# Google Chrome Auto-Complete **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [September 18, 2012, 4:40am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/google-chrome-auto-complete/635050 "2012-09-18T04:40:54Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 1\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![lv426](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/b9e5f3/32.png) [@lv426](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/lv426)\ **Post date:** [January 13, 2013, 2:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/google-chrome-auto-complete/635050/21 "2013-01-13T14:52:01Z")
> [@Gagundathar](#): > > Yeah, this is NOT a technical issue in my not very humble opinion. I write web apps for a living. I believe the change to the code should be relatively easy to implement. You should have an option that allows the omnibox to act in the same manner as the normal Google search box. > > But, somebody somewhere in the vast complex that is the Googleplex decided that “this shall be done”. > > Don’t blame the engineers on this one. Gagundathar may be right. There seems to be be something insidiously deceptive about autocomplete. Look at the Google’s own propaganda to promote Chrome’s design features at the time of initial release: > **[Google on Google Chrome - comic book - Page 20](https://blogoscoped.com/google-chrome/20)** If the storyline is to be believed - Google’s _own engineers_ disliked the autocomplete UI - and then promptly learned that when you disagree with your employer’s business plan, your punishment is to become the official spokesperson for it. Consider also Chrome’s privacy policy: > **[Chrome Browser Privacy Policy - Google Chrome](https://www.google.com/intl/en/chrome/privacy/)** > > Chrome takes your privacy very seriously. Here's everything you need to know about your privacy while browsing the web on Chrome. > **[Google Chrome Help](https://support.google.com/chrome/?visit_id=638817016723348243-3918183666&hl=en&rd=3#topic=7439538)** > > Official Google Chrome Help Center where you can find tips and tutorials on using Google Chrome and other answers to frequently asked questions. They ascribe in-line predictions to “Chrome Instant” without mentioning “autocomplete,” however they do say that “Search results are requested as you type in the address bar, _so the text you type may be logged as search terms._” I suspect this means that Google’s autocomplete allows them a clever way to drive up charges to advertisers of - for example - “shoes”, “sauces”, and “salvation books” for flashing their ad links to me in rapid sequence when I’m really searching for “salamanders” - logging and reporting each of the _undesired_ search terms _as an actual search._ Thangs that seem like annoying UI details to us, like the search field being filled in with actual text (forcing us to press backspace to clear it) rather than grayed-out text, may satisfy their legal department’s requirement that the search text actually appeared in the search box before counting it as a valid search. And of course, Google could then use the user’s own desire for privacy policy to tell advertisers it can’t tell who is searching for what - i.e. distinguish between the autocomplete searches and the “real” ones. Under this model, the annoyance of a few users with the autocomplete UI would have to be balanced against, how many more searches is this feature allowing Google to log, and generate profit off of? If an average Chrome search generates three or four autocomplete searches for every one real search by a non-autocomplete browser, then perhaps 75% or more of real users would have to flee Chrome over autocomplete before it becomes an unprofitable idea. Under this model, the real victims would be Google’s advertising partners, who are paying for bogus autocomplete searches (and probably getting misleading data) as if Google were actually delivering ads to people looking for their services. e.g. infated search numbers may cause an advertiser to believe people are actually looking for their product, but they don’t buy any from them because they are buying from a competitor - not knowning that many of those “looking” people are really just bogus autocomplete on-the-fly searches. It would probably take mass realization and unity into a class-action lawsuit to make something happen - perhaps unlikely, given how much richer, smarter, and more unified Google is than its myriad competing customers. I suspect we users are merely pawns in this scheme. P.S. for those wishing to disable the instant search feature (and this possible scam) from Google’s own home page, try: > **[Google](https://www.google.com/webhp?complete=0&hl=en)** > > Asian Pacific American Heritage Month 2025 #GoogleDoodle [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/google-chrome-auto-complete/635050.md?page=1)