As a marketer, I prefer using Google.com as my primary search engine for many reasons.  Sometimes I want US based searches but primarily it is because often Google tests or releases features on .com first.  And if I ever need to do local-based searches, I can easily head to my country specific Google version instead.

But in Chrome, even if the default search engine is set as Google.com, it will still automatically route the searcher to the Google version for the country they are in, requiring users to go back to Google.com and click the “Go to Google.com” link that appears in the homepage footer.

There is a way to set Google.com as the default in Chrome, for marketers wishing to keep an eye on the Google.com search results instead of their own country version.

First, in Chrome, go to settings then click “Manage search engines”, even if it currently shows Google as the default.

Then scroll all the way to the bottom until you see the “Add a new search engine” box.

For search engine name, type “Google NCR” and for keyword type “Google NCR_” – this will serve to remind you that this is the Google search with “No Country Redirect” enabled, although you can name it whatever you’d like.  I’d avoid naming it just “Google” to prevent confusion.

Then, in the URL field, enter:

https://www.google.com/search?q=%s&pws=0&gl=us&gws_rd=cr

Be sure it is exactly as above, including all parameters.   Add it, save as default search engine, then set this new Google NCR as the default search engine.

It should now show up like this:

And now when you search with Google Chrome using the address/search bar, it will always search using Google.com without the country redirect.

Do note that your local search results may be skewed by using Google.com although the AdWords ads displayed will still be geotargeted to your location, which is working as intended.  If you want to see AdWords ads for another country, you would need to use a proxy or VPN to do so.