How to prevent Google from personalizing your search results: instructions

Many Google users want more control over how the search engine customizes results to their interests. While search personalization can improve the relevance of results, it can also limit the perception of information, creating a so-called “filter bubble”.

RBK-Ukraine (Styler project) tells how you can prevent Google from personalizing search results, returning more control to you, with a link to the world's leading technology and life advice site Lifehacker.

How to turn off personalized search results in Google

Turning off personalized search results is easy enough, but finding the switch you need can be a bit trickier. To do this, try searching for something on Google and scrolling down the page.

Under the “Goooooooooogle” logo and page numbers, you should see a small text saying “Results are personalized”. Click the “Try without personalization” button next to it. This will turn off personalized Google search results.

This feature was first spotted by the Search Engine Roundtable, though it's unclear why it doesn't always appear.

If you don't see this toggle, the site also noted that you can add &pws=0 to the end of any Google search URL to turn off personalization. This method has been around since 2007.

Alternatively, open your Google Account settings, go to the “Data & Privacy” tab, then uncheck the “Search Personalization” toggle. Follow the link to get to the page you want.

To make sure your results are no longer personalized, perform a new search and scroll down the page again. .

While this feature is useful, it's important to remember that it's impossible to completely avoid Google's filters if that's the only search engine you use, as the site still makes a lot of behind-the-scenes decisions about what to show.