Google Removes 2 Chrome Extensions That Deliver Spam

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Image: Mark Lennihan/Associated Press

By Todd Wasserman2014-01-20 12:47:07 UTC

Google has removed two Chrome extensions that users complained were serving up ads, violating the company's terms of service.

The move, reported in The Wall Street Journal and Ars Technica over the weekend, involved the extensions "Add to Feedly" and "Tweet This Page." Users complained that the two prompted ads to appear on any website visited, including Google's famously spare home page.

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The extensions had a small audience — around 100,000 people, combined — but caused an uproar over the weekend. Google, noting that Add to Feedly and Tweet This Page violated the company's terms of service, has pulled the extensions. Google updated its terms of service in December to require such extensions to have a "single-purpose goal."

The reports speculated that creators of such extensions are besieged by offers from makers of adware — a type of malware that delivers ads — to include such code for a fee.

Image: AFP/Getty Images

Topics: Advertising, Business, google chrome, spam