How to remove Ecosia.org virus

Ecosia.org – a search engine that uses ad-tracking and pay-per-click revenue for planting trees

Ecosia is a search engine and a browser plugin developed by a German-based firm and was first introduced in 2009. The idea of the application is to monetize people's searches and serve them ads based on their web browsing habits, and then use most of the profits to plant trees around the world.

While the idea seems extremely noble, this app is also added to potentially unwanted application category, as it sometimes comes without the user's permission and keeps on persistent even when the user sets the homepage and search engine back to default. Although this browsing tool is a browser searching tool run by the Bing search engine, some users claim it is better than the initial Bing search engine.

Some people even claim to prefer this engine over any other web searching tool. There are plenty of tools on the world wide web that claims to be extremely useful in one way or another just to gain revenue from the information tracking, redirects to affiliated sites, and intrusive ads displayed on most domains that users visit.

In any case, planting trees while searching the web might seem like an attractive idea. If you run ad-block or any other tool that keeps commercial content off, there is no reason to use the particular search engine since ad revenue is not generated and your web searchers are not that valuable. This monetization can be explained in simpler words: it takes around 45 searches to generate the needed amount of 22 euro cents per tree.

This is the math that Ecosia developers claim to base their counting. If you don't want to trust web search engine developers themselves, you can trust user reviews that encourage others to make the switch from any other search engine to this one.^[1]

Users might find their web browser settings changed to Ecosia.com after they install free applications from third-party sites because of the intrusive PUP feature – software bundling – a marketing scheme used to trick users into installing potentially unwanted apps.

Developers present this program as a free search tool that generates advertising-based revenue for planting trees. According to the official information, they have already planted more than 70 million trees with the help of millions of active users in Indonesia,^[2] Madagascar, Nicaragua, Peru, Burkina Faso, and Tanzania.

Despite the ambitious and generous goal to plant a billion trees by 2020, Ecosia.org is considered a potentially unwanted application by some users due to its relation to a questionable and unreliable Bing search engine and amounts of intrusive advertisements.

However, without commercial content, third-party commercial material creators and advertisers, ad-tracking functions Ecosia couldn't plant those trees and perform other beneficial environment changes. It is possible to claim that advertisements are creating privacy issues, but developers state the possibility to turn off any tracking and claim that personally identifying information that gets collected is stored for a week or so.

Some people say “It's 1000000 times better than Google though” due to this reason. However, without personalized ads and commercial content, in general, there is no revenue that can be used for a good cause. Searches about this engine still are split because proud users encourage others to go for Ecosia and others question the usefulness and those suspicious and intrusive ads. However, wiki claims that this application is:^[3]

an Internet search engine based in Berlin, Germany, that plants trees by donating 80% or more of its surplus income to non-profit organizations that focus on reforestation and conservationism.

Unfortunately, there are many different types of this app's reviews on the Internet. Some users are doubtful if this engine is safe to use, and others argue if this search engine is better for the environment than Google.^[4] Even though this search engine appears not to be malware we can not close our eyes to the fact that it can be called a questionable application due to the web browser settings modification, as well as possibly dubious infiltration techniques.

First of all, we noticed that this is very popular on Chrome, so it has also earned the name Ecosia.org Chrome. When the application gets installed in the web browser it gets itself as the default search engine, homepage, and new tab URL sections, then it starts displaying sponsored content through search results and additional pop-ups or banners as layers.

Another problem with this extension might be data tracking. This means that the search engine can also be used for tracking users' searches, visited sites, IP addresses, and similar browsing-related information. Collected data helps in setting the behavioral marketing^[5] strategy and the only way to prevent it is to perform a removal from the computer and web browser apps. This may be the reason why many users are concerned about the legitimacy of the browser tool.

This browser extension might also deliver intrusive, aggressive, and in some cases, even dangerous commercial content, and people think that the app is malicious due to those scamming deals that try to swindle money or personal information. Also, they might accidentally redirect you to infectious pages, but this is related to third-party advertisers, not the app developers directly.

To protect yourself from unwanted or possibly intrusive redirects caused after clicking on such ads, you should scan the machine with a proper tool and eliminate those threats. You may need to additionally check for affected or damaged files: it can be done with the help of FortectIntego that is based on Windows file repair functions.

You should consider the good cause of the engine and when the ad-tracking functions are too intrusive remove Ecosia from your computer. Sometimes it can be more difficult because any files or programs left over cause the renewal of this application. This doesn't mean that PUA is malicious!

Additional problems caused by this search engine

One of the main questions users might be asking is whether or not Ecosia actually does what it claims – plants trees for the acquired revenue. While it does openly display its financial reports, it is not a public company, so no verification for this information exists.

No matter that Ecosia claims that it is powered by Bing search, the Privacy Policy of this search site notifies that it might alter search results. Thus, at the top of the search results, you might find plenty of commercial content. As a result, finding useful information might be complicated.

When advertising content causes you frustration it’s better to uninstall this browser extension and donate the money directly to organizations that solve various environmental problems. Be aware that there are plenty of organizations that claim good deeds but in reality only care about benefits, claiming something entirely different. Choose wisely.

While the answer to the question “Is Ecosia a virus” is a no, its legitimacy can still be doubted. 

The questionable infiltration method of the unwanted program

No matter that this search engine has an official website, its developers have also been applying a controversial distribution strategy, called “software bundles” or simply “bundling”.^[6] This software marketing method allows adding PUP as an additional component to software packages.

Also, some of the other PUP developers can use these claims and distribute their own malicious products.Many programs that can be freely downloaded from P2P networks, file-sharing sites, torrents, and other insecure sources are bundles that include various PUPs. This virus exactly like that.

If you have noticed it on your computer, you must have downloaded some freeware or shareware under Quick/Recommended settings. The problem with such a setup is that it rarely informs about third-party applications included in a software package. However, by installing programs under these settings, users give indirect permission to download the whole bundle.

Meanwhile, the Advanced/Custom installation wizard reveals what additional apps were added in the package and allows stopping their installation. In order to avoid undesired programs, you have to always opt for this setup and carefully follow each of the steps.

Getting rid of Ecosia application

Technically, the article's culprit is not a virus it is a legitimate browsing tool. It’s a potentially unwanted program at the most. However, due to negative features and the ability to show up on the browser unexpectedly, this PUP was named a virus. No matter that it cannot cause huge damage to the computer, you should not keep this hijacker installed on your computer.

To remove Ecosia, you have either manual or automatic removal options. You should select one of them as soon as it makes an appearance on your system because it can cause additional problems. Besides, our team has prepared illustrated removal instructions. Follow them carefully and make sure that you delete all hijacker-related entries.

If manual removal seems complicated, you should opt for the second option. The automatic elimination method offers to delete the hijacker with an anti-malware program.

Visual representation of Ecosia removal

Although it is a tool that people use willingly, this app might be bundled with freeware and shareware, which means that users might not always notice when the potentially unwanted program sneaks into machines. Besides, its claims of planting trees constantly cannot be verified – it might be just another program that seeks to gain revenue by users clicking on various sponsored links.

If you decided that Ecosia search engine is not for you and would like to keep browsing the web by using reputable sources like Google.com or Bing.com, you should uninstall the program. In this video, we show which steps need to be taken in order to delete the app from all browsers and go back to the original search engine and homepage.