How to Remove a Google Malware Warning

I run a few WordPress blogs, one of which is the one you’re reading now, but I also author another blog which deals with multiple advertising networks. One of those networks was affected with malware. Thankfully my site was not affected but several of my friends’ sites were. This post will serve as an information gateway for you to learn how to remove a Google malware warning.

The impact was huge. As an example, I have 10 blogging friends that I absolutely adore. Of those 10, five were affected – that’s 50%! The Google malware warning removal process is not quick by any means, in fact, it’s slow as crap. They take their sweet time, even when it’s Google’s fault or a “fake” malware warning. And there’s nothing you can do about it except follow the steps below to speed up the process.

1. You’ve been affected and you’re getting the big nasty red Google malware warning shown above. Bummer… I’ve totally been there. The first thing you need to do is figure out what is causing the warning and remove anything related it. For example, their malware warning was from escalatenetwork.net and is affecting all WordPress widgets, iframes, and images hosted by escalatenetwork.net.
2. Request a Malware Review with Google Webmaster Tools. The process is as follows:
   • Log in to Google Webmaster Tools.
   • From the Tool’s home page click on the link to the site that is being flagged to go to the site’s Dashboard.
   • There should be a large red banner across the top of the dashboard that says “This site may be distributing malware.” Clicking on the link that says “More Details” expands the dashboard to reveal a list of pages on the site that were found to be malicious. (You can also check Health -> Malware.)
   • Below this list is a link that says “Request a review.” Fill out this form and click the “Request a review” button to initiate the review process.
   • NOTE: It may take 24-48 hours just for the warning to show up in Google Webmasters Tools. This is the most frustrating and time-consuming part of the entire process.
3. Sit back and wait. Normally, after you’ve completed step 2, things go pretty quickly from here. Try not to get too irritated while you wait.
4. Periodically check Google Webmaster Tools to see if the error is gone. You can also use this link to see if your site is currently clean (according to Google), just replace YOURURLHERE with your URL: http://www.google.com/safebrowsing/diagnostic?site=www.YOURURLHERE.com
5. Once your site no longer shows a Google malware warning, you need to request reconsideration of your site by Google. Rumor says they stop indexing your site when you have malware so you’ll want to make sure they start checking it again.

Four helpful links to check your site’s health and speed up the malware removal process:

• http://www.google.com/safebrowsing/diagnostic?site=www.YOURURLHERE.com (replace YOURURLHERE)
• http://www.unmaskparasites.com/security-report/
• http://sitecheck.sucuri.net/scanner/
• https://www.stopbadware.org/clearinghouse/search

I hope this post provides you with a step-by-step process for getting rid of a Google malware warning. If you’ve found this useful, please share it with a friend. :) Good luck against the Google giant!

PS. Want to read my Google malware horror story? You can find it here.

Jenny :: Simple Mama

My passion is transforming not so good for you recipes into something healthy yet still keeping them delicious. Lately I'm going keto. I’m a super busy mom of 2 sports-crazed boys and in my 9-5 I'm a Senior Project Manager for a kick ass web design company.