Seamonky - Google UK searches return USA results, but not AU

User Help for Seamonkey and Mozilla Suite
bluewizard
Posts: 220
Joined: July 11th, 2006, 12:38 pm

Seamonky - Google UK searches return USA results, but not AU

Post by bluewizard »

For a larger context, take a look at my post in this forum -

VirtualDR - Convergence - Win-10, Seamonkey, Google, and the UK


http://discussions.virtualdr.com/showth ... and-the-UK

Though I will summarize it here and point out some ODD aspects I encountered.

I go to UK Audio Forums and frequently need to search specifically the UK, DE, DK, FR for results specific to those countries.

But using a brand new version of Win-10 and the latest version of Seamonkey 2.40, and going specifically to GOOGLE.CO.UK, all the search results I get come from the USA and are in USA Dollars. Typically doing SHOPPING searches for audio equipment.

Now it gets more weird. When I search GOOGLE.CO.AU (Australia) the result come back with Australian links.

I don't know if these links will work for you, but I'll post them in case it gives you some insight -

AUSTRALIA -


https://www.google.com.au/search?hl=en& ... h+receiver

https://www.google.com.au/shopping/prod ... 8wIIzwIwAA

If the links work, it is clear these results are all or primarily Australian.

UK -

https://www.google.co.uk/search?hl=en&o ... gws_rd=ssl

https://www.google.co.uk/shopping/produ ... 8wIIlwcwAA

Clearly virtually all the links are to the USA even though the URL is google.co.UK.

Compounding it even more, when I use FireFox to search GOOGLE.CO.UK, the results come back from the UK ... with UK links -

Firefox - UK -


https://www.google.co.uk/search?hl=en&o ... gws_rd=ssl

I'm not sure how the links will work for you, if necessary I can probably post screenshots.

I thought perhaps, despite being literally in google.co.uk, Seamonkey might be defaulting to my Browser Search Engine (google.com), so I changed the Browser Default to GOOGLE.CO.UK, no luck, still got USA results.

The problem seems unique to Seamonkey, and apparently only to the UK.

Oddly, I just tried GOOGLE.DE (germany) and the results were from Germany -

https://www.google.de/search?hl=de&outp ... aha+AS+301

Very confusing.

Keep in mind this is a new install of everything, I've only had the computer for a week.

If for you, the first Seamonkey GOOGLE.CO.UK (bluetooth speaker) and the second Firefox GOOGLE.CO.UK (bluetooth speaker) links return the exact same content in £, let me know, because then clearly something is wrong on my end.

If, however, the two links return results similar to mine, UK search USA results in the first instance, and UK search and UK results in the Firefox instance, that would be worth knowing too. I would mean the problem is not unique to me.

Keep in mind, on my old Win-XP computer with Seamonkey 2.35, these searches work flawlessly.

The computer is a new Dell 3650 with i5-6400, 8gb. I add that for reference, I don't think it has anything to do with the problem.

The old XP computer is a Dell 530.

Very odd, very odd indeed.

I'm at a loss for how this can be unique to GOOGLE.CO.UK ... at a complete loss.

Steve
bluewizard
Posts: 220
Joined: July 11th, 2006, 12:38 pm

Re: Seamonky - Google UK searches return USA results, but no

Post by bluewizard »

Just on the slim chance it might matter, I deleted the GOOGLE.CO.UK Cookie. Even though everything is the cookie simply repeated google.co.uk.

That seems to have worked but i don't know why. We will see how long it lasts.

Steve/bluewizard
bluewizard
Posts: 220
Joined: July 11th, 2006, 12:38 pm

Re: Seamonky - Google UK searches return USA results, but no

Post by bluewizard »

Sorry to bring this problem up again, but it is happening again. When I search Google-UK or Google-Germany, I don't get UK or German results, I get USA results.

This makes no sense, even though I'm in the USA, WHY would I search Google-Germany if I wanted USA results???? Clearly, since I am at Google-Germany, I want German results.

Does anyone have any suggestions.

Of course I deleted the Google-UK cookies, in fact I got so desperate I deleted all my Google cookies from every country I visited. But I'm still getting USA results even though I'm searching International sites.

Though not in the realm of Mozilla or Seamonkey, perhaps there is some Google setting I can change.

Note this happens whether I am logged into Google or not. Currently, since I am not logged in, my GeoLocaton is listed as Unknown.

Hopefully someone has some ideas.

Steve/bluewizard
TPR75
Posts: 1352
Joined: July 25th, 2011, 8:11 am
Location: Poland

Re: Seamonky - Google UK searches return USA results, but no

Post by TPR75 »

bluewizard wrote:Of course I deleted the Google-UK cookies, in fact I got so desperate I deleted all my Google cookies from every country I visited. But I'm still getting USA results even though I'm searching International sites.
Probably it's based on your IP address. I have similar problem while searching IMDb site but (not) funny thing is when I'm in Poland closer to western border I'm getting German version (e.g. movie titles) instead of original (or at least Polish). SeaMonkey profile is the same but my IP address is different (not dynamic, static in particular location).

Looks like "they" knows better what we "really" need based on our localization... ](*,)
--
User avatar
Frank Lion
Posts: 21173
Joined: April 23rd, 2004, 6:59 pm
Location: ... The Exorcist....United Kingdom
Contact:

Re: Seamonky - Google UK searches return USA results, but no

Post by Frank Lion »

TPR75 wrote:
bluewizard wrote:Of course I deleted the Google-UK cookies, in fact I got so desperate I deleted all my Google cookies from every country I visited. But I'm still getting USA results even though I'm searching International sites.
Probably it's based on your IP address
Yep, it is. When I use those links, I get, in the top left corner. - Your location: Cambridgeshire, UK

That's over a 100 miles from me, but it is one of the areas my ISP uses.
"The only thing necessary for the triumph of evil, is for good men to do nothing." - Edmund Burke (attrib.)
.
bluewizard
Posts: 220
Joined: July 11th, 2006, 12:38 pm

Re: Seamonky - Google UK searches return USA results, but no

Post by bluewizard »

Thanks for the replies. I'm sure the Google aspect is based on my IP Address. But again, why would I bother to go to Google-DE, if I wanted results from Google-USA? I went to Germany (DE) because those are the results I wanted. I can't imagine the logic behind Google doing this. How is the 'feature' helping anyone?

There is a search engine that fakes you address and will return proper results - ISearchFrom.com - but that adds one more stage to the search. Still, if that is the best I can do, then that is the best I can do.

I also tried Global Google, which worked for a standard web search, but as soon as I switched back to Shopping, the results were back to the USA.

If open if anyone has any other ideas.

Steve
frg
Posts: 1361
Joined: December 15th, 2015, 1:20 pm

Re: Seamonky - Google UK searches return USA results, but no

Post by frg »

>> I can't imagine the logic behind Google doing this. How is the 'feature' helping anyone?

They probably don't care. A lot of users are probably mindless shopping drones only and thats what they are interested in. Selling targeted regional ads and shopping results. Together with the folks who only ever use local search the vast majority.
LordOfTheBored
Posts: 307
Joined: December 7th, 2005, 8:36 pm

Re: Seamonky - Google UK searches return USA results, but no

Post by LordOfTheBored »

Google's been doing more of what they think you want instead of what you said to do for quite a while now. At this rate, I reckon in five years it will just redirect from google.com to the page it thinks you want. No searching needed, or allowed.
barry37
New Member
Posts: 1
Joined: November 10th, 2016, 3:39 am

Re: Seamonky - Google UK searches return USA results, but no

Post by barry37 »

A bit tiresome, but typing "site:.uk" (no quotes) after your search terms, will (mostly) constrain searching to sites in UK, or whatever country suffix you use: .de .fr etc. It may exclude .com sites, if they have no .uk site as well.

There was a time (for me) when Google News displayed items in Turkish, but that stopped eventually.
bluewizard
Posts: 220
Joined: July 11th, 2006, 12:38 pm

Re: Seamonky - Google UK searches return USA results, but no

Post by bluewizard »

I tried apending - site:uk - to my shopping search. It didn't matter.

I have discovered that if I use a UK Proxy Server, I do get the right results because it fools Google into thinking I am in the UK. You can probably find a Free Proxy Server in just about every country.

http://uk-proxy.co.uk/


For example, I think someone said they were in Ireland, and were having trouble shopping the UK. Go to the site above, type in the UK location you want, and it will redirect through the Proxy and take you to the site.

Had another person in Sweden who was looking for products in the UK and DE, he could do the same thing and fool Google into thinking he is in the UK.

There are paid Proxy Servers that provide a long list of countries, you select the country you want, and they will redirect you to the website you want through a proxy server in the country you want. But ... these are paid services.

But I really should not have to do this to circumvent a clear and unambiguous search on Google.

Steve
mgagnonlv
Posts: 848
Joined: February 12th, 2005, 8:33 pm

Re: Seamonky - Google UK searches return USA results, but no

Post by mgagnonlv »

barry37 wrote:A bit tiresome, but typing "site:.uk" (no quotes) after your search terms, will (mostly) constrain searching to sites in UK, or whatever country suffix you use: .de .fr etc. It may exclude .com sites, if they have no .uk site as well.
It will exclude .com sites. The "site:..." qualifier restricts a search to a given domain – or first-level extension in that case. Its first usefulness is to allow you to search through a website, with often better results than what you would get from the website's own search engine. So a search for "ventilation site:thissite.com" will search for anything related to ventilation on thissite.com.

As for Google, I believe its announcers are keen on having you shop and they know that, for the most part, you are more likely to spend your money in a local store or in one with an international web presence than you would be in a store at the other end of the world. So they do what's best for their announcers.

Your only solutions are to use a proxy (but maybe the seller would object) or to work around the system by first searching for a store in Austria, and then by shopping through the store's own website.
Michel Gagnon
Montréal (Québec, Canada)
bluewizard
Posts: 220
Joined: July 11th, 2006, 12:38 pm

Re: Seamonky - Google UK searches return USA results, but no

Post by bluewizard »

mgagnonlv wrote:
barry37 wrote:...

As for Google, I believe its announcers are keen on having you shop and they know that, for the most part, you are more likely to spend your money in a local store or in one with an international web presence than you would be in a store at the other end of the world. So they do what's best for their announcers.

....
That is probably right if you have a the narrowest of narrow world views. But, I do not live in a tiny world, I live in the world at large via the Internet.

Though I did work in Import/Export and Google-Shopping was vitally important to that effort, today I spend most of my time on Audio Forum, typically in the UK. So, some one posts and says, I've got this much money and I want an amp and speakers. I search possible amps and speakers, provide links to products I think this person can use, and he takes that into consideration and buys an amp and speakers. It doesn't matter that I am in Minnesota, I can still advise people in the UK, and this is precisely where Google FAILS. They fail to see that we are not bound by international boundaries.

If I want products for myself in the USA, then I will search the USA, but I have legitimate reasons for searching Google-UK, Google-DE, Google-DK, Google-AU, Google-NZ, and have often done so. I can see getting USA results when I search the USA. But I can NOT see getting USA results when I specifically search the UK. My searches lead to click-throughs and eventually to sales, but now I am blocked from access to the very websites I am clearly and unambiguously searching for.

If I search Google-UK, and get products from the USA, those product placements are wasted because that is clearly what I am NOT looking for. No Click-Through, No Sales. But If I can get products from the UK as I want, then those will lead to Click-Throughs and to Sales.

The stunning part of this is that Google fails to see this. Yes, I can use a proxy, but that means I have to either pay for an International Proxy Service or I have to track down a free Proxy Server in every country I need to search. Bit of a pain.

Also, through the Proxy, I don't get direct links, I get encoded links from the Proxy Server which is an additional pain when I want to post those links for another person on line.

By way of example, here are two links I posted just minutes ago -

The standard link -

http://www.argos.co.uk/product/6005779

The Proxy Link -

http://uk-proxy.co.uk/w.php?u=H19SqpehL ... CM%3D&b=29

Bit of a difference.

Steve
bluewizard
Posts: 220
Joined: July 11th, 2006, 12:38 pm

Re: Seamonky - Google UK searches return USA results, but no

Post by bluewizard »

Vladmir,

I appreciate the help, but the CR is outdated and no longer works.

The important aspect is SHOPPING specifically.

So, I entered this -

https://www.google.co.uk/shopping?cr=countryGB

I still got results back exclusively from the USA.

I had tried the CR Parameter before with no results. I think google has cut off all means of localizing a Shopping search to a specific country unless you happen to be in that country. I think in the past, Google used to have a check box that would allow you to limit the search to the specific country you are searching. Now it is forced to the country of your location regardless of what country you are searching. And that really does not make sense.

Steve
lem3
Posts: 74
Joined: May 15th, 2015, 10:29 am

Re: Seamonky - Google UK searches return USA results, but no

Post by lem3 »

Google seems to still honor the Geographic Location (gl) parameter in the search URL.

If I do a basic search for bluetooth speakers, I'm taken to URL of USA results:
https://www.google.com/search?q=bluetoo ... eamonkey-a

If I add the Geographic Location parameter "&gl=uk" to the end of that string:
https://www.google.com/search?q=bluetoo ... ey-a&gl=uk

the results show a number of ".uk" locations. No guarantee on how long it will work, Google being how they are.
Post Reply