Banished from Google
Jul. 1st, 2011 04:46 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
shewhomustYesterday my search engine of choice was Google - and when I say Google, I mean google.com. Doesn't everyone?
Then Firefox demanded to be updated.
It's been doing this for a couple of days, but since the demand came with a warning that the update wasn't compatitle with my Google toolbar, I thought I'd let it ride. But the demands were repeated, with increasing urgency, so I thought, OK, I'd fix the toolbar manually. And today I updated to Firefox 5.
No Google toolbar. Firefox talks about lots of shiny add-ons (coloured tabs!) none of which is a Google toolbar. Google says its toolbar is not compatitble with Firefox 5. Oops.
Never mind, I can always open a tab and go to Google.com, can't I?
No, I can't. I can type www.google.com until I'm blue in the face, I'm still automatically transferred to Google.co.uk. This is thanks to some nifty new 'location-based customization feature' (excuse me, if this is Google UK, shouldn't that be "customisation"?) so that when I search for 'restaurants' say, priority will be given to restaurants in Gateshead (apparently I'm in Gateshead).
How often do I search for 'restaurants'? This was the first time. A specific restaurant, occasionally. And I admit that occasionally I search for the library in a particular town, and have to take care not to be misled by the library of a town of that name in the USA, but I can cope. It's interesting. But most of my searches are for general information, and I want the results to be as wide as possible. If I want filters and restrictions, I'll impose them.
Luckily, there are some helpful FAQs, and I go to "Can I turn off location-based customization?" Less luckily, the answer is "No."
In full, it's "The customization of search results based on location is an important component of a consistent, high-quality search experience. Therefore, we haven't provided a way to turn off location customization, although we've made it easy for you to set your own location or to customize using a general location as broad as the country that matches your local domain."
At least I'm not in Gateshead any more, I'm now in the UK, but I don't want to be in the UK, I want to be in the world (as in World Wide Web).
Does anyone have any suggestions?
PS. So I'm not allowed to go to Google.com, but I can go to Google.fr if I want to - and I can specify my location to get restaurant recommendations in Rennes. Which got me thinking, and I'm no longer in the UK, I'm now in Kirkwall (a girl can dream).
Then Firefox demanded to be updated.
It's been doing this for a couple of days, but since the demand came with a warning that the update wasn't compatitle with my Google toolbar, I thought I'd let it ride. But the demands were repeated, with increasing urgency, so I thought, OK, I'd fix the toolbar manually. And today I updated to Firefox 5.
No Google toolbar. Firefox talks about lots of shiny add-ons (coloured tabs!) none of which is a Google toolbar. Google says its toolbar is not compatitble with Firefox 5. Oops.
Never mind, I can always open a tab and go to Google.com, can't I?
No, I can't. I can type www.google.com until I'm blue in the face, I'm still automatically transferred to Google.co.uk. This is thanks to some nifty new 'location-based customization feature' (excuse me, if this is Google UK, shouldn't that be "customisation"?) so that when I search for 'restaurants' say, priority will be given to restaurants in Gateshead (apparently I'm in Gateshead).
How often do I search for 'restaurants'? This was the first time. A specific restaurant, occasionally. And I admit that occasionally I search for the library in a particular town, and have to take care not to be misled by the library of a town of that name in the USA, but I can cope. It's interesting. But most of my searches are for general information, and I want the results to be as wide as possible. If I want filters and restrictions, I'll impose them.
Luckily, there are some helpful FAQs, and I go to "Can I turn off location-based customization?" Less luckily, the answer is "No."
In full, it's "The customization of search results based on location is an important component of a consistent, high-quality search experience. Therefore, we haven't provided a way to turn off location customization, although we've made it easy for you to set your own location or to customize using a general location as broad as the country that matches your local domain."
At least I'm not in Gateshead any more, I'm now in the UK, but I don't want to be in the UK, I want to be in the world (as in World Wide Web).
Does anyone have any suggestions?
PS. So I'm not allowed to go to Google.com, but I can go to Google.fr if I want to - and I can specify my location to get restaurant recommendations in Rennes. Which got me thinking, and I'm no longer in the UK, I'm now in Kirkwall (a girl can dream).
