We’ve got two competing realities when it comes to tracking down info online these days:
- Getting answers has never been easier, between all the artificial intelligence chatbots in front of us and the unavoidable smearing of “AI Overview” answers at the top of regular Google search results.
- Getting accurate information has never been more challenging—thanks to the fact that all that AI-generated gobbledygook is flat-out wrong a shockingly high amount of the time (anywhere from 10% on the lower end to 50% and up, when it comes to more niche and specialized info).
To use some highly technical terminology, that ain’t great.
BUT: There’s an easy, powerful workaround to skip all those accuracy-challenged internet search “shortcuts” and go back to the basic, traditional web search of yesteryear—without any AI and without any costs or compromises.
Today’s Cool Tool is one you’ll absolutely want to hang onto.
This tip originally appeared in the free Cool Tools newsletter from The Intelligence. Get the next issue in your inbox and get ready to discover all sorts of awesome tech treasures!
Your AI-free Google search workaround
Few folks are aware—or remember—but back when Google first started gunking up its search results with all sorts of AI drivel, it built in a detour to avoid all of that and get pure, simple, clean web results without any of the added noise.
➜ That workaround is still available, if you know how to activate it. And it does more than just strip out the AI Overview additions. It also removes shopping boxes, info boxes, related news suggestions, and pretty much all the other distractions that litter search results these days.
⌚ It’s incredibly easy to do, too—we’re talkin’ two seconds of active effort.
And the difference really is staggering. I mean, look at this side-by-side comparison showing standard Google search results for a random query compared to search results with all the extra noise removed:
Quite the contrast, no?
✅ And, again, there really isn’t much to this, once you know where to look:
- The simplest way to get pure and simple Google search results without AI Overviews or any other additions is to perform your searches through a site called UDM14. All it does is send your query directly to Google with the right code at the end to remove all the extra junk and show you only standard web results—without any added tracking or other chicanery.
- If you’d rather go directly to Google, you can start a search the regular way and then:
- From a smartphone, scroll through the list of result types at the top of the screen—the line with options like “AI Mode,” “All,” “Images,” and so on—until you see “Web,” then tap on that.
- From a computer, click “More” within that same line of options and then click on “Web” from there.
- Or, if you don’t mind getting a little technical, you can also manually add a parameter, &udm=14, to the end of any Google search URL.
- So, for instance, https://www.google.com/search?q=best+folding+phone would become https://www.google.com/search?q=best+folding+phone&udm=14.
- And if you really want to get advanced and fancy, you can set up a custom search engine within your desktop computer browser so that it automatically applies that parameter to every search for you.
Using the UDM14 site is by far the simplest way to do this, but hey, you’ve got options.
And whichever way you go, you’ll find yourself basking in the joy of AI-free, clutter-free search results for the first time in ages.
Can I get a collective “hallelujah”?!
- UDM14 is a regular ol’ website that works in any browser, on any device, and doesn’t require any downloads or installations.
- It’s free to use; there’s a single small and unobtrusive ad on its main landing page.
- The site doesn’t track searches, require sign-ins, or collect any manner of personal data.
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