malware listed as "popular" in CWS extensions?

[Cyrus Adkisson]

Last year I wrote a chrome extension but unpublished it rather quickly due to being unable to get a critical mass of users for the desired social interaction it needed. I've been thinking a lot since then about how to build something that has immediate value to the user, then bring in the previous functionality once the critical mass has been reached.

In my thinking and researching, I went to the CWS extensions area to see user totals for the most popular extensions. Basically, i wanted to see what realistic install numbers could possibly look like. 

In this process, I came across "Lightning Newtab" with almost 10 million users and 3000 reviews. 

https://chrome.google.com/webstore/detail/lightning-newtab/ifohbjbgfchkkfhphahclmkpgejiplfo?hl=en-US

The extension description is written in very poor english, what the extension does is very unremarkable (basically useless), the reviews are suspiciously short/vague and possibly most damning, the permissions are very loose.

In short, this extension seems like malware, which hurts on 2 levels.

1. If I'm correct and this "popularity" is ill-gotten, that's oxygen being eaten away from legitimate extensions.

2. If CWS is hosting (and promoting, really) malware, that erodes confidence in extensions as a genre, making it harder for others to gain a foothold. 

Does Google have plans to crack down on bogus extensions? What are the processes in place to identify problematic extensions and protect users?

[Antony Sargent]

I can't comment on specific cases, but in general we do have processes in place to catch violations of the program policies, and are continuing to refine the policy and enforcement of it over time, but we'll never get things right 100% of the time. 

If you ever see evidence of activity by an extension that seems like malware to you, please use the "report abuse" link on the Details tab and give as much specific information as you can in the "Describe why you are reporting this item for review" section of the report. 

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