Yahoo Selling #1-#2 Positions in Search Results

[wallsatlarge]

I'm curious if anyone else has seen a mysterious flash on a search results page of Yahoo recently (6/18+)? I have many #1 ranked terms on Yahoo and now i've noticed when i bring them up it displays mine as #1 and then in a flash (javascript based it appears) up to two more #1 ranked are placed in above mine.

In addition, the url for them is not through the (http://rds.yahoo.com/.....) but instead through a crtstats.com. But, if i hit refresh they disappear sometimes so about 50% mine is the #1 and the half i'm #2 or #3.

My question is this Yahoo selling the top spots on the actual results (not overture) or something else?

Thanks
WallsAtLarge

[Symbios]

I've not come across that, it may be that you have some scumware on your pc.

[wallsatlarge]

Ok i just defined newbie...thanks Symbios

[PatrickDeese]

I think you will find that you have accidentally installed some sort of spyware / adware into you computer.

You need install and run Spybot Search and Destroy.

google it.

[Symbios]

No worries and welcome to webmasterworld

[Tim]

Walls at large can you let me know what kind of spyware did this on your computer once you uninstall it. We are providing spyware detection on our toolbar for free which hopefully will remove this.
Tim

[Symbios]

Tim,

Will Yahoo also be working with companies like Spybot Search and Destroy, Adaware to get a current list of known offenders.

[JeremyL]

Wow, I could just imagine the type of money this spyware copmpany is pulling in for those highly competitive terms.

[wallsatlarge]

It was definatly Spyware and the Spybot Search & Destroy found the "DSO Exploit". It listed the Alexa toolbar, WebTrends live (which I use) and some cookies from some affiliate tracking systems. But the "DSO Exploit" appeared to be it.

Thanks all!

[cbpayne]

Patrick:

>google it.

What wrong with "Yahoo! it"? :-)

*******************************************

These kind of spyware have been a big problem for Google ... this is the first mention I have seen it hijacking Yahoo!

[dazzlindonna]

I had this same problem this week - spyware that hijacked both Google AND Yahoo results. NO spyware removal tools wer able to get rid of it. In case any of you have this problem, I've outlined the problem and solution below:

Problem: Both Google and Yahoo search results would appear as normal, and then *flash* with a new #1 result. This new #1 result would always point to somedomain.ctrstats.com followed by a bunch of characters in the url (you have to right-click the url, copy/paste it into address bar to see it). The status bar usually showed an ebay address, which was bogus.

Solution: A file called cmcfg32.exe residing in winnt\system32 folder needed to be deleted. (Download and install Hijack This before doing anything). Then, reboot into safemode and have Hijack This 'fix' the line that mentions cmcfg32.ext. Finally, WITHOUT rebooting, delete the cmcfg32.exe file from your hard drive. Then reboot into normal mode.

That's what worked for me. Hope it helps you.

[JonR28]

I know what it is! Easy to fix without those steps! The company responsible for this contacted me to "purchase" keywords to trigger those ads. The spyware comes from www.selectinternetservices.com. There is a small yellow UNINSTALL button on that webpage which will remove the crap from your computer. Hope this helps everyone. Gatta love how they call it an "Upgrade."

This spyware effects not only yahoo and google, but Fast, MSN, Ebay, Altavista, AOL, and Inktome.

I think that Select Internet Services should get sued for hijacking pages like this. They charge $395 for one keyword for one year. They claim to have a 16 Million computer user base and expect to grow to 20 million in a month. They claim the software gets installed when you download programs like Kazaa.

[Chndru]

yeah.. upgrade my a$$.

[JonR28]

well... its an upgrade for them :), downgrade for the rest of us.