How and Why to Depersonalize Google Search Results

Did you know, the Search Results you see on Google (and other sites) are BIASED by your past browsing history. What YOU see is not the same as what OTHERS see!

How does your site appear in a generic search? To find out, you must ‘depersonalize’ your search results. Here are some ways to do that.

Chrome incognito window

1. Use the Incognito (Chrome) or Private Window (Firefox) mode on your browser. This is the quickest way to depersonalize search results.

Chrome Incognito mode. After you perform an initial search, you will see the following below and to the right of the search bar – the two left symbols are to toggle between personalized and non-personalized results

Firefox Private Window:

Firefox private window

2. Use a proxy server – access your search through another gateway. See more information at See How your Website is Ranked and Positioned by Search Engines.

3. Logout of all accounts (Google, Yahoo, Bing …).

4. Clear your cache and delete your cookies.

In Chrome, go to Settings (upper right) > History > Clear Browsing History.

In Firefox, go to the menu History > Clear Recent History. Or, go to Settings (upper right) > Options > Advanced > Network Tab.

Some other good resources on this topic:

Five ways to depersonalize Google search results

Nine ways to depersonalize your search results