Google goes local

Auto redirects to local Google

[Visit Thailand]

Has anyone noticed that from today (for me at least) when I type in www.google.com I automatically get redirected to www.google.co.th - the Thailand version?

Is anyone else getting this, where you are transported directly to the local google?

Personally I find it quite annoying as if I wanted to go to .co.th I would type that in.

[hurlimann]

No and it isn't happening right now in the UK.

[heini]

Has happened for a long time. If you search for redirect + local + Google or similar you should be able to dig up lots of frustrated messages here ;)

[Woz]

Yeah, happened to me the other day as well. Unfortunately they are doing it by IP which means I got redirected to New Zealand even though I am in Australia. My ISP is a NZ company.

Like you I get annoyed when this happens. I want to go where I type, not where they think I should go.

There is a fix, if you click on the link to English Google that will set a cookie and take you straight to .com from then onwards.

Onya
Woz

[Visit Thailand]

Thanks Woz will do that, unfortunately like the new BBC's 'are you in the UK yes or no' I delete cookies daily so will most probably have to put up with it!

[vitaplease]

Visit Thailand,

the Thai Google version seems to be quite new? Could that be the reason you never got redirected before?

[news.com.com...]

[julinho]

I have been redirected to google.com.br for a few months.

And by looking at my logs, I think that most people are automatically redirected too. I see plenty of referrers from google.de, google.fr, and many other country TLDs, and I donīt think that those surfers typed in the local G address.

Question: does it make any difference? The default option for my country is Search the Web, not Search Pages in Portuguese; so, the SERPs are the same as if I were using google.com

[onionrep]

I dont like it.

I take on board the fact that it feels the need to say to its advertisers "and we will deliver people looking for services in your country"

But it dont make it right.

I should be able to visit and stay at the domain I type into the toolbar.

Perhaps google should reconsider pushing us from pillar to post. If I sent a visitor elsewhere Id probably get my ass tanned by the googledominatrix :)

[Brett_Tabke]

Many related threads:

Google.com vs google.co.uk
[webmasterworld.com...]

Google Redirects:
[webmasterworld.com...]

Redirects and Google
[webmasterworld.com...]

[Visit Thailand]

vistaplease you are right it is new I had never seen it before, and because I clear my cache daily I get it now every time I go to google.com!

onionrep I agree if you type in x you should get x and not what x thinks you might want. Infuriating.