Is mindspark.com Safe?

My old WOT review of this site was a rambling, chaotic shoutfest [courtesy of me only being 8 or so at the time], so frankly, a rewrite was LONG overdue. Mindspark went bust back in 2017, but what the heck. Mindspark Interactive Network was the origin of more than a few notorious PUPs, one of the most notorious probably being CursorMania [thanks for the warning, Joel from Vinesauce]. I've forgotten a lot of what their "transgressions" [so-to-speak] are, but I remember that Mindspark, overall, was a security disaster.

Adware and spyware ***** ***** Many of the Mindspark products require the user to install a toolbar hard to get off and clean up

Mindspark Interactive Network, Inc. is perhaps best known for its malicious software from SmileyCentral, CursorMania, and MotiTags, all of which are considered potentially unwanted and unsafe for your computer. The target demographics for many of its products are young teens, many of whom are gullible to downloading suspicious programs and content just to customize their cursor or add additional smileys to their chatboxes. Overall, I do not trust this site or its services, nor do I approve of its marketing strategies. Be cautious when using any of its products.

Many downloads offered on Mindspark Web sites require that you download toolbars that generate revenue for Mindspark. Do not download them if you do not want these toolbars to appear on your browser. Even if the toolbars are not malicious, they may clutter up your browser and operating system, compromise your computer's security, and take up valuable resources. There are many other free programs out there on the Internet, including free games, that you can download that aren't bundled with software you might not want.

This site saves undesirable cookies, posing as your homepage. I didn't let it get too far, but I am sure if I did it would be undesired. Stay away, faaaar, faaaaaaaar awaaaaaay. I have researched immensely, and found nothing good along with my experiences. This phantom comes in many different shapes and sizes. Caution to the wind, for y'all.

Any toolbar or software you download from a Mindpark or IAC website is bound to cause problems with your computer. They claim not to spread malware (as you'd expect any company to defend itself) but it takes only common sense to know that programs that cause computer problems or extract, sell & share your personal info from your computer are malware/spyware. On top of that, many of their programs are wrapped in adware which slows down its performance and is simply annoying. Anything free usually has strings attached.