Is Music Search for Chrome™ safe?
Music Search for Chrome™ overrides the browser's default search engine and routes all search queries to amazingossearch.com with an affiliate tracking parameter.
On install, the extension sets amazingossearch.com as the default search provider via a manifest declaration, so every address-bar search and real-time suggestion is sent to amazingossearch.com with the identifier s=cvds appended. The override applies automatically on each browser start without additional user interaction. Search terms and the resulting browsing activity are transmitted to amazingossearch.com and its suggestion endpoint sug.amazingossearch.com.
Who publishes itMusic Search for Chrome™ - no other listings under this identity
Music Search for Chrome™ - no other listings under this identity
What this publisher told the store about itself, and the other listings that told it the same thing.
AI-generated. Findings may contain errors. Those marked Verified have been manually reviewed.
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Findings
Default Search Engine Replaced with Affiliate-Tracked Yahoo Redirect
Music Search for Chrome sets your default search engine to amazingossearch.com with no prompt.
Searches forward to Yahoo with a hardcoded affiliate code (cvds).
Pre-Enter keystrokes also go to a separate suggestion endpoint in real time.
You install the Music Search for Chrome™ extension.
No further interaction is required, the default search engine override takes effect immediately.
The extension replaces your default search engine with amazingossearch.com, routing all address-bar searches and autocomplete suggestions through this third-party service.
A static affiliate tracking code is appended to every search and suggestion request.
| Field | Value | Why it matters | |
|---|---|---|---|
Search query | beethoven symphony no 5 | The full text of what you typed in the address bar, transmitted on every completed search. | |
Affiliate tracking code | s=cvds | A static ID hardcoded in the manifest, attributing each search to the publisher. Appears on searches (s=cvds) and suggestions (yid=cvds). | |
Fixed search category | vert=music | The category 'music' is applied to every search regardless of what you actually typed, influencing the results Yahoo returns. |
- amazingossearch.com
Intermediate redirect run by the publisher. Receives your query tagged s=cvds, then redirects to Yahoo. Suggestions use sug.amazingossearch.com, receiving keystrokes live.
- sug.amazingossearch.com
Suggestion API run by the publisher. Receives partial keystrokes from the address bar on every keystroke before Enter, tagged yid=cvds.
- uk.search.yahoo.com
Final destination: Yahoo Hosted Search (YHS) white-label. Receives your query with hspart=iba, hsimp=yhs-musicsearch, and type=cvds_5056_CHW_GB identifying the affiliate.
Shell script that scans installed Chrome extensions on the current system and reports any that declare a default search engine override in their manifest. Identifies the extension ID and the search URL (including any embedded affiliate codes).
#!/bin/sh # Detect Chrome extensions that force a default search engine override. # Checks all profiles on the local machine. # Usage: sh detect_affiliate_search_override.sh # Requires: jq case "$(uname)" in Darwin) CHROME_BASE="$HOME/Library/Application Support/Google/Chrome" ;; Linux) CHROME_BASE="$HOME/.config/google-chrome" ;; *) echo "Unsupported OS. Adjust CHROME_BASE manually."; exit 1 ;; esac FOUND=0 for manifest in "$CHROME_BASE"/*/Extensions/*/*/manifest.json; do [ -f "$manifest" ] || continue is_default=$(jq -r '.chrome_settings_overrides.search_provider.is_default // empty' "$manifest" 2>/dev/null) [ "$is_default" = "true" ] || continue FOUND=$((FOUND + 1)) ext_ver_dir=$(dirname "$manifest") ext_id=$(basename "$(dirname "$(dirname "$ext_ver_dir")")") version=$(basename "$ext_ver_dir") search_url=$(jq -r '.chrome_settings_overrides.search_provider.search_url // "(not set)"' "$manifest" 2>/dev/null) suggest_url=$(jq -r '.chrome_settings_overrides.search_provider.suggest_url // "(not set)"' "$manifest" 2>/dev/null) echo "ALERT: default search override detected" echo " Extension ID : $ext_id" echo " Version : $version" echo " search_url : $search_url" echo " suggest_url : $suggest_url" echo "" done if [ "$FOUND" -eq 0 ]; then echo "No default search engine overrides found in installed Chrome extensions." else echo "$FOUND extension(s) with default search override detected." fi
- 1Save this script as detect_affiliate_search_override.sh.
- 2Run: sh detect_affiliate_search_override.sh.
- 3Review any ALERT lines for the extension ID and the embedded search/suggest URLs, noting affiliate parameters such as s= or yid=.
What it can do
Permissions this extension asks for, as declared in version 3.0.9. Asking for a permission is not a finding on its own - it is what the extension can do if it chooses to.
Add items to the right-click menu
contextMenus
Where it sends data
Destinations our analysis observed Music Search for Chrome™ contacting. Sending data somewhere is not a finding on its own - an extension that syncs your settings has to talk to its own server - but it is where your data can go, and who else it goes to.
- amazingossearch.com
Music Search for Chrome™ sends data to amazingossearch.com. No other extension we have analysed sends data here.
- sug.amazingossearch.com
Music Search for Chrome™ sends data to sug.amazingossearch.com. No other extension we have analysed sends data here.