Country-specific Google sites now all searching my local country

[whatson]

No matter what google country specific domain extension I use, it will always search my local country. E.g. I can no longer see the positions for my UK sites in Google UK.
Is there a way to get around this?

[Robert Charlton]

This is a new feature, designed for general users who travel, so they'll automatically get local results. Not planned for webmasters, but apparently there is an override in settings, though not in the ccTLD of the Google site.

I haven't tried it., but the Google Blog on the topic, just published, does in great detail....

Making search results more local and relevant
Evelyn Kao, Product Manager
Published Oct 27, 2017
[blog.google...]

In order to provide this optimal experience, your location determines the country service you receive results for across Google Search and Maps. Historically, these services have been labeled and accessed via country code top level domain names (ccTLD) such as [google.ng for Nigeria] or [google.com.br for Brazil]. You may also have typed in the relevant ccTLD in your browser.

Today, we’ve updated the way we label country services on the mobile web, the Google app for iOS, and desktop Search and Maps. Now the choice of country service will no longer be indicated by domain. Instead, by default, you’ll be served the country service that corresponds to your location....

If for some reason you don't see the right country when you're browsing, you can still go into settings and select the correct country service you want to receive. Typing the relevant ccTLD in your browser will no longer bring you to the various country services—this preference should be managed directly in settings. If for some reason you don't see the right country when you're browsing, you can still go into settings and select the correct country service you want to receive. Typing the relevant ccTLD in your browser will no longer bring you to the various country services—this preference should be managed directly in settings. In addition, at the bottom of the search results page, you can clearly see which country service you are currently using.

It's a labeling change, "but it won’t affect the way these products work".

Please let us know how it goes. Thanks.

[martinibuster]

Thanks for posting that, Bob. I'm going to have to check that out.

[glitterball]

Yet another example of Google disrespecting what the user has requested:

You have deliberately accessed Google.co.uk because you want English-language results in your English-language Browser, Google decides that you are too stupid to know what language and country choice you want, and gives you some other crap.

You have searched for a string of four words, Google strikes out two of the words, because Google has decided that you did not want to search for those words as you are obviously too stupid to know what you want to search for.

Just when I'd got used to having one browser (and account) for English and another one for Spanish, they throw this in to complicate matters further.

[goodroi]

@glitterball You are making assumption that most users are smart and are correctly requesting what they want. I've done a large amount of usability testing and have come to the conclusion you can never underestimate how stupid users can act. Yes, some power users may intentionally want to change their serps, but I would guess since Google is dealing with billions of users the stupid people outnumber the power users and this will satisfy more users than it upsets. If Google was half as stupid as we wish it was, people would be switching over to Bing. Somehow Google is smart enough to keep making users happy and staying with Google. Let's be careful to respect our adversary :)

If you want different serp rankings, I would also utilize a VPN.

[glitterball]

@glitterball You are making assumption that most users are smart and are correctly requesting what they want. I've done a large amount of usability testing and have come to the conclusion you can never underestimate how stupid users can act. Yes, some power users may intentionally want to change their serps, but I would guess since Google is dealing with billions of users the stupid people outnumber the power users and this will satisfy more users than it upsets. If Google was half as stupid as we wish it was, people would be switching over to Bing. Somehow Google is smart enough to keep making users happy and staying with Google. Let's be careful to respect our adversary :)

I don't see how this is designed to help or satisfy users' demands or preferences in any shape of form. The only reason that I can see for this, is to satisfy Government's demands that Google censors the results according to the legal obligations in the user's country.

[RedBar]

Is there a way to get around this?

It's slow however try the TOR browser:

[torproject.org...]

[RedBar]

Forget that, Google doesn't like it!

[engine]

Yes, a VPN should "get around it"

I read the announcement and, from Google's point of view, it's all about local, on mobile: Google wants to serve the most local results. Of course, as webmasters, we don't want to be forced into accepting that option.

[RedBar]

from Google's point of view, it's all about local, on mobile

Sure if one is Joe Public shopping locally however it is totally useless for my international widget trade.

Just why would I want local supplies for globally traded products?

Do you know what Google gives me? Mostly USA websites, absolutely hopeless and completely irrelevant.

They are so far wide of the mark it is pathetic.

[seoskunk]

I think this is a big step and do not feel it would have been made purely for mobile localised results, I can think of a couple of advantages from Google's point of view and in fact some webmasters;

1) Reduction of automated bots and monitoring tools
2) Reduction of user metric manipulation either positively or negatively

[seoskunk]

For those that report "zombie traffic" be interesting to see what effect this change has this halloween.

[goodroi]

@seoskunk I'm wondering if you posted in the correct thread. How is zombie traffic connected to Google country specific SERPs?

I do agree with you that this change will reduce automated annoyances to Google but any smart operation will just use VPNs and other work arounds. This won't significantly impact smart operations.

[seoskunk]

I'm wondering if you posted in the correct thread. How is zombie traffic connected to Google country specific SERPs?

I do agree with you that this change will reduce automated annoyances to Google but any smart operation will just use VPNs and other work arounds. This won't significantly impact smart operations.

For many of these smart operations that's going to be a lot of traffic to squeeze down a VPN network and the IP's are going to light up like a Christmas tree Google end as suspicious search behaviour, plus Google have a pretty good map already of VPN and Proxy networks. Zombie traffic should reduce along with automated bots. Well that's the theory.

[goodroi]

Ok, I better understand what you are suggesting but to be honest I am not sure it is going to happen.

If someone is serious about user metric manipulation they are not using basic VPN services. To be fair, I guess they could use basic VPN but they aren't going to get good results. There are alternatives. I'm not saying these alternatives are easy or being done by most people. The serious users won't be slowed down by this change. I would suspect this small subset of power users account for a disproportionate large chunk of the bandwidth.

[explorador]

Glitterball: Yet another example of Google disrespecting what the user has requested:

Exactly. I don't know what to think sometimes. Yesterday I was searching for technical data regarding some laptop device and needed a driver, I found what I wanted via cellphone, then when I got home it was very difficult to find the same using the same queries on Google. The same happens on Youtube, it's not just about music, it's also about documentaries, tech data, etc, the results are not the same on Desktop than on Smartphone. It can sure make you waste your time searching and searching.

[timemachined]

Thank you for this. For the region I am in and site name keyword was 32nd and I was about to turn amp off and whatever else. Just switched it back to uk and it is in the top ten.

Stupid google.

[lucy24]

the results are not the same on Desktop than on Smartphone

And yet we are told again and again that it's all one index and all devices get the same results.

Puzzling.

[Robert Charlton]

I've seen some conjecture about this change posted elsewhere on the web as a comment to an article... and I wish I could remember the source... which theorized that Google might have a secondary reason for this change, which is that the change would make it easier for Google to comply with requests from foreign governments to make country-specific serp changes.

This would be much easier to do, I'm assuming, if results displayed in a country were localized to Google servers located in those countries. Otherwise, such requests are almost impossible for Google to deal with, as it requires changing world-wide results. With localized serp delivery, my theory goes, such results would be controlled by a user-request, which I'm assuming could be controlled by some sort of central authority. Among other things, this would include rights to be forgotten, etc, which are national in their jurisdiction.

[SheilaQI]

I am still wondering how should I check my UK site's ranking up or down since it is a totally different result when I search in google.co.uk