*UPDATE OCT 10: Our brand has now expanded, including: Freeaddon.com | Yaytab.com | Sportifytab.com | Wallpapermoon.com (to download wallpapers). Therefore you can rest assured when installing new tab from these 4 names.
Over the last year, 8000+ ADWARE EXTENSIONS have been spreading on Chrome Web Store (CWS). They inject adware into the victim’s device, and hijack the victim’s browser. Worse, they intentionally steal FreeAddon | Yaytab | SportifyTab source code and make only little changes to confuse CWS users.
We FreeAddon | Yaytab | SportifyTab team NEVER distribute these kinds of malicious extensions, nor do we relate to the authors behind them.
So in order to protect yourself from these Adware Extensions, here is how you can avoid them and differentiate TRUE FreeAddon | Yaytab | SportifyTab extensions and these Adware Extensions.
Table of Content:
- Malwarebytes erroneously identified FreeAddon | Yaytab | SportifyTab domain as potential unwanted program
- How to differentiate FreeAddon | Yaytab | SportifyTab extensions and Adware Extensions
- How harmful it is when installing these Adware Extensions
- I accidentally installed these Adware Extensions! What do I do!?
Date published: September 18th, 2020. You can find more information about these adware companies in the old article we wrote in 2017.
1. Malwarebytes erroneously identified FreeAddon | Yaytab | SportifyTab domain as potential unwanted program (PUP).
Recently we have seen some reviews & comments claiming that our FreeAddon | Yaytab | SportifyTab extensions are malware because Malwarebytes “detected” as such:
However, once again we absolutely confirm that we do NOT distribute malware through our new tab extensions. So why do our extensions got flagged by Malwarebytes?
HOW OUR SYSTEM ACTUALLY WORKS
Basically, our system has around 10 API servers (e.g. from 1.freeaddon.com to 10.freeaddon.com) that receive http requests from your new-tab (approx. one http request every 30 minutes). Since we constantly update new wallpapers and new extensions (based on our users’ feedbacks), the connection with our API servers is required so that your new tab will always get the latest updates to display in the “Must-Have Related NewTab” section in Options box.
Sometimes we do A/B Testing by rolling out various test data in the API. For example, Star Wars new tab has inspiring quotes about Star Wars series, while Dogs & Cats new tab extensions have quotes about dogs & cats. The quotes you see at bottom of your new tab page are not fixed in extension source code, they are served dynamically from our API servers for quick changes.
The reason why we need this many servers is that we have to serve millions of users from many different countries. Not only that, we are also trying to fix our Weather forecast feature. Therefore, these servers are necessary to constantly get the weather data based on GeoLocation.
For this reason, Malwarebytes probably mistook those servers as the potential unwanted program (PUP). But this is actually a “false positive” case since we do not inject any malicious code into the new tab. Even now, we are contacting Malwarebytes to remove this false positive flag.
In reality, the cost of extension development & server maintenance is very high, but we still agree to release all extensions free of charge. Even to this day, we actually have to use our own budget to maintain our services. Because of this, it is extremely unfair to claim that our extensions are malware.
FREEADDON| YAYTAB | SPORTIFYTAB IS OUR PASSION PROJECT, NOT FOR SHADY PURPOSES
FreeAddon | Yaytab | SportifyTab to this day is still our team’s passion project. Originally it was only one person developing extensions back in 2016. He found out that many new tab extensions at the time (e.g. MyStart, BrandThunder, Tabify) hijacked users’ search engine, forcing them to use Yahoo or Bing instead.
He found potentials in these new tab extensions, yet unfortunately, they were made with underhanded goals. And so he decided to make his own extensions with a simple motto: “safe, simple & clean”. It must have useful features for users, while still keeping Google Search.
Later on, he also shared with us his project and so we decided to join with him. Together, we formed a team (including FreeAddon | Yaytab | SportifyTab) and have released over 800 extensions, each has completely different themes. To our surprise, FreeAddon | Yaytab | SportifyTab extensions became a huge blast on CWS. We reached 3 million users after just 6 months, plus all of our extensions had 4.5 – 5 stars ratings.
We also received hundreds of emails from adware companies asking to buy our extensions, promise to increase profit, or offer search monetization. BUT we always say NO to their requests. After all, each of us has a real-life job and FreeAddon | Yaytab | SportifyTab is still our PASSION PROJECT. Therefore, we decide to NEVER sell our users.
We are abided by Google policies to protect Data Security and User Data Privacy. As described in our Privacy Policy: we do not collect any user data, what happens on your computer stays on your computer.
“SO WHY DO I SAW A NUMBER OF 1-2 STARS REVIEWS ON YOUR CWS PAGE?”
For newer users, you may find it bizarre when many of our extensions got 1-2 stars overall ratings on CWS. Plus, you can even see some 1-2 stars reviews saying our extensions are bad, or our extensions are malware.
But for our longtime users, you will remember that back in late 2017-2018, Adware-Virus Distributors attacked all of our extensions. They used the bots to spam thousands of fake 1-star reviews on all of our extensions, causing our overall ratings to fall down dramatically. Later on, we even found out that many other good developers also got attacked in the same way as us.
Not only that, they cloned our extensions in order to fool CWS users, then secretly inject adware & hijack their browser. And yes, this situation already happened in late 2017-2018 and even now these Adware Extensions are still trying to find new ways to trick users. Hence why we need to publish this post to warn our users about the current situation.
In short, if you saw FreeAddon/SportifyTab extensions got low ratings on CWS, please DO NOT be alarmed since it does not reflect our extensions’ true quality. Our team will always maintain our goal: OFFERING GOOD VALUES for users, and NEVER EXPLOIT users for our personal gain.
2. How can I differentiate FreeAddon | Yaytab | SportifyTab extensions and Adware Extensions?
Though these Adware Extensions does share some similarities with FreeAddon | Yaytab | SportifyTab new tab (since they stole our source), there are several key details you can easily notice:
DETAIL 1: Always check for Offered By first!
When you look for an extension, always check if that extension is Offered By who:
FreeAddon | Yaytab | SportifyTab extensions always have “Offered By freeaddon.com”, “Offered By yaytab.com” or “Offered by sportifytab.com”.
If an extension does NOT have this line, it is 100% NOT made by the FreeAddon | Yaytab | SportifyTab team, nor related to us. For example:
These extensions are not made FreeAddon/Yaytab/SportifyTab team, stated in its Offered By line.
DETAIL 2: Carefully check the thumbnail image
All FreeAddon | Yaytab | SportifyTab extensions have a typical black & white HD icon on the thumbnail image. For example:
Depending on different extensions, this HD icon may be placed at either 4 corners of the image. However, its style remains the same. If you find an extension without this HD icon on the thumbnail, there is a high chance that it is NOT made by our team.
In some cases, you may also see an extension with an HD icon, but you should carefully check its icon style. For example:
The HD icon is different. And also, it is NOT offered by freeaddon.com or sportifytab.com
This extension also has an HD icon, however, its style is not like FreeAddon | Yaytab | SportifyTab if you look a bit more carefully.
DETAIL 3: Take a close look at featured images on CWS page
When you open an extension CWS page, you will see 5 featured images at the center of the page. These featured images must show how the new tab looks in reality. Based on these featured images, you will get an idea of whether an extension is made by FreeAddon | Yaytab | SportifyTab or not.
All FreeAddon | Yaytab | SportifyTab has a typical interface design which aims to be simplistic, yet intuitive and practical. You can check this by examining the featured images in the CWS extension page. In the case of FreeAddon | Yaytab | SportifyTab new tab, you will always see these iconic designs:
Unfortunately, many Adware Extensions copy our exact design and just make little changes. For example this Haikyuu new tab extension:
If you look carefully, it looks strikingly similar to our design, except that this author simply changed the position of each element on this new tab (Options, date & time moved to the left corner, while Most Visited & Apps moved to the right corner). We also installed these extensions and turned out, they did copy our design:
These elements look exactly like FreeAddon | Yaytab | SportifyTab, with only a minor difference which is the font.
Some other Adware Extensions even shamelessly steal everything, like this Stranger Things new tab:
In this case, everything looks exactly the same as FreeAddon/SportfiyTab, except for the Search Bar. But it is only visual change, which is not difficult to do at all. We also installed this extension to test, and unsurprisingly, they copy exact same things: 
Sometimes, you may even find some Adware Extensions that did try to change the design more than our original version, like this Fortnite new tab:
At first glance, it will be hard to point out if they steal FreeAddon | Yaytab | SportifyTab source code or not. But when we tested it, we still found some details that look strikingly similar to our design:
Overall, the best way to identify if an extension is made by us or not is to look at “Offered By” line. If it is written as “Offered By freeaddon.com”, “Offered By yaytab.com” or “Offered By sportifytab.com”, then that extension is definitely made by us.
The other two details (thumbnail & featured images) will also help you form an idea of whether an extension is made by our team or not. If you find a bizarre detail, we highly recommend looking at the “Offered By” line to confirm who is the author.
How can Adware Extensions steal FreeAddon | Yaytab | SportifyTab source code?
For those who may not know, Chrome Web Store (CWS) is actually an open-source platform. This means that other developers can take a deep look at our new tab extensions. It also means other shady groups or teams can easily steal our source code and make duplicate versions.
If you have a certain knowledge of coding, you will understand that changing appearance of a CWS extension is actually not difficult. The shady groups behind Adware Extensions know this and they intentionally duplicate our source code, then make slight changes to trick users into thinking that those Adware Extensions are made by us. Then they inject adware and hijack your browsers without you knowing.
In reality, we FreeAddon | Yaytab | SportifyTab team NEVER does such thing as injecting adware, virus, or any similar practice. We are a small team that has started this journey since 2016. We have always been listening to our users’ feedback. And thanks to our awesome users, we have added new features, improve many quality-of-life aspects to provide the best experience. It is safe to assume that we are one of the most popular new-tab extension developers on CWS.
For this reason, many shady groups have tried to clone our new tab products since it so easy to use. It also means they literally stole thousands of hours of our hard work to serve their shady purposes. They even use underhanded methods in order to manipulate the result on CWS like using bots to spam thousands of fake 1-star reviews on numerous extensions, not just us.
3. What will happen if I install these “Adware Extensions”?
Occasionally, we do receive complaints from users, claiming that our new tab extensions are adware/malware/virus. But THIS IS FAR FROM THE TRUTH. After investigating the issue, we suspect that some users accidentally installed these Adware Extensions since they do look similar to FreeAddon | Yaytab | SportifyTab extensions.
And here are the problems if you installed these Adware Extensions:
FIRST, YOU WILL GET AN INFERIOR PRODUCT
The aim of these Adware Extensions is to trick users into believing they are made by us. Therefore, they only need to copy our product, then make slight changes so that users do not notice. But because of this reason, their new tab intentionally CUT OUT lots of wallpapers and some features in order to spam these malicious products on CWS.
These extensions tend to have very few wallpapers, compared to the true FreeAddon | Yaytab | SportifyTab extensions. For example:
And also, you may NOT see many cool features like Note, Todo list, Countdown, or Snowfall / rain / leaves animation.
SECOND, THE ADWARE EXTENSION WILL SECRETLY HIJACK YOUR BROWSER
This is the main reason why you should be aware, and avoid these Adware Extensions. When installed in your browser, the extension will immediately change the usual Google Search into Yahoo Search. For example, let’s search for “dog” on this Haikyuu new tab:
And when you hit Search (or Enter key), this extension will suddenly open a new Yahoo Search page:
This means that the Adware Extension already hijacked your browser. Furthermore, its CWS description does NOT tell you that it will change Google Search to Yahoo Search.
In some cases, these malicious extensions even try to fool you by blatantly saying “Google Search” on the search bar (e.g. this Stranger Things new tab):
When you search for something, it will open a new page called “Google Custom Search”:
But if you click on Images, Videos, or News, it will open yet another Yahoo Search page:
This proves that the Adware Extensions are intentionally made to trick users into thinking that it is just a new tab extension. But when installed, it will change your Google Search into something else.
What worse is that:
- After using Adware Extensions for a while, you will notice that it will open a login note asking you to enter Username & Password to access suspicious sites.
- You may also notice that your browser will start to have more ads, more pop-ups than usual. This is because the Adware Extensions inject adware into the browser.
- Not only that, the longer you use these dangerous extensions, the higher chance your personal information will be stolen (username, password, etc…)
4. I have accidentally installed these Adware Extensions, what should I do?
First, stay calm and do not panic. For starters, open your browser and click on the 3-dot icon located at the right corner of the browser. Then hover on More tools, and click Extensions:
On the Extensions page, you will see a list of extensions you have installed. Simply find the Adware Extensions you installed, and click Remove.
After that, consider changing your passwords of all websites that you often go to, or, contain your sensitive information.
Nonetheless, the best way is to avoid these Adware Extensions in the first place. Only install extensions from authors that are trustworthy. And if you find a new tab extension that looks suspiciously similar to FreeAddon | Yaytab | SportifyTab, remember to check “Offered By” line to make sure that it is truly made by us.
Thank you for reading, we will constantly update this post as we find out more about the Adware Extensions that are copying us.