If you browse the web regularly, chances are you must have seen gstatic.com, among the hostnames that fly by in the browser’s statusbar while browsing the web. It’s something that many netizens are not aware of and therefore, often mistaken as a virus or malware. So, what exactly is gstatic.com and what it’s used for. We’ll discuss all of it in today’s post.
What is gstatic.com and how does Google use it?
Well, Gstatic is a domain that is owned by Google. It has a special role in helping the content on Google to load faster from their CDN or content delivery network. Apart from this, the domain does the following-
- Reduces bandwidth usage.
- Increases network performance.
- Speeds up loading Google services like Gmail, Google Maps.
- Store static data like JS libraries, stylesheets, etc.
- Verifies connectivity to the Internet (for Chrome browser and Android devices).
Furthermore, gstatic.com has some subdomains:
- fonts.gstatic.com – Requests to the Google Fonts API are made to resource-specific domains, such as fonts.googleapis.com or fonts.gstatic.com
- maps.gstatic.com – Let’s you embed a Google Maps image on your web page without requiring JavaScript or any dynamic page loading.
- csi.gstatic.com – The main purpose of this domain is to improve the performance of other sites.
A counterfeit version of the domain also exists that many cybercriminals like browser hijackers use to install unwanted applications and adware. Such programs don’t disclose information about apps bundled with them. For this reason, experts advise installing third-party software only from trustworthy sources. Also, you can run a scan to check if there’s any virus that has escaped the scrutiny. Enable and configure Ransomware Protection in Windows Defender.
Is Gstatic com a virus?
Although Gstatic is a legitimate Google service that facilitates reduced bandwidth usage and increased network performance, instances of it being used for bad activities have also been reported. So, when you see the unwanted pop-ups delivered by gstatic, scan it for viruses and malware.
What are Gstatic images?
Images found on https://encrypted-tbn0.gstatic.com/ that represent the cached version of the image stored on Google’s servers are Gstatic images. Their purpose is to speed up the delivery of image results.
That’s all there is to it!
