From Leo's mailbag:
> From: A Computer User
> Sent: June 02, 2005
> To: Ask Leo!
> Subject: Google: Canada versus the World?
>
> Leo,
> I currently live in Canada and my question is regarding
> Google searches. It has recently occurred to me that Google
> is trying to be overly helpful by prioritizing Canadian-based
> sites in my search results. The problem is that most of the
> time I want to search globally and I really don't want
> Canadian sites to supplant more relavant sites from elsewhere
> in the results. I can't seem to get around this -- whenever I
> type in "google.com" into my address bar it redirects to "google.ca".
>
> So, I guess my question is two-fold: 1. Is this really
> happening, or am I imagining Google's behavior? 2. If Google
> is Canadianizing my results, is there anything I can do to stop it?
I don't believe you're imagining it :-). I would guess they use
geolocation based on your IP address to determine you're in
Canada.
In going to google.ca myself, I note that there's a "go to
Google.com" link near the bottom that appears to take me
to the main site. Does that work for you? Is it even there?
It goes here: http://www.google.com/ncr if not.
Good luck!
Leo (former Canadian m'self :-)
Article 8549
| Category:
Internet
