Taboola is an online advertisement service which shows advertisements like ‘Around the web’, ‘From the web’ or ‘Recommended for you’ at the bottom of news articles. These ads contain your geolocation information and when you click on the ads, you are directed to the advertiser’s website.
Often these ads are eye-catching and tacky and are designed to persuade people to click on them. Usually, you shouldn’t click on such ads as these might contain some harmful links that might steal your personal information.
Is Taboola News a virus?
No. Taboola News isn’t a virus but can be considered as a different kind of malware known as adware. I said can be considered as the ads that you are seeing are published by the website’s owners freely. You cannot remove these ads but can block them.
On the other hand, adware is malicious software that displays unwanted advertisements on a device in pop-up windows, on toolbars or in browsers, which is aimed at generating revenue for the attacker controlling the adware. Adware can be inserted into software by its developer or can enter through a security loophole in the system or the app.
Why are you seeing Taboola News?
If you are seeing Taboola ads at random spots on your screen, there is a high chance that your computer has been affected by adware. Hackers and other miscreants often bundle these malicious files along with several legitimate files that you are downloading. Usually, to save some bucks, people download applications from murky websites and without inspecting the file, rush to download it on their system. Therefore, you should be cautious while clicking on any link or downloading from an unauthorised website.
Some other signs showing that you are under an adware attack are as follows:
- Ads start to appear at random spots. I have personally seen many pop-up ads for fake updates and installations.
- Your web browser’s home page has changed.
- There is a significant reduction in internet speed.
- You will notice that the device is not performing optimally and in some severe cases, the device crashes frequently.
- Usually, the websites that you normally visit are not displaying correctly.
- An increase in redirect internet searches means that the website that you are trying to open redirects you to some other, often malicious website.
If you are a victim of such attacks, you might want to remove Taboola from your device. Read on to find out exactly how to do that.
Also read: What is Vivetool? How to use it?
Removing Taboola from Windows and Mac
If you are seeing lots of Taboola ads, it is time to remove Taboola from your computer and browser.
Block Taboola using the HOSTS files(Windows)
Here is a list of hosts that you need to block Taboola:
0.0.0.0 popup.taboola.com 0.0.0.0 www.popup.taboola.com 0.0.0.0 taboola.com 0.0.0.0 www.taboola.com 0.0.0.0 cdn.taboolasyndication.com 0.0.0.0 taboolasyndication.com 0.0.0.0 www.taboolasyndication.com 0.0.0.0 www.cdn.taboolasyndication.com 0.0.0.0 trc.taboola.com 0.0.0.0 www.trc.taboola.com 0.0.0.0 images.taboola.com 0.0.0.0 www.images.taboola.com 0.0.0.0 adserver.adtechus.com 0.0.0.0 www.adserver.adtechus.com 0.0.0.0 us-u.openx.net 0.0.0.0 www.us-u.openx.net 0.0.0.0 api.taboola.com 0.0.0.0 www.api.taboola.com 0.0.0.0 c2.taboola.com 0.0.0.0 www.c2.taboola.com 0.0.0.0 cdn.taboola.com 0.0.0.0 www.cdn.taboola.com 0.0.0.0 urc.taboolasyndication.com 0.0.0.0 www.urc.taboolasyndication.com 0.0.0.0 taboola.com.edgekey.net 0.0.0.0 www.taboola.com.edgekey.net 0.0.0.0 esd-secure.taboola.com.edgekey.net 0.0.0.0 www.esd-secure.taboola.com.edgekey.net 0.0.0.0 api.taboola.com 0.0.0.0 c2.taboola.com 0.0.0.0 cdn.taboola.com 0.0.0.0 urc.taboolasyndication.com 0.0.0.0 taboola.com.edgekey.net 0.0.0.0 esd-secure.taboola.com.edgekey.net 0.0.0.0 img.img-taboola.com 0.0.0.0 imprlatbmp.taboola.com 0.0.0.0 api-s2s.taboola.com 0.0.0.0 wf.taboola.com 0.0.0.0 convlatbmp.taboola.com 0.0.0.0 15.taboola.com 0.0.0.0 vidstat.taboola.com
Step 1: Open Notepad on Windows and then go to File > Open.
Step 2: In the search space, type C:\Windows\ System32\ Drivers\ etc\ hosts and then press Enter.
Step 3: Add the list of hosts in the Notepad itself. After that, save the file.
Now, you will need to flush the DNS cache and then restart your system. Follow the steps given below to flush the DNS cache:
Step 1: Press Windows key + R and type in cmd, and hit enter.
Step 2: Type ipconfig /flushdns to reset DNS settings to default.
In case this doesn’t work, you can type the following:
netsh winsock reset netsh int ip reset
For more information, visit this article.
Also read: Is Mangasee safe? Top 5 alternatives
Block Taboola ads on Mac
Step 1: Open Finder, then go to Applications > Utilities. After that, double-click on Terminal to launch it.
Step 2: Once you are in the Terminal, type sudo nano open /etc /hosts
Step 3: Enter the administrator’s password and then press Enter to open the HOSTS file.
Step 4: In the open space, copy the list and save.
Step 5: Flush DNS Cache by entering the following command: sudo killall -HUP mDNSResponder
Additionally, you can uninstall the application from the control centre on both Windows and Mac or use any third-party apps to block the ads.
Also read: 25 best DNS servers for PS4
Removing Taboola from Google Chrome
Remove suspicious extensions
Extensions can boost your productivity but at the same time can potentially harm your computer. Here’s how to delete extensions on Chrome:
- Hit the three-dot menu and then go to More tools > Extensions. Or you can type chrome://extensions in the address bar.
- Look for the extension that you think is harming the computer and then click on Remove.
Change the start page settings in Chrome
- Click the three-dot button and then go to Settings.
- From the left menu select On startup and then check for any malicious settings. If you find any such setting, remove it asap.
Managing the search engines
- Go to Settings and then the Search Engine > Manage search engines and site search option. Here, you will see the default search engine as well as the other search engines available on Chrome.
- If you see any malicious search engine, press the three-dot button corresponding to that option and then select Delete.
You should follow the same steps if you want to remove the Taboola feed from the Android app of Chrome. In case, you want more support on how to block ads on Android, we suggest you read this article.
Also, you can perform similar actions on other browsers such as Firefox, Edge and Safari.
Also read: How to fix the ‘virus scan failed in Chrome’ error?
Deputy Editor at Candid.Technology. Hemant writes at the intersection of tech and culture and has a keen interest in science, social issues and international relations.
You can contact him here: [email protected]
