Google search bar defaults to google.de and not google.co.uk
When I search using the Google search bar the search results come up from google.de and in German. This has been happening for a couple of months and is incredibly frustrating.
Searches on the web point to changing code, which is beyond my expertise, or changing the Google default settings, which then get lost at the end of the session as I use private browsing. There do not seem to be any other settings either in Firefox or Google that I can use.
As this is a recent problem, is it associated with a Firefox upgrade? And surely there is an easy fix?
cheers :)
Modified by lemm
Chosen solution
No, all cookies are cleared if you use Clear (Recent) History including the ones with an exception.
You can't use CRH if you need to keep some specific cookies.
All Replies (8)
Hi,
When not signed in to google, I think google search tries to guess the location from the IP address of the PC. You can change that by clicking Location on the left. But then the settings will be lost once the browser is closed because it is stored in a cookie file and so you may have to repeat this every time.
Thanks, and that is exactly the problem: this only works if you have cookies enabled, but lots of people like me prefer to clear cookies or use private browsing.
There has to be a simple workaround in Firefox that does not require cookies, or even an Add-on...?
cheers :)
One way would be to install FoxyProxy and configure a UK based proxy for the google.com URL. FYI: I'm not using this add-on. Before installing please read the reviews, user ratings, FAQs and help files. And of course there could be other better solutions.
Modified by Vivek
Thanks, yes I'd thought about a proxy, but didn't think I'd be able to find a proxy that is fast and up all the time... plus it seems a bit of a clumsy workaround for such a basic problem. Hope some other options surface...
cheers :)
You can let all cookies expire when you close Firefox and make a allow exception for Google instead of using Clear (Recent) History to clear all the cookies.
Thanks, but say I have the box ticked "Clear history when Firefox closes". If I make an exception for google and Allow their cookies, are you saying that this overrides the "Clear history..."?
My understanding is that the Exceptions box determines what cookies are allowed or blocked but not which ones are cleared.
cheers :)
Chosen Solution
No, all cookies are cleared if you use Clear (Recent) History including the ones with an exception.
You can't use CRH if you need to keep some specific cookies.
Thanks cor-el, as I thought. So I'd need to use something like CCleaner to clear cookies, history etc. and this will allow me to specify exceptions for google.
But it's still a clumsy workaround for a problem that appears to be inbuilt to Firefox. Surely there is some code workaround, which in future iterations of Firefox could be given a user interface that allows people to manage this problem themselves?