Possible Spyware?

google.com redirects to google.com.org

[your_store]

Well, one of my Windows using partners seems to have contracted some sort of spyware or something. When you type in google.com into his browser, you are redirected to google.com.org.

I tried running AdAware, but it couldn't find anything. Does anyone have any ideas how I can correct this problem. Since I spend my time at a Mac, I'm at a loss. TIA

[werty]

Did you update the adaware?

If that does not work try getting spybot - search and destroy

http*//download.com.com/3000-2144-10194058.html?tag=lst-0-1

[your_store]

Yeah, we tried updating adaware but to no avail. I'm now off to see if the software you recommended can get him access to Google.

[roscoepico]

try the 4th listing:

Hijack This! [google.com]

I read about this same problem on another board and this fixed the problem.

good luck!

[your_store]

Bingo! Hijack This is exactly what I needed. Looks like someone had made about 100 entries in the hosts file for almost every search engine under the sun.

Thanks roscoe, now my partner can finally get back into Adwords.

[j_anstice]

I think that it's barely possible that this behaviour is intentional on Google's end. The whois information for "com.org" is MIA, but looking at www.com.org gives an Oingo frame, with images served from static.appliedsemantics.com, and as Oingo renamed itself to Applied Semantics and was bought by the big G, it's possible that Google is using this domain for some testing - we know that every so often G launches a quiet trial of a new feature or two. Quite what they'd be up to is another question though.

More likely it's part of a pre-Google Applied Semantics/(GoTo¦Overture)/Digimedia partnership which has not been cleaned up (see [webmasterworld.com ] from 2001), complete with spyware redirecter.