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Forced Yahoo search every now and then

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Hello

My Firefox is acting quite quirky, as every now and then when I search something via my adress bar it uses Yahoo instead of Google. I have checked my extensions and my search tools and Yahoo never shows up there. One example which happened just now was this: I searched "Carnaval meers 2020" in my adress bar and when I pressed enter, the following URL popped up in it, sending me to a Yahoo search request: https://nl.search.yahoo.com/yhs/search?hspart=dcola&hsimp=yhs-001&type=gsp_dventures_00_00_ag25764&param1=1&param2=cat%3Dweb%26sesid%3D8cdb1ceb996de63fe58d1805e1846a64%26ip%3D92.110.185.189%26b%3DFirefox%26bv%3D72.0%26os%3DWindows-10%26os_ver%3D10.0%26pa%3Dgencoll12%26sid%3D4175dbbf066e92669c742075ebdf60b6%26abid%3D21412%26abg%3D25764%26a%3Dgsp_dventures_00_00_ag25764%26sdk_ver%3D%26cd%3D%26cr%3D%26f%3D%26uref%3D&p=carnaval%20meers%202020

Any help would be much appreciated.

Hello My Firefox is acting quite quirky, as every now and then when I search something via my adress bar it uses Yahoo instead of Google. I have checked my extensions and my search tools and Yahoo never shows up there. One example which happened just now was this: I searched "Carnaval meers 2020" in my adress bar and when I pressed enter, the following URL popped up in it, sending me to a Yahoo search request: https://nl.search.yahoo.com/yhs/search?hspart=dcola&hsimp=yhs-001&type=gsp_dventures_00_00_ag25764&param1=1&param2=cat%3Dweb%26sesid%3D8cdb1ceb996de63fe58d1805e1846a64%26ip%3D92.110.185.189%26b%3DFirefox%26bv%3D72.0%26os%3DWindows-10%26os_ver%3D10.0%26pa%3Dgencoll12%26sid%3D4175dbbf066e92669c742075ebdf60b6%26abid%3D21412%26abg%3D25764%26a%3Dgsp_dventures_00_00_ag25764%26sdk_ver%3D%26cd%3D%26cr%3D%26f%3D%26uref%3D&p=carnaval%20meers%202020 Any help would be much appreciated.

Chosen solution

Before you submit the search, what does Firefox say it plans to do with your input? For example:

  • shows a URL and says "Visit"
  • says "Search with Google" (or other search engine)

Could you test in Firefox's Safe Mode? In its Safe Mode, Firefox temporarily deactivates extensions, hardware acceleration, any userChrome.css/userContent.css files, and some other advanced features to help you assess whether these are causing the problem.

If Firefox is not running: Hold down the Shift key when starting Firefox. (On Mac, hold down the option/alt key instead of the Shift key.)

If Firefox is running: You can restart Firefox in Safe Mode using either:

  • "3-bar" menu button > "?" Help button > Restart with Add-ons Disabled
  • (menu bar) Help menu > Restart with Add-ons Disabled

and OK the restart.

Both scenarios: A small dialog should appear. Click "Start in Safe Mode" (not Refresh).

Any improvement?

Read this answer in context 👍 1

All Replies (6)

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Chosen Solution

Before you submit the search, what does Firefox say it plans to do with your input? For example:

  • shows a URL and says "Visit"
  • says "Search with Google" (or other search engine)

Could you test in Firefox's Safe Mode? In its Safe Mode, Firefox temporarily deactivates extensions, hardware acceleration, any userChrome.css/userContent.css files, and some other advanced features to help you assess whether these are causing the problem.

If Firefox is not running: Hold down the Shift key when starting Firefox. (On Mac, hold down the option/alt key instead of the Shift key.)

If Firefox is running: You can restart Firefox in Safe Mode using either:

  • "3-bar" menu button > "?" Help button > Restart with Add-ons Disabled
  • (menu bar) Help menu > Restart with Add-ons Disabled

and OK the restart.

Both scenarios: A small dialog should appear. Click "Start in Safe Mode" (not Refresh).

Any improvement?

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Whenever I put something in, it always says "Search with Google".

After using Safe Mode for a few minutes, there haven't been any redirections to Yahoo. So it must be one of my Add-Ons, then?

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That seems the most likely explanation. Redirects sometimes sneak into unrelated add-ons, unfortunately. Yesterday, someone on Reddit mentioned that "Ratings Preview for YouTube" has this problem, for example.

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I do indeed have that Add-On! I'll keep it turned off until further notice.

Thank you so much.

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I have this problem too

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Hi jcbzns, if you test by restarting Firefox in its Safe Mode, does that make any difference?