Re: {LVL1} Digest for lvl1@googlegroups.com - 1 update in 1 topic

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Dave Campbell

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Apr 13, 2026, 9:15:19 PM (13 days ago) Apr 13
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this type of answer used to be called "LMGTFY", but now maybe it is "LMAITFY".

asking for a friend:

hey. running chrome/goog browser/search.. and just realized, the results are"local". which kind of screws up a search engine!!! went through various "suggestions", no diff. used diff systems in thehouse, same thing. is anyone else having this issue? never seen this before. thanks running windows as well as sep ubuntu on sep systems thanks

This is actually a pretty common frustration, and you're not alone! Here's what's likely happening and how to fix it:

Why it's happening: Google heavily personalizes results based on your location (via IP address, GPS, Wi-Fi, or location history). It's gotten more aggressive about this over the years, and it affects all devices on the same network since they share the same public IP.

Things to try:

  1. Force a different region in the URL — add &gl=us&hl=en to the end of your search URL, or go to google.com/ncr (NCR = No Country Redirect). This is often the most reliable fix.

  2. Search settings — go to google.com → Settings (bottom right) → Search Settings → scroll to "Region Settings" and set it to your preferred country.

  3. Use a different Google domain — try google.com explicitly instead of being redirected to google.co.uk, google.ca, etc.

  4. Turn off location in your browser — in Chrome, go to Settings → Privacy and Security → Site Settings → Location, and either block it globally or revoke it for Google specifically.

  5. Try DuckDuckGo temporarily — just to confirm the problem is Google-specific. DDG has a !g bang that searches Google if needed.

  6. Check your VPN/DNS — if you're using a VPN or a custom DNS (like a Pi-hole), it might be routing you through a server that appears to be in a different region.

The fact that it's happening on multiple systems on the same network strongly points to your IP address being geolocated to an unexpected region — your ISP may have reassigned you an IP block that Google associates with a different area. The google.com/ncr trick or the URL parameters are your best bets in that case.


On Mon, Apr 13, 2026 at 8:17 PM <lv...@googlegroups.com> wrote:
bruce <bado...@gmail.com>: Apr 12 09:58PM -0400

hey.
 
running chrome/goog browser/search.. and just realized, the results are
"local". which kind of screws up a search engine!!!
 
went through various "suggestions", no diff. used diff systems in the
house, same thing.
 
is anyone else having this issue?
 
never seen this before.
 
thanks
 
running windows as well as sep ubuntu on sep systems
 
thanks
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Dave Campbell | davecc...@gmail.com
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