A study conducted by Google has found that more than 5% of Google visitors have an ad injector installed in their systems, which could pose security risks to the users.
According to a study conducted by the search giant along with University of California Berkeley, it was revealed that ad injectors were found in all operating systems and browsers including Chrome, Internet Explorer, and Firefox.
Researchers also found 192 deceptive Chrome extensions that affected nearly 14 million users, and determined that 34% ofChrome extension injecting ads were malware.
Google classified ad injectors as ‘unwanted software’ that could hurt users, advertisers, and publishers alike by replacing existing ads.
The company also mentioned that advertisers and publishers might not even know about their ads being injected, and the websites where it could be running, which ends up unknowingly harming their visitors.
Most users are reportedly tricked into installing ad injectors through deceptive advertising and software ‘bundles’.
Google said: "We don’t ban injectors altogether — if they want to, people can still choose to install injectors that clearly disclose what they do — but injectors that sneak ads into a user’s browser would certainly violate our policies."
