Disabling SearchWiki

Google introduced Search Wiki, and opted me in without a method of disabling it. Thanks a lot Google. Not.

So I started searching for a way to disable. First I found this post , via Saad Kamal, on Google Operating System, but that didn't work to well for me. This greasemonkey based solution is a tad bit better, but still only disables the CSS, it doesn't remove the functionality, just hides it.

Then I stumbled upon this thread.

That thread told me to add hl=all to the query string, and that would indeed disable SearchWiki, at least for now. So I've immediately created a new instance of my Google Disable Personalized Search plugin, which will disable SearchWiki as well.

If you already have the previous version of that search plugin installed, do the following in Firefox:

  • click on the favicon next to the search box, and see the following appear:
    manage search engines
  • Click on Manage, and remove the Google.com Unpersonalized search one.
  • Now you can go to the search plugin page and install the new one.

This hack works only for english results, I'll try to find a more lasting solution, which works for the other languages as well!

Related posts

  1. Personalized search disabling not working?
  2. Google de-Personalized Search for Firefox and IE7
  3. Google Search URL parameters cheat sheet
  4. Cool SEO tools roundup
  5. Update of Robots Meta plugin: more duplicate content issues solved

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This entry was posted on Sunday, November 23rd, 2008
Cats: SEO       Tags: ,
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6 Responses to “Disabling SearchWiki”

  • says:
    24 November 2008 at 21:11

    Thanks a lot,dude, works perfectly!

  • Stever says:
    25 November 2008 at 11:51

    Much like my rants after they changed iGoogle and no opt out.

    If you switch to another country version like google.ca or google.co.uk you don't get the searchwiki. But you might get slightly different search results with a lil bit of geo-relevance tossed in the mix for some searches.

    iGoog still works the old way with tabs up top where they belong in the other country versions too. But for how long?

  • says:
    27 November 2008 at 15:03

    I don't quite see what the problem is with SearchWiki, if you don't want it on, just don't log onto Google?!

  • Shark SEO says:
    27 November 2008 at 16:27

    Thanks Joost, your ability to create incredibly useful plugins and tools never ceases to amaze me.

  • Yellow SEO says:
    6 December 2008 at 23:28

    Joost, thanks buddy was looking for a way to hide when logged into google sometimes .... this will come in handy

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