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  4. Best and easiest Google Depersonalization method

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After more than 13 years, and tens of thousands of questions, Moz Q&A closed on 12th December 2024. Whilst we’re not completely removing the content - many posts will still be possible to view - we have locked both new posts and new replies. More details here.

Best and easiest Google Depersonalization method

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  • BobGW
    BobGW last edited by Oct 1, 2016, 8:26 PM

    Hello,

    Moz hasn't written anything about depersonalization for years. This article has methods, but I don't know if they are valid anymore.

    What's an easy, effective way to depersonalize Google search these days? I would just log out of Google, but that shows different ranking results than Moz's rank tracker for one of our main keywords, so I don't know if that method is correct.

    Thanks

    1 Reply Last reply Reply Quote 0
    • BobGW
      BobGW @randfish last edited by Oct 3, 2016, 12:20 PM Oct 3, 2016, 12:20 PM

      Thanks Rand, really appreciate it!

      1 Reply Last reply Reply Quote 0
      • Vijay-Gaur
        Vijay-Gaur @randfish last edited by Oct 2, 2016, 9:10 PM Oct 2, 2016, 9:10 PM

        Hi Rand,

        Thanks for jumping in and helping us all out. Your response is much appreciated.

        Regards,

        Vijay

        1 Reply Last reply Reply Quote 0
        • randfish
          randfish last edited by Oct 3, 2016, 12:25 PM Oct 2, 2016, 5:38 PM

          I'm surprised at how well this still works, but it does:

          1. Use an incognito browser window to remove account personalization
          2. Use a query string like this: https://google.co.nz/search?q=your+keyword+terms&gl=us

          With 2) above, you're removing the geographic bias of any particular region/IP address by searching in Google New Zealand, then re-geo-locating the search to the US. This will give you non-geo-biased results.

          If you want to see how specific results look from a particular region, there's two semi decent options:

          A) Use Google's Ad Preview Tool: https://adwords.google.com/apt/anon/AdPreview?__u=1000000000&__c=1000000000
          B) Use the &near parameter, e.g. https://google.co.nz/search?q=your+keyword+terms&gl=us&near=seattle+wa

          Vijay-Gaur BobGW 2 Replies Last reply Oct 3, 2016, 12:20 PM Reply Quote 2
          • Vijay-Gaur
            Vijay-Gaur @BobGW last edited by Oct 2, 2016, 12:51 PM Oct 2, 2016, 12:51 PM

            Yes, this is one of many factors for de-personalization. Also, there can be many more hidden factors which we are yet to discover.

            I  have done a lot of research on this matter, I use a specific PC with VPN dedicated to checking keyword SERP ranks for my clients, as they are from many different countries and having a different target audience, we try to replicate the results for different scenarios.

            I hope this helps.

            1 Reply Last reply Reply Quote 0
            • BobGW
              BobGW @Vijay-Gaur last edited by Oct 2, 2016, 11:48 AM Oct 2, 2016, 11:48 AM

              So am I correct that logging out and adding &pws=0 is not enough?

              Vijay-Gaur 1 Reply Last reply Oct 2, 2016, 12:51 PM Reply Quote 0
              • Vijay-Gaur
                Vijay-Gaur last edited by Oct 3, 2016, 12:25 PM Oct 1, 2016, 9:29 PM

                Hi There,

                In addition to the methods suggested for de-personalization of results, there are additional few more factors.You may also like to read a blog post I wrote on my website Impact of Personalized Search results .

                Incognito window doesn't mean you have deleted history of the previous browsing, you will have to clean the browsing history and cookies.

                Use VPN or proxy to get results from different locations and countries. This gives you best Idea about your SERP status in different countries.

                I hope this helps, please feel free to ask more questions by responding.

                Regards,

                Vijay

                BobGW 1 Reply Last reply Oct 2, 2016, 11:48 AM Reply Quote 1
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