Anyone know what 'Google Wide Vine Media Optimizer' is?

This is not something 'installed' on my computer (and my husband, who is very 'software' knowledgable, never heard of it), and yet I keep getting pop-up "update" windows...

They show three choices to 'click' on: "Uninstall" - "Try Later" - "Update Now"

There's nothing you can 'click' on to just get rid of it...When it comes up, an icon shows up on my 'dock' at the bottom of my application icons, and my husband showed me how to 'right click' on the icon which brings up "options" - then I click on "Quit" and the whole thing goes away...

Before he showed me that, I had to shut down the computer to get rid of the window.

I just think it's weird that this thing is showing up out of the blue, saying it's an "update", and we have no idea what it is - much less have any apps or software it could be 'related' to...

And why does it have an "Uninstall" when it's not something we ever 'In'stalled? And why would it keep coming back? (three times yesterday and two so far today).

Many thanks for any info anyone can give!

a reply to: lostgirl

Here is a link on how to uninstall it.

The Widevine Media Optimizer is a browser plugin designed for the viewing of premium video content.

The Widevine plugin is commonly used by premium content providers. Please contact your content provider for additional information or support.

Link

a reply to: lostgirl

Disconnect from the internet & uninstall.

If you don't disconnect while uninstalling, it may open a backdoor.

Backing up what the posters above have linked to - this is not a software package that was installed but rather a plug-in to your web browser. If you were looking in a list of installed applications you won't find it. You'd need to look at the list of plug-ins active in your browser.

Some posters online are saying that the initial install was required to active Netflix streaming, if that helps.

originally posted by: shefskitchen
a reply to: lostgirl

Disconnect from the internet & uninstall.

If you don't disconnect while uninstalling, it may open a backdoor.

OMG! You were right! Not knowing what to do (and not being 'suspicious' yet), I had hit "uninstall" the first time it showed up at which point the pop-up window disappeared and nothing else seemed to have happened - but...

.....looking into our plug-ins just now, we discovered that this 'Widevine' thing had actually installed itself!!!

What's more, we went to "manage website settings" and in the window for that there was a notation from "Safari" saying that 'Widevine' is not considered "safe" and that websites can use it to access personal information and other data from your computer!!

Thank you for replying - I would never have known about a possible backdoor...

Maybe we should be warning people...

a reply to: Tripnman

Just FYI - I posted what I found out about 'Widevine' in a reply to shefskitchen, because he was the one who warned that it could open a backdoor, but it was your suggestion to check our plug-ins that helped me figure out what had happened..
So - thank you for taking the time to post!

a reply to: lostgirl

Always be suspicious and CLICK NOTHING! I once had a "uninstall" button to something that I never installed...and guess what it did? Yep. Because it detected (after I stupidly clicked it) that I DIDNT have it installed...it INSTALLED IT. (Yes, by clicking UNINSTALL!)

Thanks for posting this question. I keep getting this pop up as well and I know that I never down loaded it, nor did I apply this plug-in to my browser. I use Safari, not Chrome, and have no idea where this came from!

originally posted by: Tripnman
Backing up what the posters above have linked to - this is not a software package that was installed but rather a plug-in to your web browser. If you were looking in a list of installed applications you won't find it. You'd need to look at the list of plug-ins active in your browser.

Some posters online are saying that the initial install was required to active Netflix streaming, if that helps.

Sooo, what if you look on your list of plug-ins and this one isn't there and has never been installed? Any ideas?