How To Remove Linux Mint Custom Google Search in Firefox

[b1311144]

when i search, most of the time, i want to narrow my search after the first search. default google search has the drop-down auto complete functionality that is missing in this custom search.

just don't impact what we can normally do and we'll be less annoyed. there's a reason "get rid custom mint search" gets about 4,490,000 results ...

[Ademeion]

Escaping from Ubuntu and Unity I just installed Linux Mint for the first time, and was immediately faced with an annoying feature of custom Google search. I could probably live with the ads, but removing a search feature is unacceptable. Narrowing the time frame for the search is something that I use very often, and now it's not there. Of course I can get it by seeing the trouble to go to Google web page and do the search there, but when I install a new distribution (or a new version of the old one) having to click more and use more time to do things that I do all the time is not what I want. Google search is the one thing that I use most on my computer, which is why this is so important.

The commenter who called people "picky" because they complain about this obviously doesn't know much about using Google effectively.

Why were the search features removed anyway? Does Google require that?

[donv]

Well I found this thread because I recently installed Mint 11 (which I'm loving by the way!) and ran up against the Mint custom search again. I do want to support Mint but I find the custom search returns different/fewer relevant results than default google.

So here's my suggestion: why not create a little Mint-unique app/plug-in/thingie which makes it both easy to contribute and automatically removes the Mint custom search in return?

It would appear in the Mint Welcome screen (until contribution made) and/or would pop up after say the 5th boot with a "So you like Mint, great! Why not contribute?" and provide a paypal link or similar.

I'd happily do that (for the next release, I'm off to contribute directly for 11 now).

[rykel98]

Hi all, Yes, the Mint custom Google page is quite annoying... the layout, the very faint-to-the-eyes options in the "enhanced" top bar and the missing localised Google Search links etc. It does NOT even generate the same results as Google Search. (eg. "1 USD to Euro" no longer displays the Google Calculator.) BUT now that I know it pays the bills, I will bear with it, and try to love it. Do improve on it however, and make it look and WORK as closely to the original as possible. Thanks!

[sdibaja]

With you 100%, but I actually did just start my migration back to Ubuntu 10.10 and am shopping for something that works and is stable... without all the Bling!

[manvsbush]

I followed the method for removing the Mint custom google search, and it worked, for awhile anyway. I'm not sure, but perhaps an update undid the fix. At any rate, I just download Firefox from Mozilla's website, extracted the google.xml file, saved it in my home directory, and wrote a simple script:

sudo nano /usr/bin/fixgooglesearch

#!/bin/sh
sudo cp /home/my-home/path-to-google.xml /usr/lib/firefox-addons/searchplugins/en-US/google.xml

ctrl-x to save

sudo chmod +x /usr/bin/fixgooglesearch

Then, if I need to remove the custom search feature, I just run this script to fix it. I suppose I could even tweak it to run at startup with root privileges, but I suppose that might be overkill.

[Steerpike]

I got rid of the custom search as well. It is the single worst feature of the distro. If it generated the same results as a normal Google search and retained other functionality (doing simple math problems for example) I would keep it. But the results I get back from the custom search aren't as good as a regular Google search. I can see where someone new to the distro might go back to something else if they weren't tech savvy enough to get rid of it.

[mintt]

Advanced users will just disable the custom search provider entirely if it is sufficiently restrictive of search results.

Forcing choice of Google search provider (with no simple option to set it otherwise), does a disservice to both the Linux, Linux Mint and Firefox communities (all three). There will always be people that think things are too hard, and these will most likely be the ones therefore "forced" to be using your custom search provider as they do not or can not change it.

The other option (under control of Google) is to allow transparent customised search without crippling the available search options, in the manner many others have already described here. If this were possible, then discussion would be moot. People would not care, other than perhaps choosing to send thier clicks to Firefox / Mint / Whoever's google search provider.

The given instructions only work for northern America or places who get google.com in the address bar. If you live in .au or other country (i.e. the rest of the world), the "add to search bar" fix does not work at all as eg. here google.com is always redirected to google.com.au. The other option is to remove the Google search provider in "Manage Search Providers", and then search for "Google Search EN" which takes you back to stock provider.

For .au there is no "Add Google" option from the "Add to Search bar" plugin, or likely any any other counties where there is a country-specific google suffix, be they english speaking or not.

Mint with it's ubuntu heritige, is the most likely of all the Linux distributions to have end users which use applications and do not want to fiddle with text files or instructions long enough to even require numbered bulletin points. Mint aims to be the simplest for end users, including windows ex-pats, if the search results are crippled and change back is not simple, these people will either :

- stop using google search
- stop using firefox, go to chrome, or other linux browser
- stop using linux mint, go to another linux, or back to Windows
- stop using linux, and go back to Windows

Hopefully, none of these

But in all 4 cases, Linux Mint wont see any custom search traffic anymore, so it's in mint's funding interest to avoid the "4 x stops" above. But also, nobody would care about provider if they could search without losing key google functionality.

[xenopeek]

Simple fix:
- Install Firefox add-on "Add to Search Bar": https://addons.mozilla.org/en-US/firefo ... earch-bar/
- Go to whatever search engine you want to use
- Right-click in the text field on the search engine's page, and add it to the search bar

Done. Now just select it in the search bar to use it. To set it as default for the awesome bar's searches, enter about:config in the address bar and press enter (continue on the warning), filter on browser.search.defaultenginename and change that to the name of the search engine you added (use the name you gave it).

And if you want the unlocalized Google, visit this page: http://www.google.com/ncr That won't redirect you to your localized Google, but keep you at the global Google.com.

[nadir]

I can't understand the big fuzz about this - and I can tell you that I use Google a lot

I can understand the fuzz. To keep it short:

We live in a world where our use of the network is mediated by organizations that often do not have our best interests at heart.

To say (in short): "but they pay" is not that good an argument.

[xenopeek]

I found that using Add to Search Bar extension to add the international Google.com doesn't get you suggestions as you type in the search bar. So, I created my own search engine plugin for use with Firefox, that defaults to use international Google.com and does give you suggestions. You can use the file as template for any other Google sites, or add any default parameters easily I think.

Just open text editor (gedit), copy and past in the below text, then save the file on your Desktop as "google_com.xml". Then run this command to copy it to the right place:

Code: Select all

cp ~/Desktop/google_com.xml ~/.mozilla/firefox/*.default/searchplugins

Then restart Firefox and you have a new search engine!

Code: Select all

<?xml version="1.0" encoding="UTF-8"?>
<OpenSearchDescription xmlns="http://a9.com/-/spec/opensearch/1.1/">
<ShortName>Google.com</ShortName>
<Description>Search Google.com</Description>
<Image height="16" width="16" type="image/x-icon">data:image/x-icon;base64,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%3D%3D</Image> 
<Url type="application/x-suggestions+json" rel="suggestions" method="GET" template="http://suggestqueries.google.com/complete/search?client=firefox&hl=en&qu={searchTerms}"/>
<Url type="text/html" method="GET" template="http://www.google.com/webhp#hl=en&q={searchTerms}"/>
</OpenSearchDescription>

Update: After doing the above & restarting Firefox, you still need to change the default search engine used in the awesomebar. Enter the address: about:config and hit enter, accept the warning, then enter the filter: browser.search.defaultenginename. Change the value to the ShortName of your desired search engine. In above example: Google.com.

To search in a different language, there are a lot of settings you can change. I found that you only need to change the hl=en in both Url tags to a different language. In the second Url tag you can also change the url in the template attribute. More info at Google site: http://www.google.com/cse/docs/resultsxml.html#hlsp

As I use multiple regional Google search engines, I found it useful to change the icon to the flag of the region. Favicon icons for country flags are here: http://www.freefavicon.com/freefavicons/flags/index.php. Find the flag you want, copy the download url and paste that into: http://www.greywyvern.com/code/php/binary2base64. This gives you a string you can put in above Image tag to replace the default Google favicon.

As for those who want search privacy, DuckDuckGo is the only search engine that has done all of the above for you. Visit their website and from the down arrow in the search bar you can immediately add their search engine. Too bad they seem to use Bing.

[AllGamer]

Just wanted to say Thank You! to the [OP]

finally i can do quick searches with the right click again

the customized mint google search, totally kills the default features that i use every 5 min

[Lady]

Deleting The Custom Search


The default google.xml search file is somewhat hard to find online. I haven't verified if this is up to date and official but it seems so: http://www.mozillalinks.org/download/google.xml
If you download this file you need to change the <ShortName> of the file to something else like Google Search instead of just Google.

Link doesn`t work.

And I have so many google.xml files now. (see my pic)
Could someone help me , to get rid of the custom search bar too?

Thank you.

Lady

[bluerfoot]

I am new(ish) to linux and decided to give mint a spin on an old laptop. love the driver support, codecs etc and not having to worry bout virus's etc. But I must say I am shocked that such an important thing as google searches is essentially crippled. I will give the methods outlined a shot and if they work great, if not it is on to a new distribution. I mean seriously guys, that search is about as painful as using the unity desktop....

[xenopeek]

I am new(ish) to linux and decided to give mint a spin on an old laptop. love the driver support, codecs etc and not having to worry bout virus's etc. But I must say I am shocked that such an important thing as google searches is essentially crippled. I will give the methods outlined a shot and if they work great, if not it is on to a new distribution. I mean seriously guys, that search is about as painful as using the unity desktop....

You can follow my guide above, but I've uploaded on this post a file to easily add normal Google (with working suggestions in the search field, often lacking in other solutions you can find online). I've included the normal Google.com, encrypted Google.com (HTTPS), and the Dutch Google.nl. The latter file you can use as an example to add Google searchengine in your own native language.

Steps to do:
1. Download the file.

searchengines.tar.gz

2. Open the file and extract the contents to your desktop.
3. Copy the files to the right location. Open a terminal and type:

Code: Select all

cp ~/Desktop/google*.xml ~/.mozilla/firefox/*.default/searchplugins

4. Restart Firefox and you now have normal Google searches (press the down arrow icon in the search field to choose one).
5. After doing the above & restarting Firefox, you still need to change the default search engine used in the awesomebar. Enter the address: about:config and hit enter, accept the warning, then enter the filter: browser.search.defaultenginename. Change the value to the name of your desired search engine. For example: Google.com or Google.com (encrypted).

BTW, consider making a donation if you disable the Linux Mint custom search (and/or are blocking ads), as this action cuts income for Linux Mint team and money is needed to run all the servers, have time do work, and such. Just my opinion on supporting the team if you appreciate what they do

[GT-Schorsch]

@Linux Mint team:

Your distribution (LMDE in my case) is great. And if you could the custom search of Google behave like the default Google one, I would not deactivate it. But as a user that wants to search in German mostly it is unsuitable as it seems to prefer results in English over any other language. Also it's not compatible with OptimizeGoogle which enhances the default search engine by several features - the function that removes the ads and would not create income for you then, doesn't have to be used. It is not activated by default also.

So, it would be a good compromise between Mint developers and Mint users, if you could improve the custom search that way - behave like default Google one and no prefered language in the results. Then probably more and more users won't try to deactivate the custom search and accept it.

[ThistleWeb]

I don't think the Mint team can make their altered version of Google search any better, Google cripple it intentionally. If people use the real Google search instead of any projects custom one, Google get more of the cut, don't have to share part of it with that project.

[supergoo]

I like FireFox but hate that Custom Search. It needs to go away. There are other ways to make money.

[fschaap]

With all due respect to all points of view involved with the Google CSE page, I think there's something we can agree on:

- the OS should never automatically undo user settings / changes

There seems to be NO way to get rid of the Google CSE in the Awesome bar. I can remove it, but it returns automatically when I reboot Mint 11.

I can remove the CSE from the Awesome bar by removing ALL google.xml files with the Google CSE in it from all (sub)directories of:
/usr/lib/firefox-6.0.2
/usr/lib/firefox-addons
and replace them with a default google.xml file from the Firefox tarball.

But on reboot, these files are overwritten with the Linux Mint Google CSE google.xml files.

[xenopeek]

With all due respect to all points of view involved with the Google CSE page, I think there's something we can agree on:

- the OS should never automatically undo user settings / changes

There seems to be NO way to get rid of the Google CSE in the Awesome bar. I can remove it, but it returns automatically when I reboot Mint 11.

I can remove the CSE from the Awesome bar by removing ALL google.xml files with the Google CSE in it from all (sub)directories of:
/usr/lib/firefox-6.0.2
/usr/lib/firefox-addons
and replace them with a default google.xml file from the Firefox tarball.

But on reboot, these files are overwritten with the Linux Mint Google CSE google.xml files.

If you follow my instructions to the letter, you will always use the normal Google search, also in the Awesome bar. Scroll up, or direct link: http://forums.linuxmint.com/viewtopic.p ... 20#p468916

I didn't write it down for nothing