# Google settings stuck on another country...
**URL:** https://boards.straightdope.com/t/google-settings-stuck-on-another-country/552800
**Category:** Factual Questions
**Created:** [September 6, 2010, 2:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/google-settings-stuck-on-another-country/552800 "2010-09-06T14:57:20Z")
**Posts on this page:** 11
**Page:** 1
### Author:  [@FriarTed](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/FriarTed)
#### Post date: [September 6, 2010, 2:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/google-settings-stuck-on-another-country/552800/1 "2010-09-06T14:57:20Z")
My friend in Idaho can’t access her Google Voice as whenever she goes to Google, it is stuck on Google Netherlands. She tried to fix her settings & it says she is in the USA & her language is English, but when she tried to actually do something, it defaults back to the Netherlands. What is going on here & how can she fix it?
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### Author:  [@Kyla](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kyla)
#### Post date: [September 7, 2010, 9:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/google-settings-stuck-on-another-country/552800/2 "2010-09-07T21:31:08Z")
Was she in the Netherlands? I was in the Philippines earlier this year, and for some reason it took a few days back in the US before Google realized it and stopped trying to return me results in Filipino.
Google is an odd duck like that sometimes. It still gives me the option of writing my emails in various Indian scripts - and I left India over a year ago.
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### Author:  [@Omar\_Little](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Omar_Little)
#### Post date: [September 7, 2010, 9:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/google-settings-stuck-on-another-country/552800/3 "2010-09-07T21:53:39Z")
> **[See results for a different country - Android - Google Search Help](https://support.google.com/websearch/answer/873?topic=354)**
>
> When you search on Google, your results are customized to your current region. You can choose to see results for other countries from your computer and the Google app for Android. On your Android
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### Author:  [@Floater](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Floater)
#### Post date: [September 8, 2010, 11:35am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/google-settings-stuck-on-another-country/552800/4 "2010-09-08T11:35:14Z")
> [@](#):
>
> For example, [Google.fr](http://Google.fr) provides search results that are most relevant for users in France; Google.co.jp is the Google domain for Japan. We try to direct users to the site that will give them the most relevant results.
And why do they think that they know what I’m searching for better than I do myself? This frigging attitude makes me mad.
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### Author:  [@footballisplayedwithyourfeet](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/footballisplayedwithyourfeet)
#### Post date: [September 8, 2010, 12:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/google-settings-stuck-on-another-country/552800/5 "2010-09-08T12:17:12Z")
> [@Floater](#):
>
> > [@](#):
> >
> > For example, [Google.fr](http://Google.fr) provides search results that are most relevant for users in France; Google.co.jp is the Google domain for Japan. We try to direct users to the site that will give them the most relevant results.
>
> And why do they think that they know what I’m searching for better than I do myself? This frigging attitude makes me mad.
This actually makes a lot of sense. If an American and an Englishman would google ‘football results’, I’m sure they would be looking for very different things. Also with names and places (for travel for instance) it might be preferential to get results in your language.
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### Author:  [@GHO57](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GHO57)
#### Post date: [September 8, 2010, 12:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/google-settings-stuck-on-another-country/552800/6 "2010-09-08T12:36:01Z")
> [@Floater](#):
>
> > [@](#):
> >
> > For example, [Google.fr](http://Google.fr) provides search results that are most relevant for users in France; Google.co.jp is the Google domain for Japan. We try to direct users to the site that will give them the most relevant results.
>
> And why do they think that they know what I’m searching for better than I do myself? This frigging attitude makes me mad.
Did you mean “figging” instead of “frigging”? I’m going to reply to this post like you meant to say "figging; just because I know better. “figging” does tend to make unsuspecting people mad, you might want to talk to your partner about it. 😃
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### Author:  [@septimus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/septimus)
#### Post date: [September 8, 2010, 12:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/google-settings-stuck-on-another-country/552800/7 "2010-09-08T12:53:22Z")
> [@footballisplayedwithyourfeet](#):
>
> > [@Floater](#):
> >
> > And why do they think that they know what I’m searching for better than I do myself? This frigging attitude makes me mad.
>
> This actually makes a lot of sense. … Also … it might be preferential to get results in your language.
Since Google often misguesses what my language is,I have to take **Floater** ’s side here. When I Google in Internet shops, I’m never sure which language I’ll get. Sometimes google.co.th gives English, while [google.com](http://google.com) gives Thai! On occasion, both give English but aren’t working right so I switch to [google.fr](http://google.fr). Then the language switches to … (did you guess right?) Thai.
Google sure is clever trying to guess what language I want. Did it ever occur to them that I might be able to tell them? (Google is improving in some ways. Several years ago I occasionally got in a mode where no obvious click produced English!)
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### Author:  [@Nava](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Nava)
#### Post date: [September 8, 2010, 12:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/google-settings-stuck-on-another-country/552800/8 "2010-09-08T12:54:42Z")
> [@footballisplayedwithyourfeet](#):
>
> > [@Floater](#):
> >
> > And why do they think that they know what I’m searching for better than I do myself? This frigging attitude makes me mad.
>
> This actually makes a lot of sense. If an American and an Englishman would google ‘football results’, I’m sure they would be looking for very different things. Also with names and places (for travel for instance) it might be preferential to get results in your language.
But the last gets determined by language settings, and if I’m looking for information on Argentina I’d rather get it from Argentinian sources than from a Spanish travel blog.
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### Author:  [@Floater](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Floater)
#### Post date: [September 9, 2010, 7:37am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/google-settings-stuck-on-another-country/552800/9 "2010-09-09T07:37:35Z")
> [@footballisplayedwithyourfeet](#):
>
> This actually makes a lot of sense. If an American and an Englishman would google ‘football results’, I’m sure they would be looking for very different things. Also with names and places (for travel for instance) it might be preferential to get results in your language.
And whose choice should that be, yours or some anonymous systems designer’s, who’s working on the premises that the users are too stupid to decide for themselves?
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### Author:  [@Siam\_Sam](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Siam_Sam)
#### Post date: [September 10, 2010, 4:39am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/google-settings-stuck-on-another-country/552800/10 "2010-09-10T04:39:38Z")
I always have Google as my homepage, but for some reason on my home computer, it always, always, always comes up in Thai, no matter how many times I switch it to English, on screen and in the controls. It’s not that big a deal, as 1) I read Thai, and 2) I’m familiar enough with the Google commands that I know the positions of the links I want anyway regardless of the language it’s in. But odd it always reverts to Thai like that.
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### Author:  [@ducati](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ducati)
#### Post date: [September 10, 2010, 4:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/google-settings-stuck-on-another-country/552800/11 "2010-09-10T16:58:00Z")
Has anyone checked to see if the search settings are locked?
> **[Filter or blur explicit results with SafeSearch - Computer - Google Search Help](https://support.google.com/websearch/answer/510?hl=en&visit_id=638284984317596948-2324780740&rd=1)**
>
> In your Google Search results, SafeSearch can help you manage explicit content whether you use it at work, with children, or for yourself. Explicit results include content like: Nudity, graphic se
Perhaps someone at some time changed, then locked the settings.
I realize it’s too simple a solution, but it’s all I have!