TechRadar reported in a November 10, 2026 update that Planet Search had been removed from the Chrome Web Store. Its investigation also described tests in which searches routed to Yahoo and a Planet VPN desktop installer that offered the extension during setup.
What happened to the Chrome listing
TechRadar’s update said Planet Search had been removed from the Chrome Web Store. The extension was the subject of the outlet’s investigation into Chrome search settings and redirects.
How Planet Search routed searches
TechRadar said its analysis of the extension’s code found a Chrome manifest setting, chrome_settings_overrides.search_provider, that pointed to planet-search.com. In its tests, searches passed through intermediary domains before reaching Yahoo’s /yhs/search endpoint. The resulting URLs included commercial syndication parameters and campaign-tracking tags.
The descriptions of the search provider differed: the Chrome Web Store listing named Google, another Planet Search page named Microsoft Bing, and TechRadar’s test searches reached Yahoo.
When an extension changes Chrome’s default search provider, pay attention to where searches are routed and what the service’s privacy policy says about query data.
TechRadar also reported that Planet Search’s privacy policy described search queries and their dates and times as usage data the service may gather. The policy named CodeFuel in connection with certain web search services.
Planet VPN’s installer offered the extension
TechRadar reported that setup for Planet VPN desktop client V.2.10.69.99 offered users the option to download and install Planet Search. The outlet dated that client’s release to January 13, 2026.
A separate complaint and developer reply reproduced in TechRadar date to 2023. Emmanuel Ramos’s Chrome Web Store complaint was dated July 5; a Planet VPN developer replied on July 13 that the user had selected a Planet Search checkbox during installation and could remove the extension through the desktop VPN settings. That exchange describes one user’s experience at the time.
Another tool uses the Planet Search name
The Chrome extension is distinct from planetsearch.app, which a No Man’s Sky discussion describes as a browser-based tool for finding game worlds. The two products have different purposes.
