| Pages in topic: [1 2] > | Alternatives for Google, following recent changes to search setting location - and lobbying? Thread poster: JaneD
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JaneD 
Sweden
Local time: 04:10
Member (2009)
Swedish to English
+ ...
I'm sure others must have been struggling with this too, but I can't find a thread about it, so apologies if this has already been discussed somewhere else.
Google has recently introduced new changes to the search results it displays depending on where you are currently located. The idea, according to them, is to improve the relev... See more I'm sure others must have been struggling with this too, but I can't find a thread about it, so apologies if this has already been discussed somewhere else.
Google has recently introduced new changes to the search results it displays depending on where you are currently located. The idea, according to them, is to improve the relevance of results by showing things in the local language/related to the country you're in.
Sadly, of course, this is exactly the opposite of what most translators want. If I'm searching for the English word for a particular type of trolley used to transport artworks (which is exactly what I'm doing now), I don't want a load of French companies who supply such equipment appearing in the search results just because I happen to be physically in France right now!
There doesn't seem to be any easy way around this, other than using different search engines, none of which are as comprehensive as Google used to be. Even using a VPN doesn't seem to work.
So what I'm wondering is twofold:
a) Has anybody found a satisfactory workround for this, and
b) Are any translator associations wiling to bring up this issue with Google, to lobby them to at least make this an optional setting? Obviously individual translators can't make any difference, but as a group we might have more chance ▲ Collapse
| | | | | Agree, and something else | Dec 16, 2017 |
It's annoying indeed. Since I'm physically in Germany, Google is often flogging matches in German first, even though I have configured it to show results in English, French and Danish, and even though I have configured Google to use the .com domain. Only rarely do I want German results.
There is unfortunately no way to set region to "No region" under Settings.
Through Advanced Search under Settings (once you have made an initial search), you can tell it to search in spe... See more It's annoying indeed. Since I'm physically in Germany, Google is often flogging matches in German first, even though I have configured it to show results in English, French and Danish, and even though I have configured Google to use the .com domain. Only rarely do I want German results.
There is unfortunately no way to set region to "No region" under Settings.
Through Advanced Search under Settings (once you have made an initial search), you can tell it to search in specific regions and/or languages, though. It's not perfect, but better than nothing.
Last time I tried Bing, it gave no effect to quotes, as in "I only want exact matches for this". Rather useless.
I've tried DuckDuckGo after what looked like a politically filtered search result from Google, something a few Google employees have accused Google of doing. DuckDuckGo showed what I was looking for on the first page, while Google had hidden it away, but DuckDuckGo has no language settings, and the results are generally not nearly as good as Google's, not to say really bad when you need something in another language than English.
Also annoying is Google's habit of modifying your search terms to something else, often changing a correctly spelt term from another language to match something in English that you didn't ask for and didn't want. I have complained several times under Feedback.
But how do you get them to listen? They seem to think they know better than the user what the user is looking for. ▲ Collapse
| | | | Michael Beijer
United Kingdom
Local time: 03:10
Member (2009)
Dutch to English
+ ...
JaneD wrote: I'm sure others must have been struggling with this too, but I can't find a thread about it, so apologies if this has already been discussed somewhere else. Google has recently introduced new changes to the search results it displays depending on where you are currently located. The idea, according to them, is to improve the relevance of results by showing things in the local language/related to the country you're in. Sadly, of course, this is exactly the opposite of what most translators want. If I'm searching for the English word for a particular type of trolley used to transport artworks (which is exactly what I'm doing now), I don't want a load of French companies who supply such equipment appearing in the search results just because I happen to be physically in France right now! There doesn't seem to be any easy way around this, other than using different search engines, none of which are as comprehensive as Google used to be. Even using a VPN doesn't seem to work. So what I'm wondering is twofold: a) Has anybody found a satisfactory workround for this, and b) Are any translator associations wiling to bring up this issue with Google, to lobby them to at least make this an optional setting? Obviously individual translators can't make any difference, but as a group we might have more chance
If you want UK-specific results, just add the following to your query: site:uk
If you want US-specific results, just add the following to your query: site:us
etc.
That should do it. There are also ways to make your browser use one specific country, but can't remember at the moment.
Michael
| | | | | A partial solution | Dec 16, 2017 |
Hear, hear. Besides spelling "corrections", Google sometimes also translates your query into its output language - for example, if I type a Russian word and an English word (to find them together on the same page), Google may also find pages that include the English translation of that Russian word. What's especially bad, all these quirks are unpredictable - sometimes you get them, sometimes you don't.
Some of these problems can be alleviated by using verbatim search in Goog... See more Hear, hear. Besides spelling "corrections", Google sometimes also translates your query into its output language - for example, if I type a Russian word and an English word (to find them together on the same page), Google may also find pages that include the English translation of that Russian word. What's especially bad, all these quirks are unpredictable - sometimes you get them, sometimes you don't.
Some of these problems can be alleviated by using verbatim search in Google (Tools > All results > Verbatim), but in many cases it makes the search too strict.
If you want UK-specific results, just add the following to your query: site:uk
If you want US-specific results, just add the following to your query: site:us
The site: option only restricts the domain name, not the actual country. On the other hand, you can use any part of the domain name here, so that "site:proz.com" often gives you a better search in the KudoZ glossary than ProZ's built-in search engine.
[Edited at 2017-12-16 20:16 GMT] ▲ Collapse
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Lincoln Hui
Hong Kong
Local time: 10:10
Member
Chinese to English
+ ...
| Region settings | Dec 16, 2017 |
According to Google, you can go into search settings and change your current region with "Region Settings". Of course, the dummkopfs don't offer a "no region" setting.
Not that any of this should surprise anyone who has been paying attention to what Google has been doing for the past 6-7 years or so. It is basically a purely evil company, and people are lining up to be boiled like frogs.
[Edited at 2017-12-16 20:23 GMT]
| | | | JaneD
Sweden
Local time: 04:10
Member (2009)
Swedish to English
+ ...
TOPIC STARTER | Region settings | Dec 16, 2017 |
Yeah, but I'm often working on a couple of projects in different languages at the same time. Or I might want to check UK results and Swedish results, for instance, to work in both directions for a particularly recalcitrant term. All I want is for the search to search! The entire thing is like globalisation on a micro scale. We're ruining the world (here, the internet) ostensibly to give more choice, but actually you just end up with less and less all the time, usually on the basis of what some I... See more Yeah, but I'm often working on a couple of projects in different languages at the same time. Or I might want to check UK results and Swedish results, for instance, to work in both directions for a particularly recalcitrant term. All I want is for the search to search! The entire thing is like globalisation on a micro scale. We're ruining the world (here, the internet) ostensibly to give more choice, but actually you just end up with less and less all the time, usually on the basis of what some IT prodigy thinks is a good idea.
I often ponder what will finish my career as a translator - usually I think that it will be an inability to buy lightbulbs that actually illuminate my desk, but now I'm wondering if it won't be Google shutting off any useful means for finding information. It's not like we can abandon online research and go back to the old ways of paper, because a lot of the old paper reference works aren't produced any more. ▲ Collapse
| | | | | Regional and Language settings | Dec 17, 2017 |
Hello JaneD,
Thank you for bring this up.
I’ve run a few tests and here’s what I have found on my end:
- Using VPN DOES change the region detected by Google Search, which you can check on the bottom of the Google Search page. If it doesn’t, maybe your VPN service leaks IPv4 or IPv6 address (in that case check with your VPN’s support or test/switch to another one). Your browser may also leak your address, probably because of WebRTC. You can check thi... See more Hello JaneD,
Thank you for bring this up.
I’ve run a few tests and here’s what I have found on my end:
- Using VPN DOES change the region detected by Google Search, which you can check on the bottom of the Google Search page. If it doesn’t, maybe your VPN service leaks IPv4 or IPv6 address (in that case check with your VPN’s support or test/switch to another one). Your browser may also leak your address, probably because of WebRTC. You can check this on this page: https://www.expressvpn.com/webrtc-leak-test which also explains how to disable WebRTC or prevent it from leaking your IP while still using it.
- Region settings and Context results: The Default Region setting is: “Current region”, so this will be picked up if you change VPN country, but you can force/set a specific region as well. I think this is mostly for “context results”. For example, I’ve used the word “cinema”. If I set my country to USA, first context results are related to some cinemas in the chosen US region. If I bring back the country to France, I get context results for the specific region I’m in. Please note context results are NOT Google Search results per se, they are pulled from other Google products, such as Maps, News, etc.
To access your Google Search settings: https://www.google.com/preferences (this works even without being connected to a Google account)
In addition to Region settings, Google Search also has Language settings. This might be more relevant to you, as I’m guessing you don’t care so much about the context results (which can be tweaked with VPN/Region settings), as you do about the search results per se, and the language(s) they are presented in.
You can change the language(s) used for your search results in Google Search Settings >Languages, as described in:
https://support.google.com/websearch/answer/3333234?co=GENIE.Platform=Desktop&hl=en&oco=0
You can also use this direct URL: https://www.google.com/preferences#languages This works even without being connected to a Google account. You can set multiple search languages if you wish so. The settings will be remembered until you change them.
All this can be further tweaked in an Advanced Google Search: https://www.google.fr/advanced_search
Using multiple browsers with different Google search settings (while not connected to an account or the same account) can also be a (less than perfect, but still manageable) solution.
----
Alternative:
StartPage.com brings you Google results, but removes all identifiable information from the query when submitting your searches. StartPage also allows you to set the search language, however, it does not show the Google’s results count, which can be a useful information to have for your “Web as corpus” searches. You can use StartPage as the search engine used through the "Search bar" if your browser has one (I use Vivaldi, Firefox has it too), while you can still conduct Google searches from your "Address bar".
You can also try http://www.2lingual.com/ to conduct a Google search in two languages concurrently.
Hope this helps!
Jean
[Edited at 2017-12-17 09:15 GMT] ▲ Collapse
| | | | Agneta Pallinder
United Kingdom
Local time: 03:10
Member (2014)
Swedish to English
+ ...
| Change domain | Dec 17, 2017 |
I tend to open Google as google.se when I want the result slanted towards Swedish information, and otherwise use google.co.uk.
It somehow seems to work to an extent, but I have not done any systematic comparisons.
[Edited at 2017-12-17 12:50 GMT]
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Daryo
United Kingdom
Local time: 03:10
Serbian to English
+ ...
| how did you manage that? | Dec 17, 2017 |
Agneta Pallinder wrote:
I tend to open Google as google.se when I want the result slanted towards Swedish information, and otherwise use google.co.uk.
It somehow seems to work to an extent, but I have not done any systematic comparisons.
[Edited at 2017-12-17 12:50 GMT]
every time I try that trick, I get redirected without asking me to the Google site of the country I happen to be in! And no ways to break out of that jail!
Extremely frustrating - Google seems to be blissfully unaware that people travel (how unexpected can that be?), and also that not everyone needs always information confined to their own little corner of the globe!
| | | | | How to set Google to .com domain | Dec 17, 2017 |
Daryo wrote:
every time I try that trick, I get redirected without asking me to the Google site of the country I happen to be in! And no ways to break out of that jail!
Extremely frustrating - Google seems to be blissfully unaware that people travel (how unexpected can that be?), and also that not everyone needs always information confined to their own little corner of the globe!
Google seem to do everything they can to avoid giving you the choice, but here is what I found when I wanted to set my Google domain to .com instead of .de:
Set .com in Manage Search Engines in Chrome settings.
Visit www.google.com/ncr once.
This works until cookies are cleared (Chrome stores its settings in cookies, so be careful when clearing cookies).
It works for me, but I don't know if it works with other Google domains.
| | | | Agneta Pallinder
United Kingdom
Local time: 03:10
Member (2014)
Swedish to English
+ ...
| Daryo said: how did you manage that? | Dec 17, 2017 |
I use Firefox as my browser, and my home location is google.co.uk.
When I want to get a Swedish slant, I have simply been putting in the location google.se.
But - this might no longer work - I hadn't realised the change in Google until I now started to dig into it.
However, something is possible - I went to location google.se, and then I changed the setting for region to Sweden.
Then, I opened another tab where I went to location google.co.uk ... See more I use Firefox as my browser, and my home location is google.co.uk.
When I want to get a Swedish slant, I have simply been putting in the location google.se.
But - this might no longer work - I hadn't realised the change in Google until I now started to dig into it.
However, something is possible - I went to location google.se, and then I changed the setting for region to Sweden.
Then, I opened another tab where I went to location google.co.uk and let the location stay as United Kingdom.
Then, as an experiment I did a search on "bank" on both pages (same word, same meaning in both languages) and google.se with region Sweden gave me banks in Sweden while google.co.uk gave me banks in the UK.
One extra hoop to jump through, but worth it if it gives me different selections of entries. ▲ Collapse
| | | | | How do you set multiple languages? | Dec 17, 2017 |
Jean Dimitriadis wrote: You can also use this direct URL: https://www.google.com/preferences#languages This works even without being connected to a Google account. You can set multiple search languages if you wish so. The settings will be remembered until you change them.
I couldn't find this anywhere, thank you!
This could be extremely practical, as until now, I have used different bookmarks for different countries (google.de etc.) which is extremely annoying as you have to repeat the query each time you need a different language with a different URL.
Yes, it seems that Google wants increasingly to impose its results to the user leaving him/her always less choice and possibilities for refining the researches.
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| Multiple languages | Dec 18, 2017 |
Hello Christel,
Under "Currently showing search results" In https://www.google.com/preferences#languages click Edit and tick the languages you wish to use in the search results. This works even if you are not connected to a Google account.
Note: The default (untickable) language relates to the setting: "Which language should Google products use?", which defines the i... See more Hello Christel,
Under "Currently showing search results" In https://www.google.com/preferences#languages click Edit and tick the languages you wish to use in the search results. This works even if you are not connected to a Google account.
Note: The default (untickable) language relates to the setting: "Which language should Google products use?", which defines the interface language for Google products.
If you wish to make the same query in two different languages (while allowing Google to either translate the query into the second language or not) while displaying the results separately per each language, I'll repeat my suggestion to try http://www.2lingual.com/
To disable the automatic translation of the query to the second language in 2Lingual, after an initial search, select "Deactivate automatic query translation" on the second language panel.
Jean ▲ Collapse
| | | | JaneD
Sweden
Local time: 04:10
Member (2009)
Swedish to English
+ ...
TOPIC STARTER | Still more complicated than it used to be | Dec 18, 2017 |
Thanks for all the suggestions, but I was already doing most of this (search results in different languages, using different flavours of Google home page etc. etc.) and I really don't want to have to reset all my searches every time I change between translation projects in different language pairs.
Well, actually, it's not so much that I don't want to, it's more that I don't see why I, as the end user, should be forced to adopt such a workround just because someone in Google has de... See more Thanks for all the suggestions, but I was already doing most of this (search results in different languages, using different flavours of Google home page etc. etc.) and I really don't want to have to reset all my searches every time I change between translation projects in different language pairs.
Well, actually, it's not so much that I don't want to, it's more that I don't see why I, as the end user, should be forced to adopt such a workround just because someone in Google has decided that this search pattern makes sense for everyone. I actually know people who work for Google (not on a relevant team, sadly), and they're extremely well-travelled, so it can hardly be that they aren't aware users might need non-local results.
I expect that eventually someone, somewhere, will come up with an easy-to-implement answer for this – just like people did to get around the ridiculous Ribbon interface in Word 2007 and later the even more ridiculous Metro start menu for Windows. Alternatively, the results of search engines such as Bing will improve and give me back the functionality I already had! ▲ Collapse
| | | | | Important to remember that we're largely misusing Google | Dec 18, 2017 |
One thing to keep in mind is that translators make up a tiny minority of search-engine users and are using them in a way that is very different from what most users want. A normal user wants to go to the nearest branch of their bank and wants to understand what services they offer, etc. A translator wants to know what words a bank in a foreign country uses to refer to certain services.
I have not noticed any new problems when using Google's advanced search with the target country an... See more One thing to keep in mind is that translators make up a tiny minority of search-engine users and are using them in a way that is very different from what most users want. A normal user wants to go to the nearest branch of their bank and wants to understand what services they offer, etc. A translator wants to know what words a bank in a foreign country uses to refer to certain services.
I have not noticed any new problems when using Google's advanced search with the target country and language selected, and if I'm trying to check a potential target-language solution, I often just search one of a handful of relevant specific websites.
Programs like https://omni-lookup.de are actually designed for translators and may be a much better place to start if Google & Co. are causing problems.
PS: I have noticed that Google and some other Internet platforms have become very aggressive about automatically translating content. I think they even translated my local newspaper one day and it can be hard to figure out what is triggering this problem and how to get rid of it. ▲ Collapse
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