Change default search to Google Australia
I want to change my default search engine to Google Australia so I get more relevant result, rather than changing the URL after I have searched. Please tell me there is a way to do this! If not I'll have to change browsers because 99% of my searches are local so I have to change this all the time.
All Replies (9)
Hello Jo,
Would you please go to Google's Settings and scroll down to "Region Settings" => choose "Australia" and then click on the blue "Save" button.
To go to Google's Settings : on Google's main page; type in the search bar : "google search settings" and click on "Settings" => "Search settings".
My Google settings are already set to Australia?
I gather when Firefox sends your search to google.com, Google doesn't redirect your search to google.com.au automatically. That does happen for a lot of countries, but I guess not Australia for some reason?
Unfortunately, all the old country-specific search plugins on the Add-ons site got deleted due to the requirement for a new format. I created one for google.com.au just now and it needs to be reviewed before it goes live. Not sure whether that will done today (it's 16:45 in California), but here's the link for future reference when it comes up:
https://addons.mozilla.org/firefox/addon/google-australia-com-au-search/
Or check out the ones on this site:
Thank you! Can't wait :)
I visited Australia last year and ever since all my search results assume I'm there - I'm back in the UK. I don't use Google, I use Ecosia. What do I need to change? Oops .. just checked out Ecosia settings and have now changed .. I was assuming it was something to do with Firefox!
Modified
Neither of these options fixed it. Surely there has to be a solution? Or i am heading to chrome i guess
Hi nataliedith, what have you tried so far? Have you already installed an Australia-specific Google search plugin? If so, the steps to make it your default search engine are described in the following article: Change your default search settings in Firefox.
Hi jscher2000 I have tried to set up my default country to Australia and language to English as like Jo above I want my search results to be local - I use a VPN and although I've set this up to connect through Australia sometimes google looks at the "owner" of the VPN and thinks its UK or Indonesia, which then screws up my searches. I use to have to set the region every time I accessed Firefox (for some reason). Is there a way you can set up Firefox to always have a default of Australia and English? Also when a update comes through can I get all my settings to come over to the new version? Thanks Pam
Hi Pam, the Google search plugin in Firefox always points to the .com site and Google redirects wherever it likes. A VPN changes your entry point to the internet from down the road to wherever the service's exit node is, so Google takes that as a cue to localize your results.
I suggest installing an Australia-specific Google search plugin from one of the sources I mentioned earlier. It won't change your IP address, so your results still might be localized in an odd way, but it might be an improvement:
https://support.mozilla.org/en-US/questions/1280800#answer-1293622