One thing that we all like about Google search box, besides being super fast, accurate and easy to use, is it being spam and virtually ad free. But it seems as though you would have to be wary even when using Google, as apparently there is a variant out in the dark side of the web which can crash your computer by flooding your device with an unprecedented number of ads, spam and malware.
During a routine research regime, The Next Web noticed something odd about one of the domains in the Google Analytics for their website a few weeks back. The were a spam which was asking them to vote for Donald Trump. While the message and its mannerism was in itself shady, the domain was:
The only subtle difference in the domain name was the replacement of capital G in the Google.com with a Unicode character for the Latin small-capital G.
As it turned out, the domain was just one of those spammy ones which often try to imitate a well-established site to lure unsuspecting and inattentive users into clicking, and help in creating fake traffic for some specific web page owners. Besides being unpredictable and spammy, these domains also carry a huge risk of sending malware and spyware to your device.
Domain registration data has revealed that the site is registered by a person located in Russia. Currently, if you visit the fake google URL, it redirects users to:
So next time you notice something freaky and off on the web, never take it for granted and always stay vigilant in these times of false news and domains. But to be fair, it is hard even for the most tech-savvy to catch such subtleties at a glance.