google gone xenophobic?

what happened to all the foreign results on google?!

if i search some japanese popstar, for example, i used to get 2/3 of the links from japanese sources and a healthy smattering of japanese characters right in the blurbs displayed.

now there's not a one! whether a few links HAPPEN to be japanese sources, there is not a sign of japanese language ANYWHERE on the search page!

moreover, i used to search once in english, pluck out the japanese characters for w/e i was searching on (such as said popstar's NAME), and search again on that when i wanted a FULL list of native results. now that's well nigh impossible -- in fact, it's a major chore trying to even come UP with the translated name!

what's going on? i think this started around the time of "google instant". (altho i have that turned OFF. oh, and "results in any language" selected, btw)

 

that's all fine and dandy, but what's going on with the regular site?

are others seeing this, or do i have something "set" wrong somewhere?

as i said, i have "display results in any language" selected (confirmed), but.

 

I think it may be adjusting results to where you're located. When I search for Swedish artists I always get the first page with hits in English. Apparently, living in the US, they assume English is all we know and/or are interested in, and filter out pages in any other languages. It's all a part of "improving the online experience". rolleyes

 

and this just kicked in with the "google instant" changes?

even with english/US-based pages, i can't believe that one a ONE of the blurbs has japanese in it ANYWHERE!

i was seriously wondering whether i had some weird "screen it out" option toggled. but then i tried googling on "seiko matsuda" (the britney of 80's japan) and, yes, there's her kanji in a couple of entries. not MANY, but a couple.

anyone LESSER, tho, and u don't even get THAT. modern-day pop star, actress, AV gal...all ENGLISH!

just 2 months ago i know i'd have seen dozens and dozens of entries chock FULL of kanji...and a couple english ones (like wiki) with the occasional translation in parentheses. NOT NOW.

 

I think it may be the search terms that produce the results, not so much the location or the local search engine.

When searching for "seiko matsuda" on google.com or google.co.jp (from my computer here in Tokyo), I get mostly English results (very similar in both search engines). However, using '松田聖子' gives me mostly Japanese pages.