Google is set to redirect country-specific Google Search domains to the global google.com domain, streamlining the user experience over the coming months.
According to a blog post by Google, the change will affect country code top-level domain names (ccTLD) for Google Search, meaning that users who currently use localized domains such as google.ng for Nigeria or google.com.br for Brazil will see google.com in their address bar instead. The company notes that this change will be rolled out “gradually” over the coming months.
As the change is implemented, users “may be prompted to re-enter some of their Search preferences in the process,” Google warns. However, the company emphasizes that the functionality and search results will remain unchanged. “It’s important to note that while this update will change what people see in their browser address bar, it won’t affect the way Search works, nor will it change how we handle obligations under national laws,” Google explains.
The move is a result of improvements made by Google since 2017, when it began providing “the same experience with local results for everyone using Search” regardless of whether users were accessing the search engine through their country’s ccTLD or google.com. As a result, Google states that “country-level domains are no longer necessary.”
