Nr. 7 - September 12, 2003 - posted by Andis Kaulins Copyright © 2003 by Andis Kaulins
Google Redirection in Foreign Countries - Solutions
Living in Germany I have gotten quite angry about Google's recent redirection from Google.com (in English) to Google.de (in German), so I sent them a "legal" e-mail about it, suggesting that any practice of redirecting a URL to a different web page with different content in a different language is probably prima facie illegal. Plus, it is a considerable source of a waste of time if you are, for example, in France and do not read French.
They sent me a nice reply which I include below in full for other Google users suffering from the same problem, especially while on private or business trips overseas.
From : toolbar-support@google.com
To : kaulinsandis@msn.com
Subject : Re: [#3808823] Why automatic switch from .com to .de in Germany
Date : Thu, 11 Sep 2003 16:20:16 -0700
Hi Andis,
Thank you for your note. Google normally redirects users in certain
countries from www.google.com to one of our local destination sites (for
example, www.google.fr for Google France). We use the Internet address
assigned to your computer, which is frequently the Internet address of
your Internet service provider (ISP), to determine which Google site
corresponds to your geographic location. We also offer you the option of
avoiding this redirect and using www.google.com instead.
If you've been redirected incorrectly or aren't being taken to the Google
site you prefer, follow the instructions below to direct your browser back
to www.google.com. As long as you have cookies enabled in your browser,
you'll only have to do this once; after that, your browser will connect
directly to www.google.com each time you visit Google. For more
information on cookies, go to http://www.google.com/cookies.html
and http://www.google.com/privacy.html.
On the bottom right-hand side of the page is a link that says
"Google.com." When you click on this link, you'll be taken to
www.google.com on all future visits.
It's very important to note that your browser will only "remember" that
you are opting out of Internet address detection if you have cookies
enabled. If cookies are disabled, you'll experience the same redirect each
time you visit Google. You can solve this either by enabling cookies in
your browser or by setting a new bookmark for http://www.google.com/webhp.
In the latter case, you'll be taken to http://www.google.com/webhp (this
is exactly the same as www.google.com) each time you select the bookmark.
We apologize for any inconvenience this process may cause you. If you need
further assistance, please let us know.
Regards,
The Google Team
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