity on all visited websites might easily hint at adware or malware infection. Users reported that the service delivers malicious ads to websites, which might infect visitors' PCs with malware. Website developers were appalled by the fact that such activity is propagated and did not want to be associated with delivery systems like that.^[2]

Additionally, security experts^[3] warn that adware might be involved in excessive information gathering. The PUP might collect the following data:

IP address
Geolocation
Websites visited
Links clicked
Bookmarks
Cookies, etc.

To gather this info, advertisers typically employ tracking technologies like JavaScript and beacons. Therefore, if you value your privacy, remove ads from your machine by eliminating adware associated with it. Because potentially unwanted applications might change various browser and system settings, we recommend scanning your computer with Fortect Intego.

Traffic Junky adware

Note: if you are seeing ads everywhere and are suddenly redirected to suspicious sites, it might be that something more sinister is going on in the background. We strongly recommend performing a full system scan with SpyHunter Combo Cleaner or Malwarebytes Malwarebytes anti-virus software to ensure that malicious programs are running in the background without your permission.

Ways to avoid the infiltration of suspicious applications

Since potentially unwanted apps are used only for monetization purposes, it's not surprising that the authors employ suspicious methods to infiltrate computers without being noticed. The adware responsible for displaying suspicious advertisements may land on your computer right after installing another freeware. As we already mentioned above, such a distribution method is called software bundling and is a primary delivery method of suspicious programs.

When third-party apps, such as various browser add-ons, plug-ins, toolbars, and extensions spread bundled with freeware and shareware, they need the user's authorization to be installed. Therefore, if a potentially unwanted program infiltrated your machine, it's clear that you have installed a freeware app incorrectly.

Keep in mind that the internet is full of bundled software, so you need to be alert at all times. Thus, read some reviews about the app you are planning to install, and then make sure that you select the Advanced or Custom installation option (instead of Quick or Recommended) and carefully monitor the entire installation process.

Finally, you have to remove tick marks next to optional installs, such as toolbars, add-ons, system optimization tools, media players, and similar. Software bundling rarely offers useful apps as PUP authors often want to cash-in quickly without spending many investments into a proper advertisement. By the way, avoid downloading third-party installers, such as Softonic, InstallRex, Soft32, Cnet, and so on because they frequently promote potentially unwanted programs.

You can remove intrusive ads either manually or automatically

If you seek to remove ads by Traffic Junky, you either run a full system scan with a reputable anti-spyware software or follow the manual removal guide. Beware that manual elimination requires a lot of attention to detail and some basic computer knowledge. Additionally, this method will not protect you from PUP infiltration in the future.

Traffic Junky ads redirects

For quick removal, we suggest using anti-virus software. This method is also very easy to execute, and even less computer-savvy individuals can use it. All they have to do is download a security application and then follow on-screen instructions to perform a full system scan.

Keep in mind that some ads might be simply embedded within the website that you visit, and the only way to get rid of them is to either leave the page or employ an ad-blocking extension. While the latter is a great choice, some websites do not allow visits when such tools are enabled, so some website components might be completely broken upon entry. Besides, it also prevents content creators from monetizing their content. On the other hand, ad-blockers are great tools to avoid overly-intrusive and malicious ads that can be encountered virtually anywhere.

Uninstall from Windows

Uninstall from Windows 10/8:

Type Control Panel into the Windows search box and open the result.
Under Programs, select Uninstall a program.

Uninstall from Windows 7/XP:

Click on Windows Start > Control Panel (Windows XP users should click on Add/Remove Programs).
In Control Panel, select Programs > Uninstall a program.

Remove the unwanted program:

In the Programs and Features window, look for any recently installed suspicious entries, select them, and click Uninstall.
If User Account Control appears, click Yes to confirm, then complete the removal.

Remove from Microsoft Edge

Delete unwanted extensions from MS Edge:

Select Menu (three horizontal dots at the top-right of the browser window) and pick Extensions.
From the list, pick the extension and click on the Gear icon.
Click Remove.

Clear cookies and other browser data:

Click on the Menu (three horizontal dots at the top-right of the browser window) and select Settings > Privacy, search, and services..
Under Clear browsing data, pick Choose what to clear.
Select Cookies and other site data and Cached images and files. (apart from passwords, although you might want to include Media licenses as well, if applicable) and click on Clear.

Restore new tab and homepage settings:

Click the menu icon and choose Settings.
Then find On startup section.
Click Remove next to any suspicious startup page.

Reset MS Edge if the above steps did not work:

Press on Ctrl + Shift + Esc to open Task Manager.
Click on More details arrow at the bottom of the window.
Select Details tab.
Now scroll down and locate every entry with Microsoft Edge name in it. Right-click on each of them and select End Task to stop MS Edge from running.

Instructions for Chromium-based Edge

Delete extensions from MS Edge (Chromium):

Open Edge and click select Settings > Extensions.
Delete unwanted extensions by clicking Remove.

Clear cache and site data:

Click on Menu and go to Settings.
Select Privacy, search and services.
Under Clear browsing data, pick Choose what to clear.
Under Time range, pick All time.
Select Clear now.

Reset Chromium-based MS Edge:

Click on Menu and select Settings.
On the left side, pick Reset settings.
Select Restore settings to their default values.
Confirm with Reset.
This will disable extensions and reset startup pages but will not delete bookmarks, saved passwords, or browsing history.

Remove from Mozilla Firefox (FF)

Remove dangerous extensions:

Open Mozilla Firefox browser and click on the Menu (three horizontal lines at the top-right of the window).
Select Add-ons.
In here, select the unwanted extension and click Remove.

Reset the homepage:

Click three horizontal lines at the top right corner to open the menu.
Choose Settings.
Under Home, set your preferred homepage and new tab settings.

Clear cookies and site data:

Click Menu and pick Settings.
Go to Privacy & Security section.
Scroll down to locate Cookies and Site Data.
Click on Clear Data...
Select Cookies and Site Data and Temporary cached files and pages, then click Clear.

Reset Mozilla Firefox

If clearing the browser as explained above did not help, reset Mozilla Firefox:

Open Mozilla Firefox browser and click the Menu.
Go to Help and then choose Troubleshooting Information.
Under Give Firefox a tune up section, click on Refresh Firefox...
Once the pop-up shows up, confirm the action by pressing on Refresh Firefox.

Remove from Google Chrome

Delete malicious extensions from Google Chrome:

Open Google Chrome, click on the Menu (three vertical dots at the top-right corner) and select More tools > Extensions.
In the newly opened window, you will see all the installed extensions. Uninstall all suspicious extensions related to the unwanted program by clicking Remove.

Clear cache and web data from Chrome:

Click on Menu and pick Settings.
Under Privacy and security, select Clear browsing data.
Select Browsing history, Cookies and other site data, as well as Cached images and files.
Click Clear data.

Change your homepage:

Click menu and choose Settings.
Look for a suspicious site in the On startup section.
Click on Open a specific or set of pages and click on three dots to find the Remove option.

Reset Google Chrome:

If the previous methods did not help you, reset Google Chrome to eliminate all the unwanted components:

Click on Menu and select Settings.
In the Settings, scroll down and click Advanced.
Scroll down and locate Reset and clean up section.
Now click Restore settings to their original defaults.
Confirm with Reset settings.

Delete from Safari

Remove dangerous extensions:

Open Safari, click Safari in the menu at the top-left of the screen, and select Preferences.
Go to the Extensions tab, look for any suspicious entries, and click Uninstall to remove them.

Clear history and website data:

Click Safari in the menu and pick Clear History.
Set Clear to all history and confirm with Clear History.

Reset Safari:

Click Safari in the menu and select Preferences > Advanced.
Enable Show Develop menu in menu bar.
From the menu bar, click Develop and select Empty Caches.

How to remove Traffic Junky

Traffic Junky is a legitimate advertisement service that might be abused by adware apps

Ways to avoid the infiltration of suspicious applications