Many people go online today in search of answers.

“What does error message xxx000 mean?”

“Why am I getting lines or dots in my digital images?”

“Why is my computer not being seen on the network?”

The reason people search for such information online is that, often enough, the answers are out there. Unfortunately, a growing number of sites have been designed to provide the appearance of answering questions when their real intention is to serve you ads or solicit your money.

How can you fight back? One way is to use Google to create a custom search engine in which you can blacklist, or exclude, those unhelpful websites from future search results. Start by visiting Google Custom Search, and follow the prompts for creating a custom search engine. Once your engine is created, it will be easy to remove sites from it.

Another option, for Internet Explorer users, is to enlist the help of a browser plug-in such as Affine, which places two icons next to search results. One of the icons you can click to hide the site from future results; the other you can click to cause the site’s title to be displayed in a lighter shade, indicating that it’s of less interest. For those using Firefox, the Block unwanted results plug-in performs a similar function.

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