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Somehow Yahoo has been added as the default search provider in Firefox. How can I get rid of it and go back to Google?

I recently installed the "Tab Mix Plus" Firefox extension, so I suspect that this has changed the search provider.

When I enter a set of words which, without the "www", I used to get the proper URL. Now, I get some sort of search which returns nothing close to what I was looking for and proudly proclaims itself to be "Yahoo Search"

I liked Google before and I would like to return to using Google for search. I have looked all through "Add/Remove Programs" in the Windows XP control panel, but it's not there.

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Wait… I am confused. Is the Firefox search box up in the top right hand corner using Yahoo for its search now, or are you talking about the Awesome Bar (address bar)? – joshhunt Oct 3 '09 at 5:12
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No, he's talking about the Awesome Bar. the search box default probably also got changed, but that's easy to change back. typical of 3rd-party browser toolbars -- FreeCause has a themable toolbar that's used in a lot of places and does exactly that. this is not Tab Mix Plus. you may have agreed to install some browser toolbar as part of another program's installer. – quack quixote Oct 3 '09 at 5:33
Screenshot, just in case there's more info on that page. – random♦ Oct 3 '09 at 5:33
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8 Answers

up vote 6 down vote accepted

You will need to change the default search engine for the address bar. Follow this post. Alternatively you can set the keyword as mentioned in the post to the below value which is present in my browser:

http://www.google.com/search?ie=UTF-8&oe=UTF-8&sourceid=navclient&gfns=1&q=

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+1 nice solution. beware if you do this without uninstalling whatever changed it in the first place, it might get changed back at a later point. – quack quixote Oct 3 '09 at 10:34
Fantastic. Thanks a lot. – Xavierjazz Oct 3 '09 at 13:40
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up vote 1 down vote

There may be a malware plugin "Search Settings Plugin" that was installed without knowledge of the user. Uninstall that plugin and it should fix the problem. You still need to update the about:config to restore to original settings.

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up vote 1 down vote

The McAfee Site Advisor addon does this. I'm pretty certain all of you have it installed. Here's the proof. This is what the keyword looks like in my about:config http://in.search.yahoo.com/search?fr=mcafee&p= Notice the McAfee at the end? It seems that this behaviour can only be changed with the Plus version of the toolbar. I haven't restarted the browser yet, so can't comment whether MASA will change it back to yahoo or not. And thanks for helping me find the problem.

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up vote 0 down vote

I'm having the same problem and have gone to look at the keyword, but it's set for google. Default search engine is set as google and still "yahoo search" has hijacked the awsome bar. I opened about:config and set filter for yahoo, trying to look for whatever setting might be amiss, but I see nothing troublesome.

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up vote 0 down vote

I can change it effectively enough (on the "about:config" page, as detailed above) but I can't make the change STICK.

Every time I restart Firefox the Yahoo-dastards re-initiate themselves and take over the location-bar search. Jerks.

I used to think they were just stupid at Yahoo. Now I know they're stupid AND evil.

But it's sad to see Firefox and Mozilla Software getting co-opted. I used to think of them as one of the more "open" and "public-spirited" of the many technicians out there. No longer.

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Mozilla always made their money through payments for search referrals. Now Yahoo pays more than google per referral and therefore they switched. Programmers have to eat. – Christian Oct 31 '09 at 18:40
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up vote 0 down vote

Yahoo home page sets the cursor in the yahoo search box on their web page, google is my search in my browser, you start to type look down and you have typed in yahoo search. Msn does the same thing. Aol is ok,.

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up vote 0 down vote

You didn't state your OS. Under Windows, you may have to go to Control Panel >> Programs (or Add/Remove Programs) and remove the Yahoo! toolbar that way. Also, in Firefox click Tools >> Add-Ons and remove any Yahoo! plugins.

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up vote 0 down vote

After being driven mad by this in both Windows and Mint Linux I found the cure I am currently downloading Chrome

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