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Google WTF

Tharmas

Tharmas

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I've used Google as a search engine for years, and since search is a function I use more than any other, I've even made Google my home page. But today it's stopped working. I get the following error message:

403. That’s an error.

Your client does not have permission to get URL /search?source=hp&ei=4PYSYKXqLoK4sQWN-6H4BA&q=lakewood+liberty+burger&oq=lakewood+liberty+burger&gs_lcp=CgZwc3ktYWIQAzILCC4QxwEQrwEQkwI6DgguELEDEMcBEKMCEJMCOgUIABCxAzoICC4QsQMQgwE6AggAOggILhDHARCjAjoLCC4QsQMQxwEQowI6CAguEMcBEK8BOgsILhCxAxCDARCTAjoOCC4QsQMQgwEQxwEQowI6BQguELEDOggIABCxAxCDAToCCC46CwguELEDEMcBEK8BOg4ILhCxAxCLAxCoAxCdAzoOCC4QsQMQxwEQrwEQiwM6BQgAEIsDOgsILhDHARCvARCLAzoFCAAQyQM6BwgAELEDEAo6CgguEMcBEK8BEAo6BAgAEAo6BwgAEMkDEAo6BggAEBYQHjoCCCZQqCJYgU5gu3JoAHAAeACAAbMBiAHJEpIBBTExLjEymAEAoAEBqgEHZ3dzLXdpergBAg&sclient=psy-ab&ved=0ahUKEwil2rz8lb_uAhUCXKwKHY19CE8Q4dUDCAg&uact=5 from this server. That’s all we know.

It comes up no matter what I search for. Is it a conflict with my firewall? I can't think of anything that would cause it to screw up today, after years of working well.

I switched to another search engine, DuckDuckGo, which seems to work alright.

Any suggestions?
 
I'd put my money on it being on Google's end, assuming you didn't do any type of installation lately. Which browser are you using? Have you tried Google with another one? Have you tried re-installing your browser and issuing the search?

My general rule of thumb is that if I see an issue with the software from any major player (Facebook, Google, Microsoft etc) somebody somewhere is already working to fix it, and I just need to give it some time.
 
I use Firefox. However using MS Edge I get the same result. I haven't installed anything in the past couple of weeks that I can think of. Also, Google works fine for me on another computer, by business laptop. blastula, your link gives me the same 403 result.
 
I know it sounds simple but have you tried turning it off and then back on again?
 
ZiprHead said:
I know it sounds simple but have you tried turning it off and then back on again?
Click to expand...

Actually, yes, several times, but thanks for the suggestion.

The fact that it works on my business computer leads me to believe that it's something about my personal computer that's screwed up. It can't contact Google. But why???
 
Maybe try clearing your cache in Firefox for Google specifically, if you can. A quick search didn't turn up clear instructions how to be specific to Google, but typically you want to avoid clearing your entire cache, just as recent and specific as you can get it.

I'd be surprised if it wasn't somehow related to the browser, but it's odd that it's happening on two separate browsers. Are you logged into a Google account on each of them?
 
Tharmas said:
The fact that it works on my business computer leads me to believe that it's something about my personal computer that's screwed up. It can't contact Google. But why???
Click to expand...

Maybe the fact that your personal computer keeps responding "Keep it up sonny" is a clue? Because it's an old f**king computer!

Not trolling just being awake at 12:00 PM.
 
Google have separate servers for different networks. Something must have happened with yours. Just wait a little and it will get fixed. If you are very hungry and can't wait, install free VPN plugin.
 
rousseau said:
I'd put my money on it being on Google's end, assuming you didn't do any type of installation lately. Which browser are you using? Have you tried Google with another one? Have you tried re-installing your browser and issuing the search?

My general rule of thumb is that if I see an issue with the software from any major player (Facebook, Google, Microsoft etc) somebody somewhere is already working to fix it, and I just need to give it some time.
Click to expand...

So I took your suggestion and cleared the Google cache, to no avail. Then I cleared the whole cache, to no avail. I turned the machine off and then on again, and now it works fine. I now wonder if I'd rebooted after clearing the Google cache it would have worked. Anyway, it's done now, and not too much of a hassle re-entering passwords on secure sites, including this one. .

The irony is, I kind of like Duckduckgo and may stick with it as my home page/search engine. Anyway, thanks for your help, and to all the others who made suggestions.
 
Tharmas said:
barbos said:
https://appuals.com/fix-your-client...ou are using a,and try accessing Google again.

Do you use VPN? Looks like it could happen with VPN.
Click to expand...

I do use a VPN, and it occurred to me that could cause problems, but I don't see why it would have happened so suddenly. It's also possible I was over-searching, but surely a 12 hour wait would have re-sett the timer, which didn't happen in my case.
Click to expand...

it does not have to be you doing over-searching.
 
It occurs to me this might be a sign of malware messing with your searches.
 
Loren Pechtel said:
It occurs to me this might be a sign of malware messing with your searches.
Click to expand...
What would be the point?

Google should be aware of VPN use, but I think I had similar troubles in the past but it would directly complain of suspicious traffic from your VPN IP.
 
Tharmas said:
ZiprHead said:
I know it sounds simple but have you tried turning it off and then back on again?
Click to expand...

Actually, yes, several times, but thanks for the suggestion.

The fact that it works on my business computer leads me to believe that it's something about my personal computer that's screwed up. It can't contact Google. But why???
Click to expand...

Clear cache. Are you running anything like Privacy Badger, or such that might be misconfigured? Are you running Windows? Register corruption? 403 error means not allowed to connect. Might be a problem on your ISP end or router error. Have you turned your router off and then restarted that?
 
Tharmas said:
barbos said:
https://appuals.com/fix-your-client...ou are using a,and try accessing Google again.

Do you use VPN? Looks like it could happen with VPN.
Click to expand...

I do use a VPN, and it occurred to me that could cause problems, but I don't see why it would have happened so suddenly. It's also possible I was over-searching, but surely a 12 hour wait would have re-sett the timer, which didn't happen in my case.
Click to expand...


Turn off your VPN connection and try again. If the VPN server is misconfigured, it is a problem on their end, not yours.
 
barbos said:
Loren Pechtel said:
It occurs to me this might be a sign of malware messing with your searches.
Click to expand...
What would be the point?

Google should be aware of VPN use, but I think I had similar troubles in the past but it would directly complain of suspicious traffic from your VPN IP.
Click to expand...

Malware messing with Google searches, not the VPN itself.
 
Well, clearing the cache cleared up the problem for a while yesterday, but today it's back. I turned off the VPN and indeed that's what's causing the problem. No VPN, Google works fine. VPN back on, Google fails.

Now I've had this particular VPN for a couple of years, and using Google forever, and there's never been a problem before. So why now?
 
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