Google Search Ads Are Spreading Dangerous Viruses

In this video I discuss the recent wave of Google search ads serving people links to viruses pretending to be other programs like OBS VLC or CCleaner (Trojan horse malware) and how you can protect yourself from these kind of attacks.
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[@thenewaeon]

I work for a non-profit organization, and I have a few Google Ads running for them through Google's Ad Grants program. I've had the same ads basically on auto-pilot for literal years. Google recently suspended my Ads account, claiming I was trying to circumvent their policies to bait and switch people in order to infect their devices with malware. After an appeal, it took 2 weeks, but my account and ads were reactivated. Given the subject matter of this video, I found my recent experience to be highly ironic.

[@comicsans2516]

Policies that have the opposite effect of what's intended? That's never happened before and there's no way we could have seen this coming!

[@pranupranav6279]

So you work for religious conversion org?

[@xenn4985]

@@pranupranav6279 why dont you google (lmao) what a non-profit is

[@pranupranav6279]

@@xenn4985 man here the non profit orgs are involved in this.

[@EvilNeuro]

@@pranupranav6279 most non profits are that. Not for profit. For instance Creative Commons is non profit and they allow people to have a creative common license to use msuic and photos from the public domain.

[@steel5897]

Adblockers can often do more for the average user's security than anti malware at this point.

[@BSenta]

hahah yeah totally expected him to say use adblockers - the internet is not safe without them. You dont just gets ads on search engines...

[@lucasjames8281]

not relevant in this case, the ad link is embedded in the html page I'm pretty sure

[@lucasjames8281]

at least for Google search ads, but for othe page ads, yes adblocker would help !

[@Visleaf]

@@lucasjames8281 Just checked, Ublock Origin blocks the google search ads on firefox.

[@BSenta]

@@lucasjames8281 I never see google sponsored ads or their fake email ads in Gmail either ( ublock orgin )

[@JimboRustles]

I've been using Adblockers for probably over 15 years by now. Every time I'm on someone else's computer it's like a whole other world. A world that's somehow even more depressing.

[@Hackanhacker]

I CANT UNDERSTAND HOW PEOPLE JUST DONT GET OVER THEM THERE IS SO MUCH TIME LOST MAN WITH THOSE ADS ITS FUCKING SAD FOR PEOPLE DOIMG NOTHING TO REMOVED THEM OR WATCH TV I HAVE 0 ADVERT IN MY HOUSE AND WILL NEVER ITS LIKE YOUR ALL AGREEING WITH A BUNCH OF DOOR TO DOOR SELLER TO COME MULTIPLE TIME EACH DAY

[@ascode2films691]

I literally advise them to install an adblocker, intrusive like an ad

[@ME0WMERE]

yep. Adblockers are something you never notice, until you start using a computer without it.

[@vmaximo185]

agreed

[@Kittysuit]

@@Hackanhacker sir, your caps are on

[@danielwilson6323]

I work in advertising and Google has been trying to strong arm advertisers into moving into using “broad” matching to search terms over the last few years which basically means that Google will serve search ads to almost anything with the justification of “just trust us, we know more about the user than you do.” So I can almost guarantee Cambridge landscaping probably had a keyword like “buy trees in Massachusetts” and Google’s system thought “trees” would be the same

[@AnotherSkyTV]

Yep, thought the same thing (I freelance marketing services)

[@9y404]

To be fair, *assuming an ad has to be served*, what ad would be more relevant to someone searching trees?

[@zaptrap4802]

@@9y404 Yeah but if I were that company I wouldn't want to spend money just so some random person looking for photos of trees can have that extra text they don't care about appear on their screen

[@TheRealAdam23]

Yeah, Amazon has been the same. Almost feels like their system punishes you for using exact terms…

[@babybirdhome]

@@9y404Any brand of strike anywhere matches? Windproof lighters? DNA sequencing services? DUI lawyers?

[@JamesWilson01]

Golden rule for Google: If a result says Ad or Sponsored, scroll down ⬇️

[@Spacey.]

or just have an ad blocker that removes them completely

[@JamesWilson01]

@@Spacey. Try doing that on Android. I'm using Brave and a system-wide local VPN ad blocker and still see sponsored results sometimes. (Yes I know you can use Firefox with add-ons but Chromium based browsers are just better on Android imo.)

[@jmanners]

I'll take the slight Firefox performance hit if it means I don't see ads

[@JamesWilson01]

@@jmanners So would I. It's the weird rendering on some pages that I don't like. My setup blocks 99% of ads anyway, just not always the Google search ones.

[@Pixelest001]

Not gonna lie I purposely click some for companies I dislike but am forced to used for one reason or another. Knowing them that it probably costs then a couple dollars every time I do.

[@usernamemlgdoge]

Ever since I was a kid I thought ads were either viruses or scams and avoided clicking them. I don't think I ever clicked an ad intentionally in my life lmao

[@beardalaxy]

Same here. I wonder where that idea came from. Maybe it was taught in elementary school in the computer labs or something like that.

[@WaluigiisthekingASmith]

@Dimguru in the modern age, ads on certain "shady" websites tend to be basically malware

[@Bobo-ox7fj]

@@beardalaxy We innately understand that when somebody is trying to force something down our throats, it is probably not a good thing. Like ze boogs

[@blisphul8084]

@Dimguru Not just the old days. Ads are as shady as they've always been.

[@SQ8MXT]

i dont remember when i last saw an ad. glory to adblockers :)

[@xNTFXx]

This is why ad blockers are the only thing that saving consumers from the dangers of the internet and google wants to be the ones to take that from us.

[@cameron7374]

Or, you know... Just not clicking on ads.

[@xNTFXx]

@@cameron7374 What about intrusive popup ads or ads that block the entire screen, besides it's not about avoidance of clicking there are inexperienced people out there who can't tell what even an ad is so it's better that it's not there in the first place.

[@cameron7374]

@@xNTFXx I have yet to run into ones that cover the entire screen and if there's popup ads, I just close the website and would recommend that to others. For the latter point: Yes, adblock helps but so would education.

[@fivepainbbles]

@@cameron7374 I was trying to do pixel art on a website and there was an ad that covered A QUARTER of the screen. Ma’m I’m trying to draw

[@metademetra]

@Cameron That doesn't always help. As an example, I played a mobile game that came packaged with my current phone (Samsung Galaxy S21, so not shady). The ads were truly abysmal. I just exited out of the ads every single time...until I got to one that just automatically started downloading some sort of malware app without me clicking on ANYTHING. Something similar happened when I was a child viewing Deviant Art back in the day. There would be the ads up top of questionable integrity. I would get dozens and DOZENS of viruses. My computer crashed several times. Each time, my mom would accuse me of clicking on stuff. And each time, I had to swear up and down that I didn't click on ANYTHING. (which I didn't by the way.) Eventually it was determined that Deviant Art was not a safe site, and I wasn't allowed to be on there anymore. Sometimes just VIEWING a questionable ad can put your device in danger.

[@OriginalCatfish42]

I honestly didnt know this was a thing but I always ignored the ads on google searches anyway cause well.. they're ads. I absolutely love that some NFT influencer got their NFTs stolen, I don't even consider that a crime.

[@Eduardo_Espinoza]

Same, I did see a fake Microsoft ad, & just had to click it LOL!!!! Pop-up audio & everything. You can KZbin it too it's kinda old too

[@damian9303]

It’s been a thing for as long as I can remember, just no one cared to talk about it as much.

[@elvingearmasterirma7241]

It's also funny. Because NFT bros are insufferable.

[@MmntechCa]

KZbinr: Says "f--k" in a video Google: "Hey now, no cursing, that's not advertiser friendly." Their advertisers: ... [Gives your computer AIDS]

[@MateuLeGrillepain]

They give you aides (i.e. aiding hackers in stealing your data)

[@slsshr]

Last month i saw pp on half of the screen and yesterday some scene out od Corn where pp is covered by Google play giftcard. Yt ads are insane

[@Eduardo_Espinoza]

I've seen a fake Microsoft website trusty Google ad playing audio saying i had a virus, someone actually uploaded the same ad on KZbin very little traction

[@terbospeed]

Comment deleted, contained reference to A***

[@savedemperor8024]

@@terbospeed I think that i am on some youtube secret blacklist because i can't use many words even non vulgar ones unless i want my comments getting deleted within 30 seconds I know because i tested it many times And i definitely are on a blacklist because i saw people using the same words as i would want to and their comments never got deleted So probably if someone uses too often non political correct words then they are put on such list

[@friendlyindianscammer2887]

It really sucks how Google doesn't even care about the abuse of their advertisement system.

[@interstellarsurfer]

Never have, as long as the check clears.

[@namenlosNamenlos]

@@interstellarsurfer 💯💯💯💯💯💯💯

[@davidl.7383]

The amount of ads I’ve seen in the past few days disguised as “Next” buttons in an article or “Download” buttons is insane. F google ads, there is no reason these things should ever get put out.

[@vidal9747]

If the government doesn't make then accountable they will not care. Make then accountable for every fraud that happens in their adds. See how fast they create effective algorithms to avoid fraud.

[@trappercap]

technically, they did no evil

[@shrik3c394]

things can go much worse. One student in my university searched for hospital/doctors on baidu (chinese equivalent of google), went for the higher ranking result which is an ad, got scammed and died of not getting proper treatment.

[@ADreamingTraveler]

My rule of thumb when using google was always to never click on the ads because I knew something like this could always happen. Even SomeOrdinaryGamers almost downloaded that OBS malware and he's beyond careful with what he does

[@user-tj8yf3gv8h]

Mental Outlaw, please take down these viruses. My grandma wants her computer back.

[@ensuntermenschens9248]

Is your grandma open source?

[@sussynoob547]

Silly of her to have used "my grandson is the best" as her password, now i have her cookie recipes and I got all of her cookies now.

[@pepeshopping]

You better teach grandma, or fully disconnect her from the internet! Neeext!

[@delta_dav2674]

@Chad 007L + didn't ask + you're a bot

[@jedricbarlow3940]

@@ensuntermenschens9248 underrated comment.

[@Sypitz]

I love that big tech doesn’t care about this at all.

[@MentalOutlaw]

Why make things safe when you can make money!

[@hexisXz]

@@MentalOutlaw fax!!!

[@hexisXz]

@@MentalOutlaw lol

[@wartortlerulestheworld]

Big Tech needs to end I hope something happens...

[@vincei4252]

At the same time as declaring themselves to have some kind of societal moral high ground. "Big Tech" is scum of the earth.

[@josueramirez7247]

This issue reminds me of my early experiences with the internet. A family friend wouldn’t even use a search engine. Instead, he would think of keywords to string together as a URL to find websites 😂

[@davescomputercorner6015]

hahahahahahahahahahahaha

[@TheRealSwordSurvivor]

that's more dangerous

[@josueramirez7247]

@@TheRealSwordSurvivor yes. Also, I am pretty sure we would get redirected a lot to a different URL.

[@GustavoMsTrashCan]

To think that a couple days ago, one of my parents implied that "Google is todays dictionary". He is in for a treat. And before someone asks me to convince em to change their mindset -- I just can't. They are the "Nobody can change my mind!"-kind of parents.

[@RealCyberCrime]

its insane that google REFUSES to vet their ads

[@pluto8404]

google is a virus.

[@barsaf9989]

Cuz Google be the evilll

[@L3uX]

If I remember correctly, they do to a certain extent (major offenses). But the thought process behind it was, “well they’re paying for it, surely no one will use it for other purposes.”

[@namenlosNamenlos]

@@barsaf9989 💯

[@vidal9747]

There is not even a option to report adds

[@electronix6898]

And yet they wonder why so many of us use ad blockers

[@NubeBuster]

Ad block doesnt block the google result ads i think. I dont have a problem with that, but after this I'm starting to think

[@electronix6898]

@@NubeBuster Only reason I made this comment is I haven't even seen any Google result ads. Or maybe I'm just blind or something

[@NubeBuster]

@@electronix6898 could you google something on your pc and check. Like to buy clothes?

[@hellomine2849]

@@NubeBuster yes it does block result ads from any search engine i think. At least on brave and ublock origin

[@TheDeadfast]

@@NubeBuster Make sure you're using "uBlock Origin". The other ad blockers like "Adblock Plus" are in cahoots with ad companies.

[@bigrunts9768]

This is why identifying ads in websites and apps is extremely important.

[@pricklycats]

It happens on KZbin as well I get scam ads constantly. They're very obvious to me but I bet there's thousands of people who think they're real.

[@QVW]

I can't believe it's 2023 and Google, a multi-billion dollar company, can't prevent this from happening.

[@CoasterMan13Official]

They can, they just don't care.

[@pluto8404]

does this immediately impact their bottom line?

[@ThomasNoname]

"can't" lol. Of course they can, they just don't care.

[@wrongthinker843]

Oh, yes. I'm sure they'd never purposefully profit from something like this.

[@shaunpatrick8345]

They "can't" stop networks of people sharing albums of non-legal images on Google Photos either.

[@devnautica]

I just love how no one from Google though that Google Ads will be used to do harmful actions online.

[@ilikechineseteaespeciallyj7262]

They just don't care. I'm sure plenty of individual people brought up complaints, but the higher ups just didn't care.

[@PvtAnonymous]

oh they surely did and that resulted in the banning of bad no-no words on KZbin to stop the spread of wrongthink and butthurt zoomers.

[@hoze1235]

Men are women

[@zimbu_]

They know. Probably have media statements and maybe even a stricter advertiser vetting process prepared in case these things become a trending topic or US/EU legislators start talking about it. They also have a related problem where if you start googling diseases like stage 4 cancer or multiple sclerosis a bit too often, you will start getting ads for very expensive alternative treatments all the time. It's good money to look the other way though.

[@kevineleven5996]

Been that way since at least 2014, when my dad was scammed from the paid top result.

[@miuzoreyes6547]

This type of phishing has been happening on Old School Runescape for years - attackers would put up fake runelite sites as ads on Google, where victims would download the client and get hacked. That, and the amount of scams that happen in the game unironically make OSRS a really good way to learn how not to be social engineered, and a way to learn basic PC security (like in this case, differentiating ad from real site).

[@Adam-sw6nm]

I've seen twice when Google has promoted malicious links, when they were just top results, not even ads. Once was on a search topic that competes against Google.

[@danielyoung_]

Google is a famous malvertising company, that happens to run a search engine.

[@Eduardo_Espinoza]

I've even seen a fake Microsoft website Google ad, with pop-up audio , there's evidence of it on KZbin if you want to see it.

[@saucedealer]

it's so weird that in 2023 people still can't see the "Ad" tag on the links you're not supposed to click

[@TheGuyWhoIsSitting]

“I’m feeling lucky” 😂

[@ea_naseer]

font problems bro

[@mukki7075]

I recently fell for it and nearly deleted my gmail account. My phone adblocker failed and i saw the first time that there are ads in gmail displayed like emails. Took a moment until I realized that all these hot milfs in your area mails where actually ads and my email wasn't on a spamlist. Seems like if you disable personalized ads you get the same shady apps like on corn or shady websites

[@BBonsteel]

I'm willing to bet they purposely make the word "Ad" as small as legally possible.

[@olegmoki]

@@BBonsteel i'm sure they do lol

[@fluffskunk]

I work for a large, old news media company, and ads on our own sites pop up "Your computer infected with virus! Call Microsoft Windows at (fake phone number) immediatly!" for our own staff. There's no vetting and no responsibility in serving actively malicious ads.

[@Mojojojo9001]

This is why I literally NEVER click any link that says “ad” next to it

[@EnejJohhem]

You know something is wrong, when Google itself asks to use ADblocker

[@handleneeds3charactersormore]

It wasn't Google tho it was the FBI

[@snowdaysrule]

The closest I ever got to getting a computer virus was when I attempted to download MSI Afterburner. I ended up on one of the Google ad fake download sites and actually got as far as downloading the file but stopped myself from running it after my web browser alerted me that the "signature of the file does not match the one that that users typically run" and decided not to run it. Was a very close call!

[@senritsujumpsuit6021]

I used a pirated download once on my phone and it just did random pop ups an fake battery warnings until I killed the app XD

[@Capiosus]

I've been hacked but luckily there's nothing important on my machine

[@Spolt_main]

@Senritsu} {Jumpsuit even official apps from the playstore did that to my mom and grandmothers phone. I also at one point got some type of adware that was literally untraceable. I tried to find the app and there was literally nothing there. I manually looked through all of my apps for hours and nothing was out of the ordinary, but every once in a while I would open my phone and it would be on a website I've never been to.

[@whannabi]

I always thought that ad links were strange or some kind of virus because they looked different as a kid. Sounds stupid but I kept that tradition up to this day but now with adblockers I don't see much of them.

[@FrostBitttn]

Okay to be fair, for a long time downloading the legit MSI Afterburner felt like I was getting a virus anyways

[@BauwenDR]

Been getting a lot of those mr. Beast scam ads recently. I am amazed this is still going on after all this time...

[@ageekdude7722]

I feel that regular website ads also have similar issues. For example, if you’re on a website that has downloads and then there is an ad with a big download button, it can confuse people. An example of this happened to me when Lenovo tech support downloaded and almost ran a virus on my laptop when they were trying to get hwmonitor. Fortunately, I was paying attention and stopped the person from running the file (thank god). Google should definitely have some protections against these things. Glad I use brave…

[@fitmotheyap]

Even worse The actual download button has an ad on it before it actually allows you to download

[@pucktoad]

I would love to see legislation making advertisers like Google responsible for the content of their ads.

[@misterdeedeedee]

BUT MUH SEKSHUN TO TURDY!!!1!1!

[@erubianwarlord8208]

@@misterdeedeedee should not cover literal virus distribution

[@MysticMylesZ]

I will never tell my family to "just download something" again... I will find the exact link if they aren't tech savvy and keeping up with stuff

[@appalachiabrauchfrau]

I just use teamviewer to do stuff my mom asks about, lest she install some wacko ransomware on accident just trying to order food off grubhub or something. I recommend doing the same thing if it's that much of a worry.

[@somethingelse401]

I've locked away admin rights on all my family computers and make them call me. I don't trust them as end users. If they want a new app. I do it for them.

[@Xylospring]

My Dad ruined his old phone with this. He still thinks I cost him a Free Iphone. It's been 6-7 years.

[@Keykey70]

Learning of winget from this video was amazing. Toying around with it for a bit now and it's so insanely nice seeing huge lists of what I have installed that can be updated, being able to update them so easily, or being able to make export lists to use elsewhere and easily get a bunch of general programs I use all the time. Holy hell, thank you for opening my eyes to this beauty

[@Alias_Anybody]

When even Mental Outlaw makes fun of the NFT bros.

[@Exarvi]

I like how ublock + noscript combo solves so many problems in that matter

[@senritsujumpsuit6021]

I use Adgaurd and JShalter JShelter lets me decide how much Java I want left on sites an holy shit social media has a lot of them XD

[@Exarvi]

Noscript is the extreme version as its name says. Social media literally live off selling data, which makes no surprise they are gonna be full of tracking scripts.

[@senritsujumpsuit6021]

@@Exarvi youtube open for 2 minutes already 100 blocks lol

[@mrbanana6464]

@Dimguru You don’t need noscript, ublock origin advanced mode does everything noscript can. If you want extreme control you can use uMatrix which is also made by Gorhill.

@@mrbanana6464 what does umatrix do?

[@4.0.4]

Boomer who doesn't notice they're ads: "wait, some results are ads?" AdBlock/uBlock/etc user: "wait, some results are ads?"

[@awesomeferret]

This has been as issue for many years. I think most people have forgotten that Google used to have a "report ads" feature. I have no idea what the reason for removing that was, but it probably wasn't something good. There have been quite a few ads promoting things (fake medicine is a common one) but there's no way to report it anymore.

[@luigiclub]

A general rule of thumb when I use on google is to never click on ads. A few years ago I wanted to learn how to advertise on google and when I learned how easy it was to use and how little google verified where the links went to that was an instant turn off for ever clicking on ads again.

[@kalinmir]

isn't active distribution of malware illegal in most civilized countries? ...pretty sure if an irl ad company would put up billboards for some illegal service or scammers they would get in trouble themselves

[@MentalOutlaw]

Yes but those laws are for you and I, not big tech

[@flintfrommother3gaming]

@@josecarrasco3682 It exists wth. If someone started stealing tokens in Discord, if Discord didn't acknowledge it, wouldn't they be still fricked?

[@WodkaEclair]

@@flintfrommother3gaming This isn't Tumblr, you don't need to say 'fricked' here. also, Jose said that they don't think google can get in trouble unless they both acknowledge that the bad thing is happening and refuse to do anything. So this means Jose thinks that if google denies it's a problem, then they can ignore it or fix it, and either way they will get away with it. personally I think Jose gives way too much credit to the legal system. Anyway, even a billion dollar fine is nothing to the company so it doesn't matter if they got done for it or not.

[@society1876]

@@flintfrommother3gaming to put it into perspective: google could send a hitman to murder you in broad daylight, and get away with it scott free

[@slice6298]

I don't know how does it apply to search engines and whatnot, but there's law stating that the owner of a site is not responsible for the contents created by the users

[@Danominator]

I still am completely appalled every person in the world has not downloaded an adblocker yet. When I tell people I can get it FOR them on a browser or Android for FREE they just go "eh, one of these days I'll set it up" and then they never do.

[@knightdtd]

I installed adblock on a normie friend's browser for him coz it literally takes few seconds and he said "no i don't need it I like to watch ads sometimes", some people are just too far gone.

[@Danominator]

@@knightdtd How do people even exist living like this, I'll never know...

[@appalachiabrauchfrau]

@@knightdtd the only excuse is if he's in marketing, only marketing people like to watch ads, I refuse to believe anyone else is into seeing "single big booby mommies near you" bracketing their browser.

[@knightdtd]

@Df D you know nothing about me stranger, get off your high horse.

[@Danominator]

@@appalachiabrauchfrau I'm in digital media and I personally feel modern marketing is HORRIBLE 🤣

[@KIXXYYEYY]

My elderly mother keeps down downloading these suspicious apps!!! She will be on KZbin and it’ll randomly say on the top of her screen that she needs to clean her phone that it’s acting slow and she downloads it 🙄

[@user-dc5sg5qw4r]

Oh nice! I was the researcher that originally discovered a threat actor using this campaign back in 2022, nice to see a YT vid around it

[@hipersonic999]

This is why I never click ads, even if I'm really interested in it.

[@randomness6956]

thats kinda overprotective

[@alonsoACR]

@@randomness6956 It's good practice. Ads can very often be dangerous..

[@randomness6956]

@@alonsoACR why would google allow such a thing

[@alonsoACR]

@@randomness6956 supposedly they don't, like they tell you pls don't scam thru our ad system, but there are actually no checks (im serious, try to start an ad, they just ask for a link and your credit card) and no way to report malicious ads. After all, breaking googles terms of service doesn't matter to people that are committing felonies. Until google starts checking their ads to see if it's some sort of virus, it is better to just never click ads. Ever. For any reason.

[@frickzillafrik9573]

ads are autoloading now and running, no clicks needed

[@RSX-0806]

There is actually a bulletproof solution to avoid Google Ads Links, "Blocking Unwanted Connections with a Hosts File", it's a compilation called mvps hosts made by internet community that redirect Ads Link into the void. I've been using it for years now, and I LOVE IT.

[@windee5714]

the worst part is sometimes the ad is the real thing but then you almost install a virus because you were being safe

[@Pixelest001]

Yo @MentalOutlaw I just want you to know you got me into networking and security somewhat recently. Im getting close to getting my Network+ and CCNA certificate. Plan on doing Security and linux next. I have been doing a bunch of stuff on my own time as well. You are one of the real ones out there spreading real information. Thanks for helping put my life o n a different track.

[@doooofus]

keep at it king :)

[@whannabi]

My man knows his OSI layers by heart, let's goooo

[@O1OO1O1]

Other people are sharing not real information?

[@ultimatums1]

Ditch CCNA. Cisco is a sinking ship.

[@Pixelest001]

@@O1OO1O1 guess I just more so meant about tech and security. There is lots of other people sharing great content as well but just from what I have seen Mental outlaw seems to dive into some deeper subjects and pushes back against mass surveillance in a educated, tasteful way.

[@fernandohg225]

Imagine even looking Ads on google search. We have adblock for this.

[@gwaeron8630]

Imagine even using google search...

[@SibaNL]

@Michael Russell and what search engine do you use within it?

[@apIthletIcc]

I'm glad people are paying attention to my tech tips on twitter and finally taking these things seriously. Countries with an insane uptick in these ads: Brazil, France, UK, Spain, Netherlands... are topping the lists. (locations of users buying the ads)

[@xilenator]

This is why almost every ad is terrible or malicious

[@noanyobiseniss7462]

Actually a good first step is a class action suit for google bait and switching. I'd say they are liable.

[@thecoton6152]

Simple fix: _Use a package manager_ Chocolatey is an EXCELLENT package manager for Windows users. Apart for two softwares, everything I needed was on it. It also has a GUI for those with an allergy to Powershell. EDIT: The most elegant fix is to use Linux..

[@SuperTort0ise]

Winget is installed by default now too

[@BuetifullPersun]

Does chocolatey work on win7

[@seraphina985]

Frankly the windows one should have a graphical front end, all the Linux and BSD ones do as far as I am aware. Hell even Gentoo has one and you know that is a disto where you need to be comfortable with the command line to even install the damn thing as you have to basically put the thing together yourself from the kernel up. So why can't windows have vwinget or something that simply acts as a graphical front end using winget to do the actual work in the background. It is just insane not to have something like that especially when they target users that are often far from tech savvy and thus probably shouldn't be encouraged to start entering commands they don't understand into a CLI. That is how you get people resorting to blindly copying and pasting stuff which is an absolutely disastrous thing to encourage for obvious reasons.

[@Capiosus]

The most elegant fix is to not be allergic to administrating your own computer

[@SuperTort0ise]

@@seraphina985 I imagine they still want people to use the windows store, which is IMO where Winget packages should be, you should be able to see where it is coming from like gnome, kde, etc.

[@danmorandin5660]

I never knew the winget command was a thing. Now I'll be using that a lot more. Thank you!

[@amruzaky4939]

Thank you, Kenny. You recommended me startpage a while ago.

[@GoodFuude]

this is why everyone needs to have adblock

[@TJXD]

Google needs to be sued.

[@essem4979]

Many individuals and small organizations have been sued for less, but of course we are talking about Google, they won't be sued, either that or the fine will be insignificant

[@TJXD]

@@essem4979 right I get that but how many people use their search engine ? How many possible infections of viruses are because of this? They have a new one where the search results a whole page of them lead to click allow notification and it leads you to another virus like it's bad lol

[@TSMSnation]

Never interacted with the ads, never will.

[@b4lderm]

There’s also something called Microsoft Store where you can get most used apps like VLC, OBS, Discord, Acrobat Reader, etc. that being said, I always lock the ability to install new software on machines that I know will be used by casual users, so we don’t have to deal with the headache of them installing malware and having to restore a pc.

[@SuperTort0ise]

Stop searching for programs... Use your package manager. Yes windows does have a package manager, it's called Winget. Edit: just finished the video i'm glad you talked about this.

[@ea_naseer]

Winget is Microsoft store imo

[@SuperTort0ise]

@@ea_naseer your opinion is wrong but okay

[@zekester2097]

what about choco

[@SuperTort0ise]

@@zekester2097 don't know never used it and don't use windows anymore :⁠-⁠\ I've heard good things, but Winget is installed by default and we all know the power of "by default"

[@VitalTechnology_]

That's why I don't trust ads on the internet. It's better to assume that what they offer are scams and viruses.

[@colinbluth5461]

i had no idea, i feel dumb, but then again, thats why i get information more knowledgeable then me on specific domains , Thank you Mental Outlaw :)

[@andrewmanninen1244]

Thank you for raising awareness of Winget.

[@anonmultifruta9345]

Greetings from Argentina 🇦🇷. Your videos are really good

[@MentalOutlaw]

Glad you like them!

[@Wapcvm]

Google does not care about their ads at all as long as they show them, like I ain't turned off adblock since installing on a new PC but whenever I'd check KZbin on my phone or something the ads it sends me are at some points borderline fetish shit, or I've seen screenshots posted from others too that are so fucked, gone on for years and ah man.

[@Hell_On_Gaming]

These schemes, like many others, exploit the elderly. My father is the one who taught me to avoid phishing links, ads, etc. And still fell victim now that he's in his 70's. All he wanted to do was connect a new tv to prime video. Ended up scammed $400 because 3 scam ads on the top of the search.

[@opusa]

Oh boi. The good ol days coming back! Searching for a search engine that doesn't show you only adds...

[@gfrewqpoiu]

I have actually seen this today myself and also have seen it today on Reddit. Seems like this is, at the moment, a really widespread problem.

[@lolin6379]

I remember seeing a video a while ago where someone created fake hacks for a first person shooter (cs go I think). I did relatively harmless things like spaz out the camera, attack teammates, move in the wrong direction, etc. he then paid for google advertisements to promote his website when searching for csgo hacks and some kids downloaded it and the “hacks” uploaded a video so he could watch and have a laugh. The overall takeaway from that video was that a product could just be a facade for something malicious and don’t trust google sponsored links. I hope those kids learned a valuable lesson about internet security like people like nft god did recently. Don’t download random shit from the internet, even if google recommends it. They care about the money in their pockets, not the money in yours.

[@dixiefiend]

few seconds in with the roll of the guy in a ski mask typing away and i can safely say liked and subbed

[@endless_puns]

It's also worth noting how sponsored links on Google got less and less recognizable with the years. Remember the days where they had yellow background and notably different appearance from the regular search results? Pepperidge Farm remembers.

[@Jake48898]

I always watch as soon as you upload, thankyou for talking about these, I had to remove a virus my little brother got from trying to download blender from one, once I pointed out the reasons the website was bad he slapped his forehead

[@_anti]

another good topic as usual mr. outlaw, thank you

[@ianc8266]

As a clueless Windows user of some 25 years, I can confirm that I had never heard of any wingets or powershells.

[@DeviousWizard]

I'm getting blatant scam/virus video ads on KZbin too. Nonsense that claims a ohone setting would make it so I get money from listening to music etc. But ye with how strict KZbin is, it's wild how poorly they regulate their own ads

[@Ghaz013]

I wanted to thank you Kenny as Im now fully Linux with very few needs for Windows anymore but I do have one VM in a separate VLAN in case I need it for something. Took me too long to get to this point but Im glad I did. Your channel has helped alot with motivation to get it done.

[@thomasvincent8598]

I'm starting my journey as well, let's giterdone!

[@samuelwittlinger7790]

You inspired my to quickly code up an extension that blocks google ads. Just submitted it for review, wonder if it is going to get approved 😂

[@sekkuar]

Also, selling ads words for people who are not affiliated with the brand is half of their business. When you search a brand name on Google, it's a great opportunity for all the competitors to pay for that word and get exposition based on their competitor's actual brand visibility, which in turn will force the name brand to bid on their own brand to ensure competitors don't get it from them instead, increasing the bid value even more. It's basically free money for Google, they will never give that away.

[@QVW]

00:23 is about to trigger a bunch of people's voice assistant.

[@-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-ucq]

Bro, who tf even puts an "assistant" in their homes that would probably just spy on you so you get targeted ads

[@gabrielpassanisi9493]

never stop keeping us informed ❤️ love the channel and your deep fakes

[@geerhans1088]

finally somebody talks about this! big problem for years imo...

[@kylewatson6890]

I've never clicked on the Google search ads. Not a single one ever.

[@prajwalmeti6830]

❤️ from India,nice videos bro

[@MentalOutlaw]

Thanks

[@omganotherun]

Thought your advice at the end was going to be "Get adblockers."

[@Wigglythegreat2]

That hacker at the beginning of your video with the ski mask and glasses had me laughing out loud.

[@johnnywang9918]

Love your visuals today

[@bearwolffish]

Yes they are and yes they have been for years.

[@gitgudchannel]

Happy that I'm using package managers and always check the source

[@garethjax]

I've been in search marketing from the 2002 and i've seen how the company has changed. The current trend pushed by google, is to make the advertiser bid on generic terms and give control to the machine learning platform to fine tunes dozens of variables, which the advertiser can't control.

[@Ruckus6961]

These companies never seem to care about protecting users until it starts hurting their profits. Also imagine seeing ads

[@psychosisagentNZ]

Exactly, even more so when the scammer bribe money from yahoo boys is so large

[@XenHat]

Unfortunately, Pihole does not proxy anything so I can't hide these from my less tech-savvy family but I've been trying to bring awareness to them about Google ads, Thanks for this!

[@Saucisse_Praxis]

Google is still useful if you want to use advanced search feature (booleans, dorks...) but a meta engine like Searx is pretty good overall.

[@firalia]

I've seen this happening on other search engines too, not just Google. I've loved using Qwant for the past few months, but they've unfortunately been hit by this as well. I think they incorporate Microsoft's ad system minus the trackers? (Could be wrong there) So that's probably why.

[@alinekarla3194]

the presentation of the video was carried out successfully, well explained.

[@brunoglopes]

Google and Facebook should really start facing prosecution for taking these shady ass ads without doing any kind of due diligence.

[@FeedMeSalt]

Rule number one, always check the properties before running anything. Rule two, if you run something for the first time and NOTHING happens and it's not in task manager, or it is but it's usage looks weird, shut down. Instantly. That drive needs too have its important shit recovered outside of an OS.

[@1.0]

Had that happen a few times on linux. Got the executable from trusted sources and they where just broken or needed additional setup

[@FeedMeSalt]

@@1.0 I guess a less used platform is an exception, or if you just don't keep any valuable information on a PC.

[@knufyeinundzwanzig2004]

Have you ever run inkscape? I could swear I waited at least two minutes before a window appeared

[@-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-ucq]

Nah, just unplug the internet cable. Then recover your files on that PC if you only have 1 PC. What the virus goin to do without an Internet connection?

[@kh12x]

people getting scammed by Google me using bing

[@Jameloaf]

yeaaa boi brave! It's so good on the phone too. My favorite feature is Background video playback. Let's you have the playback run while you are sifting through other tabs or apps and even when the phone is locked.

[@lajawi.]

I’ve noticed other search engines do serve ads of fake websites too! Nothing is safe anymore 😢!

[@xmvziron]

I actually almost fell for this a few weeks ago with the OBS thing. And only because I was using Windows for that moment...