# Google images drives me nuts.  Hate it bigtime. Can I set it the old way or change something?

**URL:** <https://boards.straightdope.com/t/google-images-drives-me-nuts-hate-it-bigtime-can-i-set-it-the-old-way-or-change-something/598303>\
**Category:** Factual Questions\
**Created:** [October 1, 2011, 11:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/google-images-drives-me-nuts-hate-it-bigtime-can-i-set-it-the-old-way-or-change-something/598303 "2011-10-01T23:23:15Z")\
**Posts on this page:** 12\
**Page:** 1

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**Author:** ![Stoid](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/stoid/32/272_2.png) [@Stoid](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Stoid)\
**Post date:** [October 1, 2011, 11:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/google-images-drives-me-nuts-hate-it-bigtime-can-i-set-it-the-old-way-or-change-something/598303/1 "2011-10-01T23:23:15Z")

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I hate the new(ish) Google images results. That’s right, hate…big fat hate.

The java/flash/what-the-fuck ever they use to pull out the image and lay it over the website just ads a bunch of annoyance and extra steps. No. Bad. Go Away. Not Helpful, Hindrance.

So is there any way to make it work the way it used to?

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**Author:** ![running\_coach](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/running_coach/32/15836_2.png) [@running\_coach](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/running_coach)\
**Post date:** [October 1, 2011, 11:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/google-images-drives-me-nuts-hate-it-bigtime-can-i-set-it-the-old-way-or-change-something/598303/2 "2011-10-01T23:27:52Z")

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Bottom of the page. “Switch to basic version.”

ETA:still does the overlay thing.

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**Author:** ![beowulff](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/beowulff/32/542_2.png) [@beowulff](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/beowulff)\
**Post date:** [October 1, 2011, 11:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/google-images-drives-me-nuts-hate-it-bigtime-can-i-set-it-the-old-way-or-change-something/598303/3 "2011-10-01T23:29:18Z")

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Unfortunately, the setting doesn’t “stick” - you have to do it every time.

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**Author:** ![njtt](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/ecd19e/32.png) [@njtt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/njtt)\
**Post date:** [October 2, 2011, 3:15am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/google-images-drives-me-nuts-hate-it-bigtime-can-i-set-it-the-old-way-or-change-something/598303/4 "2011-10-02T03:15:35Z")

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It is still way better than Bing image search. That is just a nightmare of user unfriendly design. I do not understand what they can have been thinking.

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**Author:** ![Argent\_Towers](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/e8c25b/32.png) [@Argent\_Towers](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Argent_Towers)\
**Post date:** [October 2, 2011, 3:31am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/google-images-drives-me-nuts-hate-it-bigtime-can-i-set-it-the-old-way-or-change-something/598303/5 "2011-10-02T03:31:01Z")

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Agreed 10000000%. Google Images is an unbelievably convoluted and aggravating piece of shit - it didn’t used to be like this but it is now. I can’t even begin to count the number of times every day that I click on an image and am shunted off to a broken link, an expired image, bad coding, a forum page that doesn’t display images to non-members, and many other frustrating situations that ultimately result in me NOT being able to see the image that appears in the preview. I don’t know why this search feature is so dismally bad but I feel like at least 50% of the image results do NOT lead to the image.

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**Author:** ![Steophan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/steophan/32/9595_2.png) [@Steophan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Steophan)\
**Post date:** [October 2, 2011, 9:16am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/google-images-drives-me-nuts-hate-it-bigtime-can-i-set-it-the-old-way-or-change-something/598303/6 "2011-10-02T09:16:47Z")

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Don’t like the java/flash thingy? Turn off java and flash.

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**Author:** ![GuanoLad](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/guanolad/32/42_2.png) [@GuanoLad](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GuanoLad)\
**Post date:** [October 2, 2011, 11:48am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/google-images-drives-me-nuts-hate-it-bigtime-can-i-set-it-the-old-way-or-change-something/598303/7 "2011-10-02T11:48:06Z")

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I’ve gotten used to the images thing, though it often seems way slower, but I really don’t like a lot of other stuff both Google and YouTube are now doing. They’re over-complicating everything to the point of interfering with the whole point of what they’re for.

If they’re obstructing my search results, they really aren’t being progressive. So I remove most of those annoying features with Ad-Block Pro.

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**Author:** ![ZenBeam](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/3ab097/32.png) [@ZenBeam](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ZenBeam)\
**Post date:** [October 2, 2011, 12:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/google-images-drives-me-nuts-hate-it-bigtime-can-i-set-it-the-old-way-or-change-something/598303/8 "2011-10-02T12:42:57Z")

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I have javascript turned off for [google.com](http://google.com). I use the YesScript add-on in FireFox, and use the settings in Chrome.

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**Author:** ![Stoid](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/stoid/32/272_2.png) [@Stoid](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Stoid)\
**Post date:** [October 2, 2011, 6:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/google-images-drives-me-nuts-hate-it-bigtime-can-i-set-it-the-old-way-or-change-something/598303/9 "2011-10-02T18:13:55Z")

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> [@Steophan](#):
>
> Don’t like the java/flash thingy? Turn off java and flash.

Yeah, turning off java and flash for the whole web for those times I want to use Google images makes excellent sense! Or did you mean I should take the time to turn it off and on each time I use Google images, cuz that’s an even better plan!

> [@ZenBeam](#):
>
> I have javascript turned off for [google.com](http://google.com). I use the YesScript add-on in FireFox, and use the settings in Chrome.

Umm… this is a bit of a puzzle. Are you saying you use something called “yesscript” add-on to shut off javascript ONLY for google in Firefox, and that this is possible to do via the settings in Chrome without any other additions?

I’m on a mac, by the way, not sure the firefox add-on is mac-friendly.

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**Author:** ![ZenBeam](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/3ab097/32.png) [@ZenBeam](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ZenBeam)\
**Post date:** [October 2, 2011, 6:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/google-images-drives-me-nuts-hate-it-bigtime-can-i-set-it-the-old-way-or-change-something/598303/10 "2011-10-02T18:36:02Z")

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> [@Stoid](#):
>
> Umm… this is a bit of a puzzle. Are you saying you use something called “yesscript” add-on to shut off javascript ONLY for google in Firefox, and that this is possible to do via the settings in Chrome without any other additions?
> 
> I’m on a mac, by the way, not sure the firefox add-on is mac-friendly.

No idea about Macs, but yeah. YesScript is a javaScript blacklist add-on. Once it’s installed, in the options enter “[www.google.com](http://www.google.com)”, and nothing at \*.google.com can run javaScript. Anything not listed there can still run javaScript.

For Chrome, click the wrench, then Options, then Under The Hood. In the Privacy section, click Content Settings. Then in the Javascript section, select whether you want JavaScript to default to On or Off, then click Manage Exceptions. Assuming you have it default to On, enter [www.google.com](http://www.google.com) and select Block from the dropdown. Easy-peasy, don’t know how you could have missed it. 😉

If you want Google to use javascript briefly, e.g. their animated logos they occasionally have, in Chrome you can toggle it to Allow temporarily. For yesScript, you have to delete the entry, and re-enter it to turn the blocking back on.

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<div class="post-metadata">

**Author:** ![Steophan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/steophan/32/9595_2.png) [@Steophan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Steophan)\
**Post date:** [October 2, 2011, 7:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/google-images-drives-me-nuts-hate-it-bigtime-can-i-set-it-the-old-way-or-change-something/598303/11 "2011-10-02T19:00:30Z")

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> [@Stoid](#):
>
> Yeah, turning off java and flash for the whole web for those times I want to use Google images makes excellent sense! Or did you mean I should take the time to turn it off and on each time I use Google images, cuz that’s an even better plan!

Yes, turn them off and whitelist them for the sites you need them for. It will make your browsing faster, your computer more secure, and improve many sites, including Google, that use these things unnecessarily.

That said, depending on your browser you should be able to turn them off just for Google, or for any other sites.

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**Author:** ![Stoid](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/stoid/32/272_2.png) [@Stoid](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Stoid)\
**Post date:** [October 2, 2011, 7:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/google-images-drives-me-nuts-hate-it-bigtime-can-i-set-it-the-old-way-or-change-something/598303/12 "2011-10-02T19:18:20Z")

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> [@ZenBeam](#):
>
> For Chrome, click the wrench, then Options, then Under The Hood. In the Privacy section, click Content Settings. Then in the Javascript section, select whether you want JavaScript to default to On or Off, then click Manage Exceptions. Assuming you have it default to On, enter [www.google.com](http://www.google.com) and select Block from the dropdown. Easy-peasy, don’t know how you could have missed it. 😉

Bless you! Now even if I don’t fix it anywhere else, I know I should just use Chrome for images! MUAH!
