This site will have limited functionality while we undergo maintenance to improve your experience. If an article doesn't solve your issue and you want to ask a question, we have our support community waiting to help you at @FirefoxSupport on Twitter and/r/firefox on Reddit.

Search Support

Avoid support scams. We will never ask you to call or text a phone number or share personal information. Please report suspicious activity using the “Report Abuse” option.

Learn More

When I select a site from an Internet search does it increasingly suffer a "jump" to unrelated sites?

  • 2 cavab
  • 2 have this problem
  • 4 views
  • Last reply by wclayjones

more options

Increasingly, my search selections "jump" to unrelated sites. How can I prevent this and is it legal? For example, such a "jump" occurred when I was searching about the alleged Firefox approved Registry Defender. I selected what seemed a directly relevant story, but was "jumped" to another site that had nothing to do with the searched topic.

The only way I have been able to get around these 'jumps" is to copy & paste the web site information usually contained in total at the bottom of each web site pulled up by my search. Otherwise, A "jump" may occur without any advanced warning.

Often, the "site" to which I have been taken (despite my intent) will not allow me to regain my search list information by hitting the green return arrow. From my perspective, the straightforward use of the Internet is being hijacked.

The problem now occurs about 15% of the time and seems to be on the increase.

Increasingly, my search selections "jump" to unrelated sites. How can I prevent this and is it legal? For example, such a "jump" occurred when I was searching about the alleged Firefox approved Registry Defender. I selected what seemed a directly relevant story, but was "jumped" to another site that had nothing to do with the searched topic. The only way I have been able to get around these 'jumps" is to copy & paste the web site information usually contained in total at the bottom of each web site pulled up by my search. Otherwise, A "jump" may occur without any advanced warning. Often, the "site" to which I have been taken (despite my intent) will not allow me to regain my search list information by hitting the green return arrow. From my perspective, the straightforward use of the Internet is being hijacked. The problem now occurs about 15% of the time and seems to be on the increase.

All Replies (2)

more options

You may have a malware infection.

Do a malware check with a few malware scan programs.
You need to use all programs because each detects different malware.
Make sure that you update each program to get the latest version of the database.

See also "Spyware on Windows": http://kb.mozillazine.org/Popups_not_blocked and What to do when searches take you to the wrong search website

If you can't fix it with the above listed scanners then you need to ask advise on one of the forums that specialize in malware removal mentioned in the Popups_not_blocked article.

more options

Thank you very much. I will try the suggested solution. I keep Kaspersky fully functional & updated, but clearly that isn't enough.