Is earthapp.net legit or a scam?
Deceptive Google Earth clone distributing a search-hijacking browser extension that monetizes user queries and harvests browsing data.
These checks passed — but they don't clear the site. A clean antivirus result, valid SSL, and a calm server only mean it isn't hosting malware; they say nothing about whether the business is real. This verdict is based on the site's conduct and content, not a malware detection.
Analysis Summary
Brand impersonation — not the real site
Deceptive Google Earth clone distributing a search-hijacking browser extension that monetizes user queries and harvests browsing data. This page is styled as a brand but is not the brand's real site. Go to the official site directly, and treat any download, login, or payment request here as unsafe.
Website Preview
Automated page render — captured in a safe sandbox. What an ordinary visitor would see when loading the site.
MT Intelligence
The site mimics Google Earth's interface and marketing language ('View Earth Maps', 'High Resolution Satellite Maps') but its actual purpose is to distribute a malicious Chrome extension. Security researchers have documented that the extension intercepts all search queries and redirects them through System1/Yahoo affiliate networks, generating revenue from each search while collecting user IP addresses, browsing history, and visited URLs. The privacy policy acknowledges this data collection and sharing with ad partners. The domain was registered only 442 days ago with hidden WHOIS details, and independent security reports classify it among 23 deceptive 'SearchJack' extensions affecting approximately 758,000 users. While one aggregator gave it a positive rating, that assessment conflicts with documented malicious behaviour and the technical evidence of search hijacking.
Web Research Findings
Our live research agent queries scam-report databases, consumer-review sites, news coverage, and general web search for earthapp.net, then cross-checks business-registration records and look-alike domain patterns. Everything below is pulled from what it actually found.
- Domain registered ~March 2025 (age listed as 1 year / 442 days); WHOIS hidden; hosted on Cloudflare; GoDaddy registrar.
- Site promotes and links to a Chrome extension (ID hnfdneofpohlkoeljnmkdocokcdkjiaa) advertised for satellite maps and Earth imagery.
- Extension routes all user searches via https://earthapp.net/admin/public/link?q={searchTerms} to InfoSpace/Yahoo affiliate network (System1).
- malext.io report classifies it among 23 deceptive 'SearchJack' extensions affecting ~758k users; claims maps but primary function is monetizing searches.
- Privacy policy and EULA disclose ad display based on viewed pages, NPII collection (IP, browsing, URLs), sharing with ad partners; mandatory arbitration and broad liability waiver.
- Scamadviser rates average to good trust score (very likely safe) but notes recent registration and low traffic; no user reviews or complaints found on Trustpilot/Reddit.
- Similar 'Earth Maps' extensions historically flagged as browser hijackers or adware in removal guides.
- malext.ioopen
"earthapp.net ... deceptive, claiming purposes like satellite imagery but actually monetize via search affiliate (Yahoo). ... every search a user makes is sent to anonymous third-party brokers."
- malext.ioopen
"System1-affiliated extensions consistently route through /admin/public/link endpoints: earth3d.net , earthapp.net"
- Scamadviseropen
"In summary, It seems that earthapp.net is legit and safe to use and not a scam website."
Page promotes 'View Earth Maps', 'High Resolution Satellite Maps', 'Enter Any Location' in style of Google Earth; deceptive as actual purpose is search hijacking per report
Security researchers at malext.io identified earthapp.net as a distribution point for a System1-affiliated browser hijacker extension. The extension intercepts all user search queries and redirects them through https://earthapp.net/admin/public/link?q={searchTerms} to InfoSpace/Yahoo affiliate networks, generating revenue from each search. The site is classified among 23 deceptive 'SearchJack' extensions affecting approximately 758,000 users. The privacy policy discloses collection of IP addresses, browsing history, and visited URLs, with sharing to ad partners and mandatory arbitration clauses. One independent aggregator assigned a positive trust rating, but this conflicts with documented malicious behaviour and the technical evidence of search hijacking.
Scam Network Intelligence
Antivirus Engines
Security Scans
Checked against the major public blocklists used by browsers and security tools — no hits.
Contact Verification
We fetched the page and looked for real-world contact details. Legitimate businesses almost always publish an email on their own domain, a phone number, and a postal address. Scam shops usually don't.
- No contact email found anywhere on the page.
- No phone number listed on the page.
- No postal address visible on the page.
Domain & Encryption
Server Reputation
Scam-Type Likelihood
1 scam-type patterns detected
1 of 13 categories showed signals
We check every URL against 13 distinct scam categories so the verdict tells you not just how risky the page is, but what kind of risk it carries. Each meter pulls from page signals, web reports, our AI analyst, vision, and the scam-network cluster — not from raw AV labels.
- AI analyst tagged this as a brand / clone-site impersonation.
- Clustered with known brand-impersonation infrastructure.
1 of 13 categories showed signals
We check every URL against 13 distinct scam categories so the verdict tells you not just how risky the page is, but what kind of risk it carries. Each meter pulls from page signals, web reports, our AI analyst, vision, and the scam-network cluster — not from raw AV labels.
- AI analyst tagged this as a brand / clone-site impersonation.
- Clustered with known brand-impersonation infrastructure.
Brand impersonation detected
This page is styled as a known brand but is not the brand's real site.
- Do not interact with earthapp.net
Do not enter credentials, deposit money, download files, or install browser extensions from this site.
- Go to the brand's real site directly
Type the brand name into a search engine or open it from your bookmarks — don't use links from emails, SMS, ads, or social posts, which are the delivery vectors for impersonation.
- Never download or sign in here
Even if the page "just" offers a download or a giveaway, impersonation pages frequently deliver malware or set up follow-up phishing. Assume anything accepted from this site is hostile.
- OpenReport the impersonation to the brand
Most major brands have a dedicated abuse or anti-phishing reporting channel — reporting helps them take the site down and protects other users.
Reputation Sources
How this domain rates across independent threat-intelligence and blocklist providers.
Referenced Domains
Outbound domains this page links to or loads resources from. Each links to its own security scan.
Safety FAQ
Common questions about this site, answered directly from the scan data above — so the answers always reflect the latest verdict on this page.
- Our automated security review flags earthapp.net as dangerous. Multiple threat indicators were detected — treat the site as a scam until proven otherwise.
- No — earthapp.net scored 25/100 on our trust scale. We detected active threat indicators, so we recommend avoiding the site entirely.
- Yes. earthapp.net presents a valid TLSv1.3 certificate issued by Google Trust Services · WE1, expiring in 61 days. Note that SSL only encrypts the connection — it does not guarantee that the site itself is trustworthy.
- earthapp.net is 1.2 years old, registered on 3/24/2025 through GoDaddy.com, LLC. Scam domains are often freshly registered — a site under 6 months old warrants extra caution.
- No. All 92 antivirus engines in our malware network report earthapp.net as clean.
- No. earthapp.net is not currently listed on the major browser blocklist feeds that modern browsers use.
- earthapp.net resolves to an IP operated by Cloudflare, Inc. in US (usage type: Content Delivery Network). Hosting location alone doesn't make a site good or bad, but unusual geography for a brand's claimed country is one of many signals we weigh.
- This is a permanent record of the scan run on June 10, 2026. The verdict and evidence above reflect that scan and do not change on their own. If circumstances around earthapp.net have changed, MalwareTips staff can run a fresh scan, which re-runs every check from scratch and publishes an updated report.
User reviews & comments(0)
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