Hi richfoer, I'm not familiar with the name research bar. Is it a button Firefox's main toolbar (the one with the address bar and main menu button), or on the bookmarks toolbar (below the main toolbar)?

For a button on the main toolbar:

One possible culprit would be an extension. You can view, disable, and often remove unwanted or unknown extensions on the Add-ons page. Either:

• Command+Shift+a (Windows: Ctrl+Shift+a)
• "3-bar" menu button (or Tools menu) > Add-ons
• type or paste about:addons in the address bar and press Enter/Return

In the left column of the Add-ons page, click Extensions.

Then cast a critical eye over the list on the right side. Any extensions Firefox installs for built-in features are hidden from this page, so everything listed here is your choice (and your responsibility) to manage. Anything suspicious or that you just do not remember installing or why? If in doubt, disable (or remove).

Any improvement?

For a button on the bookmarks toolbar:

You can remove an unwanted bookmark by right-clicking (or on a one-button mouse, Ctrl+clicking) the bookmark and choosing Delete from the context menu.

Any progress so far?

Hello richfoer,

In addition to the above, would you please take a look at this article :

https://malwaretips.com/blogs/remove-search-mykotlerino-com/

It might also be a good idea to run all malware scans that are listed here :

https://support.mozilla.org/en-US/kb/troubleshoot-firefox-issues-caused-malware