How to prevent Google from displaying personalized search results

When browsing the Internet, it is common for our data to leak. We can see it in many examples, even if it is simply by entering a website to search for something specific and then later related ads appear. In this article we will explain how we can prevent Google from displaying personalized search results, something that, to some extent, can affect privacy. It is a function that we can disable.

What are custom results

prevent Google from displaying personalized search results

First of all we are going to explain what exactly is custom results . This occurs when we search for something in particular in the search engine and we see pages related to our location, interests or any information that Google has previously been able to learn about us and believes that those results will be more interesting.

This can be helpful. For example, if we search for “what the weather is going to do”, it will show us results where the weather will appear at our location . The same if we look for something like “call a plumber”, we will see pages with data of plumbers that are in our city or surroundings.

Therefore, this personalization of search results appears based on location, search settings or even based on previous searches that we have carried out and Google has been collecting that information to show something more personalized.

Now, if we do not want it to show us results from a specific location or even based on previous searches we have carried out, we can avoid it. It is something that many users do simply to improve their privacy on the web.

Steps to avoid personalized searches on Google

Google allows you to configure it to prevent it from displaying personalized searches in the results. You simply have to follow a series of simple steps that we are going to explain and from that moment on it will no longer show us results according to the location, for example.

Set it up on your computer

To do this, in the desktop version we have to enter Google and go to Settings , which appears at the bottom right. There a menu will be displayed and we click on Search Settings .

Configurar búsquedas en Google

In the Personal Results section, we have to click on Manage. This will take us to the next window where we can choose whether or not we want it to show us personalized results when we do any search on Google.

Evitar resultados personalizados en Google

By default, the option to Show personal results will be checked. We simply have to disable that feature. From that moment on, it will not autocomplete searches based on history, nor will it offer us personalized responses based on account information, flight details, or location.

Mobile devices

We have explained how to deactivate the personalized results on the desktop, when using a computer, but we can also do it on the mobile . The process is very similar and we will also prevent Google from offering results based on previous data it has obtained.

The first step again is to enter the Google website. There we will have to click on Settings, which appears at the bottom, and select Search Settings. We go down to Personalized results and click on Manage .

Configurar búsquedas en el móvil

As we did in the desktop version, what we have to do is uncheck the box that appears marked to Show personal results. From that moment on, it will no longer show us anything based on the location or previous searches we have made.

Tips for conducting private searches

We have seen how to deactivate the function of displaying personalized results in Google when conducting a search both from the computer and from a mobile device. However, we also want to show some interesting tips to be able to search privately, without exposing personal data or our connection. We can use alternatives to Google or even have a VPN.

Use an alternative search engine

Although Google is the most popular search engine of all, the truth is that we have a large number of options available. We can use any other to preserve privacy and prevent our data from being leaked online or showing results linked to other accounts.

An example of these private search engines that we mentioned is DuckDuckGo . It is one of the most used and it even has a mobile application, beyond accessing its website to perform any search . Its main objective is to preserve the privacy of users and not to collect information from searches.

Another alternative is StartPage , which also acts as a search engine similar to Google but which promises to take care of user data as much as possible and not collect information of any kind.

Browse with a VPN

On the other hand, to browse with greater privacy and to also be able to perform searches without showing our real location and other similar data, the use of a VPN is interesting. There are many options for both desktop and mobile. We talk about programs like ExpressVPN, NordVPN or ProtonVPN, among many others.

What this type of service does is allow us to navigate through a kind of tunnel. Our data is protected and we do not show real information, such as location or IP address. It is a way of preserving privacy on the network.

Use incognito mode

This method does not really protect security, nor does it protect privacy on the network. It only helps that the browser does not store data in the history . For example, it will not store the searches we carry out on Google, nor the pages visited. Nor will we navigate with our session started.

Therefore, to a certain extent it is another alternative that we can use if we want to improve privacy on the network, when conducting an Internet search or simply browsing any page without leaving a local record of what sites we are visiting.

In short, by following these steps that we have explained we can prevent Google from showing us personalized data. It is an option that we can carry out both on the computer and also on any mobile device. Very interesting to be able to improve privacy and prevent our personal information from being filtered or used by third parties while we surf the net.