Mint hijacked my Chrome/Google search!

Quick to answer questions about finding your way around Linux Mint as a new user.
Forum rules
There are no such things as "stupid" questions. However if you think your question is a bit stupid, then this is the right place for you to post it. Stick to easy to-the-point questions that you feel people can answer fast. For long and complicated questions use the other forums in the support section.
Before you post read how to get help. Topics in this forum are automatically closed 6 months after creation.
Locked
xaephod

Mint hijacked my Chrome/Google search!

Post by xaephod »

First off, I am enjoying Linux Mint a lot! Absolutely wonderful so far...except for one small item:

All of my Chromium/Chrome google searches now have the LM icon on it and it changed the look of my goggle searches. This even happened on my non linux computers where I use the same Chrome account. How do I reset it to the original google search? This is slightly maddening.

Here is what it looks like:

Image


thanks for the help.
Xaephod :oops:
Last edited by LockBot on Wed Dec 28, 2022 7:16 am, edited 1 time in total.
Reason: Topic automatically closed 6 months after creation. New replies are no longer allowed.
A Future Pilot

Re: Mint hijacked my Chrome/Google search!

Post by A Future Pilot »

Go into settings and look for "default search engine". Change it from "Google (default)" to just "Google"...you also may need to look at the extensions and remove/disable the Mint Search Enhancer extension :)
bimsebasse

Re: Mint hijacked my Chrome/Google search!

Post by bimsebasse »

This doesn't work in Mint 13 (choosing "Google" instead of "Google (default)") and there is no Mint search extension. I'll try to find a solution, it annoys me too, pretty annoying they have made a maimed google search page so difficult to remove, in Mint 12 it was just a matter of choosing Google instead of Google (default).
A Future Pilot

Re: Mint hijacked my Chrome/Google search!

Post by A Future Pilot »

I'll have to go look at mine again...I installed Mint 13, and I'm pretty sure that's what I did...I'll get back to you! :)
A Future Pilot

Re: Mint hijacked my Chrome/Google search!

Post by A Future Pilot »

Using Chromium in Mint 13 64bit w/ Cinnamon, what I said before is exactly what I did. Change search engine to "Google" (not "Google (default)") and remove or disable the extension.
bimsebasse

Re: Mint hijacked my Chrome/Google search!

Post by bimsebasse »

What extension? I don't have any search extensions installed in chromium.

Edit: found out what it is - adding a "google" to the search term triggers the Mint search (I used "google maps" to test search behaviour). So changing to "Google" provider works as long as you don't prefix any searches with "google"
Anonymo

Re: Mint hijacked my Chrome/Google search!

Post by Anonymo »

This still doesn't remove it. I should be able to type Google before a search and not get the crappy Linux Mint search. It's so frustrating. I sync my profiles, so the infection has moved to my Windows 7 box too. I can't get rid of it.
bimsebasse

Re: Mint hijacked my Chrome/Google search!

Post by bimsebasse »

Found a proper fix, can someone please confirm that this works for them too?

In Chrome/ium, click the Settings Icon in the top right corner (was a wrench icon, now 3 horizontal lines).

Choose Settings from the drop-down menu.

A new settings tab opens, under Search, click "Manage Search Engines".

Delete all you Google search engines. Hover over them with the cursor and click "X" at the right.

At the bottom fill in "add a new search engine" with this:
Search Engine: Google
Keyword: google.com
URL: http://www.google.com/search?hl=en&source=hp&q=%s

Click "OK"

Make the new Google search engine default.

Works here, works for you?

Before, whenever I typed "google" at the beginning of a search term, the result would be displayed in Mint's customized google search result page. Not anymore. It's a very minor problem as really there is no good reason to start a search term with "google", but still!
Anonymo

Re: Mint hijacked my Chrome/Google search!

Post by Anonymo »

This works but when I sync another computer, I have to do this again... and again...I constantly switching computers. It's like some sort of virus.
bb_matt

Re: Mint hijacked my Chrome/Google search!

Post by bb_matt »

I registered to just say that this was a terrible idea by Linux Mint.

I used Mint for a while and I *really* liked it, but when I noticed it had modified my default search in chrome, I was a little... upset.

It got worse, because I have my chrome synced across 4 different computers - my Mac, my windows install, my office install, my windows laptop.

I've tried removing the Mint search, but it just keeps coming back! It seems to have embedded itself in my synced profile.
It now only manifests when I type google into the URL bar. So, I remove the mint search from preferences, it's great, but then it comes back again! confused?

@Mint - Guys, really, don't do this kind of thing. It may of been a good idea back in the day when nobody synced their browsers, but in this day and age, a lot of people do sync. I realise you did it with the best intentions - privacy reasons and all that - and perhaps there was an option to not have this? I didn't see it if there was?

I would've stayed with Mint, but I got so damn annoyed, I went the Xubuntu route.

Peace.
bimsebasse

Re: Mint hijacked my Chrome/Google search!

Post by bimsebasse »

bimsebasse wrote:Found a proper fix, can someone please confirm that this works for them too?

In Chrome/ium, click the Settings Icon in the top right corner (was a wrench icon, now 3 horizontal lines).

Choose Settings from the drop-down menu.

A new settings tab opens, under Search, click "Manage Search Engines".

Delete all you Google search engines. Hover over them with the cursor and click "X" at the right.

At the bottom fill in "add a new search engine" with this:
Search Engine: Google
Keyword: google.com
URL: http://www.google.com/search?hl=en&source=hp&q=%s

Click "OK"

Make the new Google search engine default.

Works here, works for you?

Before, whenever I typed "google" at the beginning of a search term, the result would be displayed in Mint's customized google search result page. Not anymore. It's a very minor problem as really there is no good reason to start a search term with "google", but still!
Hmm, this doesn't work for me anymore. Anyone have a permanent solution?

I don't mind Mint making money on my searches, but this implementation is intrusive and the most sorry ass attempt at a custom Google search page I've seen, vastly inferior to stock search in both design and functionality.
sammiev

Re: Mint hijacked my Chrome/Google search!

Post by sammiev »

Have you tried "startpage" yet? It's worth the look and read.

https://startpage.com/eng/download-star ... lugin.html
Locked

Return to “Beginner Questions”