Is Music Search for Chrome™ safe?

Medium risk

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.

Music Search for Chrome™v3.0.9Chrome Web Store
45Risk
Who publishes it

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.

Publisher
Music Search for Chrome™

AI-generated. Findings may contain errors. Those marked Verified have been manually reviewed.

Publishers can request a review.

Findings

SeverityMEDIUM
ClassUNWANTED
TypeUnexpected
CWECWE-506
SourceAI SANDBOX

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.

01EvidenceCAUSE EFFECT
What actually happens
You did this

You install the Music Search for Chrome™ extension.

No further interaction is required, the default search engine override takes effect immediately.

The extension did this

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.

02EvidenceNETWORK CAPTURE
Captured request
GEThttps://uk.search.yahoo.com/yhs/search?hspart=iba&hsimp=yhs-musicsearch&type=cvds_5056_CHW_GB&p=test+search+query
Yahoo search results page rendered for the submitted query. The type=cvds_5056_CHW_GB parameter is present in every request, identifying the affiliate source.
03EvidenceFIELD TABLE
Parameters embedded in every search and suggestion request
FieldValueWhy it matters
Search query
beethoven symphony no 5The full text of what you typed in the address bar, transmitted on every completed search.
Affiliate tracking code
s=cvdsA 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=musicThe category 'music' is applied to every search regardless of what you actually typed, influencing the results Yahoo returns.
04EvidenceTHIRD PARTY LIST
Hosts that receive your search queries
  • 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.

05EvidenceARTIFACT
Check if you're affected

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).

Requiressh (POSIX shell)jq
detect_affiliate_search_override.sh · sh
#!/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
How to run it
  1. 1
    Save this script as detect_affiliate_search_override.sh.
  2. 2
    Run: sh detect_affiliate_search_override.sh.
  3. 3
    Review 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.

Updated 30 September 2026eaabmejfmdeoaabmealmmbjdjaojakka