756728 - search engine language

Status: RESOLVED WORKSFORME

(Firefox :: Search, defect)

Description

[t8av]

User Agent: Mozilla/5.0 (Windows NT 6.0; rv:12.0) Gecko/20100101 Firefox/12.0
Build ID: 20120420145725

Steps to reproduce:

Now I am traveling in Thailand.

In Firefox, I entered a website, chose a word and right-clicked on it with the mouse.

Then I chose "Search Google for...".



Actual results:

I got Google search in the Thai language, which I cannot read Thai, like many other millions who are in the same situation.

The URL that I got was:
https://www.google.co.th/search?q=Anyword&ie=utf-8&oe=utf-8&aq=t&rls=org.mozilla:en-US:official&client=firefox-a&channel=rcs




Expected results:

Firefox should allow to set the search engine language.

In the URL just add: &hl=en (or any other language that the user chooses). 

Also make sure that if the user chooses English, the URL should be google.com and not google.co.th or any other country.

The URL should have been:

https://www.google.com?q=anyword&hl=en

Comment 1

[Jo Hermans]

Your browser is already sending you to google.com. Google is redirecting to google.co.tk because you *are* in Thailand. The results are in Thai because that's what the default language is in Thailand. In most countries, the default language is indeed based on the local one, with an apparent exception for multilingual countries (Belgium defaults to English for instance). If there would be cookie in the request to force the use of a different language, it would have been used. But there is none in the search-box (privacy and all that). If you go directly to the Google homepage, you can force that.

See also bug 451736 comment 4 for a related discussion about the preferred language dialog box. That would be the correct setting (not the language of the browser !!), but since you have multiple languages selected in a specific order, it's much more complex. Note that the language of the user interface is *not* the same as the language of the content. For instance, I would not want that &hl=en was added as a default. 

The main issue is (IMHO) that Google should use the Accept-Language header as a default, and not rely on cookies (most people don't even know that they can set them). Cookies which aren't send in the search box in the first place. Failing that, maybe it's best to have a separate setting for the search-language.

Comment 2

[t8av]

(In reply to Jo Hermans from comment #1)
> Your browser is already sending you to google.com. Google is redirecting to
> google.co.tk because you *are* in Thailand. The results are in Thai because
> that's what the default language is in Thailand. In most countries, the
> default language is indeed based on the local one, with an apparent
> exception for multilingual countries (Belgium defaults to English for
> instance). If there would be cookie in the request to force the use of a
> different language, it would have been used. But there is none in the
> search-box (privacy and all that). If you go directly to the Google
> homepage, you can force that.
> 
> See also bug 451736 comment 4 for a related discussion about the preferred
> language dialog box. That would be the correct setting (not the language of
> the browser !!), but since you have multiple languages selected in a
> specific order, it's much more complex. Note that the language of the user
> interface is *not* the same as the language of the content. For instance, I
> would not want that &hl=en was added as a default. 
> 
> The main issue is (IMHO) that Google should use the Accept-Language header
> as a default, and not rely on cookies (most people don't even know that they
> can set them). Cookies which aren't send in the search box in the first
> place. Failing that, maybe it's best to have a separate setting for the
> search-language.

I already know what you wrote, but it does not solve the problem to me and to many other millions of users who cannot read the "default language" which is based on location.

Whenever I am searching Google directly, I always start with this page:
https://www.google.com/?hl=en

So the problem exists only when I am using Firefox's "quick" search.

A user installed Firefox in English and he/she is getting results in other languages.

It is very easy for firefox programmers to fix this issue, using the format that I suggested:

https://www.google.com?q=anyword&hl=en

(en can be replaced with other languages - user defined).

You can off course put the blame on Google: "we sent the request to google.com and they set the language according to their defaults" - in this case the problem will stay forever and I will never use this feature of firefox.

Comment 3

[Matthias Versen [:Matti]]

Why do you don't install a fixed english or no country redirect search plugin ?
- http://mycroft.mozdev.org/google-search-plugins.html

>A user installed Firefox in English and he/she is getting results in other languages
That is what I want as example. I have a english UI but I want a local google.
Google could be smart and use the http language header that Firefox sends but they are producing this mess with their IP geolocation. 

>>It is very easy for firefox programmers to fix this issue, using the format that I suggested:

It's not easy since the google team specified the search Engines parameters that have to use.  We could use the already existing UI for the http accept header for the search Engine language but we would need a permission.

Comment 4

[t8av]

Thanks Matthias,

You are helpful, as always.

I tried the Mycroft plugin and it works fine. Bingo!

If you have a chance to talk with Google team, please let them know that their IP regional language methodology annoys and confuses many millions of people that their language happens to be different than their IP.

Tom.

Comment 5

[Wayne Mery (:wsmwk)]

@t8av  please close your bugs when they are done. thanks