Belle Search

Belle Search is categorized as a Possibly Unwanted Program (PUP) with browser hijacker abilities because it can modify some browser settings and prevent the affected user from changing them back. The goal of applications such as this is to generate monetary gains by displaying sponsored advertisements usually injected in the list of search results. To do so, a fake search engine is created. Belle Search is no different.

When users install Belle Search on their computers (keep in mind that a popular tactic employed by browser hijackers is to hide their installation as part of another more popular application's install process) they would feel the impact immediately - the homepage, new page tab, and the default search engine will be changed to open belle-search.com. On its own, and the reason it is a fake search engine, belle-search.com doesn't have the necessary functionality to conduct Web searches. Instead, it takes the user's search query and redirects it trough search.yahoo.com for the results generation. Often, applications such as Belle Search inject sponsored advertisements among the results that may not always be relevant to the terms used in the search query.

The easiest way to free your browser from the shackles of Belle Search is to use a legitimate anti-malware software that will remove all traces of the application from your computer.