SearchInMe.com Removal Guide

SearchInMe.com is not your average search engine. We found it to be highly suspicious because it comes from an unknown company and we think that it can also collect information about your browsing habits and share it with third parties. We find this search engine to be somewhere in the gray area. On one hand, it does not appear to be malicious, but, on the other hand, its real purpose is unknown. Therefore, we suggest that you play it safe and remove it from your browser at your earliest convenience. In this description, we will overview all of the factual information available about it and give our thoughts about some of its features, so if you are interested, please continue reading.

It is important to note that it is not a browser hijacker because it is not distributed as such, at least at the time of our research. It does not have any clones, so we do not have anything to compare SearchInMe.com with, but one of its known dissemination methods is that it comes with a Chromium-based web browser called Ghokswa Browser. It is a suspicious browser that we have classified as a potentially unwanted program, but, like this search engine, it is not malicious. It might come with other shady web browsers as well, but we have yet to find any other cases of this. Furthermore, we believe, that it should come with software bundles hosted on free software distributing sites. Their installers can interact with the web browsers and insert SearchInMe.com. Our research has revealed the, at the moment, this search engine is most popular in India, Indonesia, and Pakistan. Therefore, we assume that it should be featured on freeware disseminating websites that are popular in these countries.

At first glance, SearchInMe.com looks like a legitimate search engine. However, it is not a real search engine because it does not have its own search algorithm and redirects all the entered search queries entered in its search box to Google.com. Interestingly, it does not seem to modify Google’s search results to inject additional promotional links to generate advertising revenue. Usually, such additional ads come from shady sources, and the search engine is declared unreliable. However, we found that it is not the case with SearchInMe.com, but we are puzzled by its absence of purpose. We do not know who and why it was made. The only thing we find suspicious about it is that it comes from an unknown developer and that it is probably configured to gather information about your browsing habits.

Even though SearchInMe.com does not have a privacy policy that usually indicates the information that a search engine can collect, we think that it should still obtain information such as your browsing history, entered search terms, Internet Protocol (IP) address, Internet Service Provider (ISP) name, browser type, and perhaps some other non-personally identifiable information. Usually, this information is used for advertising purposes, but since SearchInMe.com does not show ads, we think that it might share or even sell it to third-party advertisers. All in all, we do not recommend that you share this information for your privacy’s sake.

In closing, SearchInMe.com’s real purpose is unknown. It does not show modified search results that contain promotional links, but it should collect information about your browsing preferences and share it with third-parties. Still, it is not malicious, so you can keep it if you want, but we recommend that you remove it just to be on the safe side of things. To delete this search engine, all you have to do is reset your web browser’s settings to default. A guide on how to reset Chrome, Firefox, and Internet Explorer is located below, so feel free to make use of it.

Reset the browser

Mozilla Firefox

1. Launch Firefox
2. Simultaneously press Alt+H keys.
3. Select Troubleshooting Information.
4. Click Refresh Firefox.
5. Click Refresh Firefox again in the dialog box.
6. Finish.

Microsoft Internet Explorer

1. Launch Internet Explorer
2. Simultaneously press Alt+T keys.
3. Click Internet Options and select the Advanced tab.
4. Click Reset, and click Reset again in the dialog box.

Google Chrome

1. Launch Firefox.
2. Simultaneously press Alt+F and go to Settings.
3. Select Show advanced settings.
4. Click Reset settings, and then click Reset again.