Originally Posted by
Silver Fox
If I type in google.com I expect it to go to google.com. If I type in google.co.uk I expect it to go to google.co.uk. I don't need it dumbed down, or for google to make an arbitary, wrong decision on my part based on an ip address.
You are in the minority (a very tiny minority, compared with the rest of the population of
that country). Again, how are they supposed to know this isn't what you want to do without using a cookie on your browser?
Originally Posted by
BobbySteel
This is intentional. It's a tough problem to solve since 98% of users can't figure out how to get to their local site and type Google.com when .co.uk or .de would give better results. From Google's perspective, 98% of people get localized content (which is a good thing) and the other 2% can use techniques like the above to get to the general google.com search box. They should indeed make it easier, but that's the price you pay for a very basic homepage. It's hard to add lots of options without making it cluttered.
Precisely. ^
Originally Posted by
Aviatrix
In my experience this redirection only happens when you type google.com (which is, of course, what an American would do). If I type in google.co.uk then, no matter where I am in the world, I get taken to the .uk site. Same when I type google.de (i.e., I get taken to the German site)
I wonder if typing google.us would take you to the US version of Google? (You do have a country code - lots of people don't realise this!)
Typing google.us will take you to the US ("google.com") page.