I found this support forum post but the solution provided doesn’t work.
Edit (thanks to @moreeni@lemm.ee for the Stack Exchange link):
Solution - Go to Settings -> Home -> Enable Shortcuts -> Go to a new tab -> Google will be pinned by default, hover over the Google icon -> Click on the 3 dots menu -> Unpin
Have you tried changing your default search to something else?
Yes, my default search engine is Ecosia.
I haven’t changed it manually though, I installed their extension and it changed the default; if this matters in any way.
You can add ecosia without the extension, just open the website, click the url bar and it’ll be among the search engines with a plus on top. Clicking it adds it
Thanks. Because of this post I was able to figure out how to change the search engine on my phone
Try removing Google from your search engines. If you still want it you can re-add it from search results (click address bar, a new search icon with a + should appear at the bottom) or Mycroft.
Also consider removing/dismissing Google from the new tab page. If you have disabled the option showing your most visited sites, enable it temporarily to remove Google and untick the “sponsored” option in the new tab cog icon on the top right.
https://superuser.com/questions/1541022/how-to-removed-google-from-top-bar-in-firefox
There’s a more elaborated answer down there in the thread.
This worked, thanks!
Solution: Go to Settings > Home > Enable Shortcuts > Go to a new tab > Google will be pinned by default, hover over the Google icon > Click on the 3 dots menu > Unpin
If you wouldnt mind getting rid of Google search entirely … settings, search, select Google, remove. I assume there is nothing to pin after that?
funny. I just don’t have this behavior. is it for a phone or it could be because I set my default search engine?
I just made ecosia my default engine and it never trues to search from google
You use Youtube and GMail… I can recommend NoScript and “temporary container” to keep things isolated.
The containers persist until you close the tab. Or use containers manually for Google stuff.
Context: if you dont block Google (and tons of other) Javascript and dont isolate cookies, Google already knows a lot about what you are doing. So you could also just use their search pretty much.
But if you block their javascript through an “allowlist” approach using NoScript, they cant place cookies or tracking pixels and you get a huge advantage
