At the Google I/O event on May 14, the internet giant launched the biggest change to its search results in perhaps decades – AI Overviews. For many common search queries, people will now see an AI summary dominating the top of their results.
Not all users are excited about the new AI reviews, especially those looking for connections rather than answers to questions. Fortunately, a new web search filter gives you just that: nothing but text links; no ads, no AI, no images and videos.
Even better, you can get these link-based results on Google just by searching with your browser’s address bar. We’ll show you how to do it in Google Chrome, Mozilla Firefox, Apple Safari or Microsoft Edge.
What is Google Search Web Filter?
Google’s new web filter is similar to its filters for results such as news, images, videos or shopping. When the web filter is selected, your search results will only return text links, with no ads, AI summaries, or knowledge panels like Top Stories or People Always Asking.
The new filter should appear below the search box on the Google search results page, alongside other filters such as news, images and videos. You’ll usually have to click on the three-dot “More” menu to see it as an option.
The Google Search web filter is usually placed in the More Filters menu below the search box.
Clicking on the web filter link will give you Google search results made up entirely of text links, with no answers, ads, AI, or anything else. “Web” will now be highlighted and highlighted in blue below the search query field.
As with AI Overviews, we currently only see the web filter in the Chrome browser when we’re signed in to our Google accounts, but it appears to show up in other browsers regardless of sign-in status.
Google Web Filter removes snippets and other knowledge panels from your results.
How do I get Google Search Web Filter results for my searches in the address bar?
Depending on your browser, it’s relatively easy to customize your browser settings so that searches in your address bar go straight to Google’s web filter results. You will need to create a custom site search shortcut in your browser and then trigger this keyword search option or make it the default for all searches.
The critical URL to remember is https://www.google.com/search?q=%s&udm=14. “%s” represents your search query and the “udm=14” tag limits your results to the new web filter.
Here’s how to add the necessary custom site search for Google Web Filter in the four most popular desktop web browsers – Google Chrome, Microsoft Edge, Mozilla Firefox, and Apple Safari.
Google Chrome
Open a Google Chrome browser window, then click the three-dot menu in the upper-right corner, next to your Google Account profile. Click Settings at the bottom of this menu. You can also get to Chrome’s settings by typing chrome://settings in the browser address bar.
Choose Search engine from the left column, then click “Manage search engines and site search” in the middle of the browser window. Then scroll down to “Site Search” and click on the blue Add button.
In the resulting popup, create a name for the new search shortcut and a keyword to trigger it. We chose “Old Google” and “og”. For the last field – “URL with %s at request location” – enter the URL we mentioned above: https://www.google.com/search?q=%s&udm=14. Then click on the blue Add button.
Now when you search in your address bar using “og” + your search term, you will get results using Google’s web filter.
If you want to make it your default search option, click the three-dot menu next to the new site search and select “Make Default.” Once you make the new search shortcut your default search, all your searches in the address bar will use the web filter – no keyword needed.
After you create the search shortcut on the Google Web Filter site, you can make it your default search engine.
Microsoft Edge
The Windows browser is based on the Chromium codebase, so the steps to add a Google Search Web Filter shortcut are similar to Google Chrome. Navigate to Settings by clicking the three-dot menu in the upper right corner, then select Privacy, search and services.
At the bottom of the next screen, select Address bar and searchthen Management of search engines. Alternatively, you can navigate directly to this screen by typing edge://settings/searchEngines in the Edge address bar.
Click on Add button to create your new site search shortcut. The Search engine is your shortcut name (I used “Old Google”), the Shortcut is the term that triggered that particular search on the site (I used “og”), and URL template is the string that triggers the Google search web filter: https://www.google.com/search?q=%s&udm=14.
Search engines in Microsoft Edge work very similarly to Google Chrome.
To make this new Google URL your default search, go back to Address bar and search settings page and click the drop-down menu next to Used search engine in the address bar. Select your new custom site search and your address bar searches will default to Google’s web search filter.
Mozilla Firefox
Firefox works a little differently for setting up search shortcuts. Instead of using search settings, you’ll create a new keyword shortcut tag, then use that keyword in the address bar to trigger Google Search web filter results. Unfortunately, Firefox does not allow you to add new search engines in its desktop version.
From Bookmarks drop-down menu in Firefox, select Manage bookmarks. On the next screen, right-click the folder in your bookmarks where you want to place the shortcut, then select “Add Bookmark”. (Since you’ll be running it from the address bar, it doesn’t matter where the bookmark is located.)
In the next popup, enter a Name (eg “Old Google”), the URL address https://www.google.com/search?q=%s&udm=14 and a Keyword (like “og”) to save the search filter as a bookmark. Press the “Save” button and the Google Web Filter results will be available by entering your keyword before each search in the address bar.
To search Google Web Filter with Mozilla Firefox, you’ll need to use a keyword shortcut bookmark.
Apple Safari
Safari does not enable custom site shortcuts by default. The only way we were able to add Google Web Filter Search was by installing the free Safari Smart Keyword Search extension, which allows site search shortcuts.
After installing Smart Keyword Search, the first thing you need to do is enable it to adjust your Google search results. come in Settingsclick Extensions at the top of the window select Smart Keyword Search, then click the Edit Websites button. On the next page, click the drop-down menu next to google.com and select “Allow”.
You will need to grant the Smart Keyword Search extension permission to correct searches with Google.
Now close the settings window and click the Smart Keyword Search icon that appears next to Safari’s address bar. You’ll see a pop-up window with the various “rules” the extension uses to modify searches. Click the “compose” button to start a new rule, then enter a name (such as “Old Google”), a prefix (such as “og”), and a familiar URL for the web filter search shortcut.
The Smart Keyword Search extension for Safari uses a slightly different syntax.
Smart Keyword Search uses the variable “{search}” instead of “%s” to specify a search query, so you’ll need to enter a slightly different URL: https://google.com/search?q={search}&utm=14. Press the “send” button. Now typing “og” (or your chosen prefix) before any search in your address bar will return results limited by Google’s web filter.
How to limit your Google searches to “verbatim” results
You can further customize your Google searches so that the search engine only returns results based on the exact terms you use – not synonyms or related terms. The “verbatim” option was introduced in 2011 and is usually available via the “Tools” link under most Google searches.
To add a “verbatim” restriction to your web filter shortcut, add the “&tbs=li:1” attribute to the end of your custom search URL: https://www.google.com/search?q=%s&udm=14&tbs=li:1
Any searches you do with this new URL will now only return text-only web links for your exact search queries.
For more information, discover how to use the Google search circle feature on iPhone and five Google Assistant settings you need to change right now.
Editor’s note: CNET used an AI engine to help create several dozen stories that were labeled accordingly. The note you’re reading is attached to articles that deal essentially with the topic of AI, but were created entirely by our expert editors and writers. For more, see our AI policy.
