Here’s how hucksters are manipulating Google to promote shady Chrome extensions

Quick Summary:

The results may look different for searches at other times or from different locations.

A search Wednesday morning in California for Norton Password Manager, for example, returned not only the official extension but three others, all of which are unrelated at best and potentially abusive at worst.

The policy specifically calls out search-manipulating techniques such as listing multiple extensions that provide the same experience or plastering extension descriptions with loosely related or unrelated keywords.

---

More Pictures

---

Read Quick SummarySave Time

or

Article Details

Author / Journalist: Dan Goodin

Category: Technology

Markets: United StatesArmeniaEstonia

Topics: Extensions Abuse Security Chrome Web Store Spam Google

Source Website Secure: Yes (HTTPS)

News Sentiment: Neutral

Fact Checked: Legitimate

Article Type: News Report

Published On: 2025-01-08 @ 23:46:10 (22 hours ago)

News Timezone: GMT -5:00

News Source URL: arstechnica.com

Language: English

Article Length: 164 words

Reading Time: 1 minutes read

Sentences: 63 lines

Sentence Length: 3 words per sentence (average)

Platforms: Desktop Web, Mobile Web, iOS App, Android App

Copyright Owner: © Ars Technica

News ID: 24987670

View Article Analysis

About Ars Technica

Main Topics: Technology

Official Website: arstechnica.com

Update Frequency: 5 posts per day

Year Established: 1998

Headquarters: United States

News Last Updated: 10 hours ago

Coverage Areas: United States

Ownership: Independent Company

Publication Timezone: GMT -5:00

Content Availability: Worldwide

News Language: English

RSS Feed: Available (XML)

API Access: Available (JSON, REST)

Website Security: Secure (HTTPS)

Publisher ID: #32

Publisher Details

Frequently Asked Questions