Over the last several years, AI has become increasingly prevalent; now, about half of all queries return Google’s AI Overviews. Although AI Overviews are sometimes useful, they are often annoying or based on inaccurate or out-of-date information. We have some good news if you’re missing the days when you would search Google and get a list of links.
You may make sure that the “Web” search filter only displays websites in your search results by adjusting your Google settings. Better still, you may use the address bar of your browser to search Google and receive those link-based results. We’ll walk you through the process on Microsoft Edge, Apple Safari, Mozilla Firefox, and Google Chrome.
What is the Web filter for Google Search?
Google’s new Web filter is comparable to its results filters for shopping, news, images, and videos. Your search results will only include text-based links when the Web filter is chosen; there won’t be any AI summaries, videos, or information panels like “Top Stories” or “People Always Ask.”
Along with existing filters like News, Images, and Videos, the new filter ought should show up under the search field on the Google Search results page. To view it as an option, you will often need to select the three-dot “More” menu.
a screen grab of the Web filter accessible via a drop-down More option in the Google search results for NFL streaming services
The Google Search Web filter is often located behind the search field in the More filters menu.
When you click on the Web filter link, you will see Google search results that are just text links and have no AI or responses. Under the search query field, “Web” will now be underlined and highlighted in blue.
Google search results page screenshot with just links to NFL streaming providers
Knowledge panels and other snippets are eliminated from your results by Google’s Web filter.
According to a Google spokeswoman, Google’s Web filter will nonetheless provide ad results for certain search queries even if we did not see any sponsored search results or other adverts during our first testing. We were also able to view search adverts for a few particular inquiries after experimenting with additional search phrases using the Google Web filter.
How may my address bar searches yield Google Search Web filter results?
Changing your browser’s settings to direct your address bar searches to the Google Web filter results is quite simple, depending on your browser. You must first establish a custom site search shortcut in your browser. You can then use a term to activate that search option or set it as your default for all searches.
It is important that you keep in mind this URL: https://www.google.com/search?q=%s&udm=14. Your search query is represented by the “%s” and your results are restricted to the new Web filter by the “udm=14” tag.
Google Chrome, Microsoft Edge, Mozilla Firefox, and Apple Safari are the four most widely used online desktop browsers. Here’s how to add the required custom site search for Google’s online filter.
You may always utilize the website &udm=14, which was created by Ernie Smith of Tedium, if you don’t want to mess with browser settings. It offers a front-end for Google Search that automatically includes the required Web filter parameter.
Chrome by Google
Click the three-dot menu next to your Google account profile in the top-right corner of the Google Chrome window. Near the bottom of the menu, click Settings. In the browser address box, type chrome://settings to access your Chrome settings.
Click “Manage search engines and site search” in the center of the browser window after choosing Search engine from the left-hand column. Click the blue Add button after selecting “Site search” by scrolling down.
Give the new search shortcut a name and choose a term to activate it in the resulting pop-up box. We finally decided on “Old Google” and “og.” Enter the URL we provided previously in the last box, “URL with %s in place of query”: https://www.google.com/search?q=%s&udm=14. Next, press the blue “Add” button.
You may now use Google’s Web filter to receive results when you type “og” + your search phrase into your address bar.
To set your new site search as your default search option, click the three dots next to it and choose “Make default.” All of your address-bar searches will utilize the Web filter after you choose the new search shortcut as your default search; no keywords are required.
An image of the Google Chrome search engine settings that demonstrates how to establish a site search shortcut as the address bar’s default search engine
You may set Google’s Web filter as your preferred search engine after creating the site search shortcut.
Edge by Microsoft
The procedures for adding a Google Search Web filter shortcut are similar to those for Google Chrome since the Windows browser is built on the Chromium core. Click the three-dot menu in the top-right corner to access Settings. From there, choose Privacy, Search, and Services.
Choose Address bar and search toward the bottom of the next panel, and then Manage search engines. Alternatively, you may type edge://settings/searchEngines into your Edge URL bar to get straight to that panel.
To create a new site search shortcut, click the Add button. The shortcut’s name is the search engine (I used “Old Google”), the phrase that initiates that particular site search (I used “og”), and the string that initiates the Google Search Web filter is the URL template: q=%s&udm=14,
An image illustrating the process of adding a new custom search engine to the Microsoft Edge search engine settings page
Google Chrome and Microsoft Edge’s search engines function very similarly.
CNET’s screenshot of Microsoft Edge
Return to the address bar and search settings page, then choose the drop-down choice next to “Search engine used” in the address bar. This will establish the new Google URL as your default search. The Google Search Web filter will be used by default when you choose your new custom site search in the URL field.
Firefox by Mozilla
When it comes to creating search shortcuts, Firefox operates somewhat differently. You’ll make a new bookmark with a keyword shortcut instead of using the search settings, and then you’ll use that term in the address bar to bring up the Google Search Web filter results. Regretfully, Firefox’s desktop version does not allow you to add other search engines.
Choose Manage Bookmarks from Firefox’s Bookmarks drop-down menu. On the next screen, right-click on the Bookmarks folder where you want to add the shortcut, and then choose “Add Bookmark.” (The location of the bookmark is irrelevant since you will be launching it from the address bar.)
Enter a name (such as “Old Google”) and the URL https://www.google.com/search?q=%s&udm=14 in the pop-up box that appears. Enter a keyword (like “og”) to bookmark the search filter. Enter your keyword before any address-bar searches, and the Google Web filter results will be shown when you click the “Save” button.
An image showing the Mozilla Firefox bookmarks settings
You must use a bookmark with a keyword shortcut in order to search Google’s Web filter in Mozilla Firefox.
Custom site shortcuts are not enabled by default in Apple Safari. Installing the free Safari plugin Smart Keyword Search, which allows site search shortcuts, was the only way we could add the Google Web filter search.
You must first allow Smart Keyword Search to modify your Google search results after downloading it. Navigate to Settings, pick “Edit Websites” from the Extensions menu at the top of the window, and then choose “Smart Keyword Search.” Click the drop-down option next to google.com on the next screen, then choose “Allow.”
An image of the Safari Smart Keyword Search extension’s settings
To modify Google searches, you must grant the Smart Keyword Search extension access.
Click the Smart Keyword Search icon that shows up next to the Safari address bar once you’ve closed the Settings box. A pop-up window containing the different “rules” the extension employs to alter searches will appear. To begin a new rule, click the “compose” button. Then, for the Web filter search shortcut, provide a name (like “Old Google”), prefix (like “og”), and a well-known URL.
An image of Safari’s rules using the Smart Keyword Search plugin
The syntax used by the Smart Keyword Search extension for Safari is a little different.
You’ll need to provide a slightly different URL for Smart Keyword Search, which utilizes the variable “{search}” rather than “%s” to indicate a search query:
How to limit your searches on Google to “verbatim” results
Google allows you to further tailor your searches so that it only displays results based on the precise phrases you enter, not synonyms or similar terms. Introduced in 2011, the “verbatim” option is often available via the “Tools” link found beneath the majority of Google searches.
Add the parameter “&tbs=li:1” to the end of your custom search URL, such as https://www.google.com/search?q=%s&udm=14&tbs=li:1, to add a “verbatim” limitation to your Web filter shortcut.
Only text-based web links related to your specific search queries will now be returned by any searches you do using that new URL.
Learn more about the five Google Assistant settings you should adjust immediately and how to use Google’s circle-to-search function on the iPhone.
Updated on July 2: The lack of ads in Google Web filter results was misstated in an earlier version of this article. We were able to verify that search advertising may show up in Google Search Web filter results after more testing.