Remove “Similar Products” pop-up virus (Removal Guide)

Similar Products is an adware program that displays coupons, advertisements and sponsored links via a pop-up box on Google, Youtube, Amazon, Facebook and other websites that you are visiting.
Similar Products pop-up ads will be shown as boxes containing various coupons that are available or as underlined keywords, which when clicked will display an advertisement that states it is brought to you by Powerd by Similar Products Deals.

The Similar Products adware infection is designed specifically to make money. It generates web traffic, collects sales leads for other dubious sites, and will display advertisements and sponsored links within your web browser.
Similar Products it’s technically not a virus, but it does exhibit plenty of malicious traits, such as rootkit capabilities to hook deep into the operating system, browser hijacking, and in general just interfering with the user experience. The industry generally refers to it as a “PUP,” or potentially unwanted program.

Similar Products is an ad-supported (users may see additional banner, search, pop-up, pop-under, interstitial and in-text link advertisements) cross web browser plugin for Internet Explorer, Firefox and Chrome, and distributed through various monetization platforms during installation. Similar Products is typically added when you install another free software (video recording/streaming, download-managers or PDF creators) that had bundled into their installation this adware program. When you install these free programs, they will also install Similar Products as well. Some of the programs that are known to bundle Similar Products include 1ClickDownload, Superfish, Yontoo and FBPhotoZoom.

Once installed, whenever you will visit Expedia, Best Buy, Facebook or any other similar websites, Similar Products will display on product images a See Similar button, which when clicked will show you ads by Similar Products.

Similar Products will also display advertising banners on the webpages that you are visiting, and as you browse Internet, it will show coupons and other deals available on different websites.
You should always pay attention when installing software because often, a software installer includes optional installs, such as this Similar Products adware. Be very careful what you agree to install.
Always opt for the custom installation and deselect anything that is not familiar, especially optional software that you never wanted to download and install in the first place. It goes without saying that you should not install software that you don’t trust.

How to remove Similar Products  pop-up ads (Removal Guide)

This page is a comprehensive guide, which will remove Similar Products from Internet Explorer, Firefox and Google Chrome.
Please perform all the steps in the correct order. If you have any questions or doubt at any point, STOP and ask for our assistance.
STEP 1: Remove Similar Products adware from Internet Explorer, Firefox and Google Chrome with AdwCleaner
STEP 2: Remove Similar Products virus with Malwarebytes Anti-Malware Free
STEP 3: Double-check for the Similar Products infection with HitmanPro

STEP 1: Remove Similar Products adware from Internet Explorer, Firefox and Google Chrome with AdwCleaner

The AdwCleaner utility will scan your computer for Similar Products malicious files and registry keys, that may have been installed on your computer without your knowledge.

1. You can download AdwCleaner utility from the below link.
   Download AdwCleanerFree official download. Nothing to install.
2. Before starting AdwCleaner, close all open programs and internet browsers, then double-click on the AdwCleaner icon.
   
   If Windows prompts you as to whether or not you wish to run AdwCleaner, please allow it to run.
3. When the AdwCleaner program will open, click on the Scan button as shown below.
   
   AdwCleaner will now start to search for Similar Products malicious files that may be installed on your computer.
4. To remove the Similar Products malicious files that were detected in the previous step, please click on the Clean button.
   
   AdwCleaner will now prompt you to save any open files or data as the program will need to reboot the computer. Please do so and then click on the OK button.

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STEP 2: Remove Similar Products virus with Malwarebytes Anti-Malware Free

1. You can download Malwarebytes Anti-Malware Free from the below link, then double-click on the icon named mbam-setup.exe to install this program.
   Download MalwarebytesFree official installer. Your download starts right away.
2. When the installation begins, keep following the prompts in order to continue with the setup process, then at the last screen click on the Finish button.
   
3. On the Scanner tab, select Perform quick scan, and then click on the Scan button to start searching for the Similar Products malicious files.
   
4. Malwarebytes’ Anti-Malware will now start scanning your computer for Similar Products as shown below.
   
5. When the Malwarebytes Anti-Malware scan has finished, click on the Show Results button.
   
6. You will now be presented with a screen showing you the computer infections that Malwarebytes Anti-Malware has detected. Make sure that everything is Checked (ticked), then click on the Remove Selected button.
   

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STEP 3: Double-check for the Similar Products infection with HitmanPro

1. You can download HitmanPro from the below link:
   Download HitmanProOfficial Sophos download. Free scan, free 30-day trial to remove threats.
2. Double-click on the file named HitmanPro.exe (for 32-bit versions of Windows) or HitmanPro_x64.exe (for 64-bit versions of Windows). When the program starts you will be presented with the start screen as shown below.
   
   Click on the Next button, to install HitmanPro on your computer.
   
3. HitmanPro will now begin to scan your computer for Similar Products malicious files.
   
4. When it has finished it will display a list of all the malware that the program found as shown in the image below. Click on the Next button, to remove Similar Products adware.
   
5. Click on the Activate free license button to begin the free 30 days trial, and remove all the malicious files from your computer.
   

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Your computer should now be free of the Similar Products infection. If your current anti-virus solution let this infection through, you may want to consider purchasing the PRO version of Malwarebytes Anti-Malware to protect against these types of threats in the future, and perform regular computer scans with HitmanPro.
If you are still experiencing problems while trying to remove Similar Products from your machine, please start a new thread in our Malware Removal Assistance forum.