If you travel internationally and update your Chrome, then your default google domain changes.  So for example, you live in Canada but go to Sweden. There you update your browser and all of a sudden google searches are made on “google.se” instead of “google.ca”. This is frustrating since its the results are usually not as relevant and in a different language.

How to change this in Windows 7

After searching for about 20 minutes, I found the answers in broken pieces. I’ve compiled the answers together for others:

1) Close Chrome

2) With Notepad or Notepad++ open up

C:/Users/**YourUserName**/AppData/Local/Google/Chrome/User Data/Local State

• Obviously, replace **YourUserName** with your Windows username
• And yes its “Local State” (with a space in between)
• If you try to browse there using your windows explorer, you may not be able to see the folders. This is because these are hidden files and by default windows has hidden files as… hidden. It’s best just to copy and paste the file location to the windows file browser.

3) Once you’ve the file loaded up, change the last_known_google_url to http://www.google.XX and and also change last_prompted_google_url to http://google.XX

• Where XX is your preferred domain. In my case it’s .ca

4) Save and restart Chrome. Type anything on the address bar  and you should be taken to the Google domain you just set.

How to change on OSX

Same deal as above. Just the location of the file is

~/Library/Application Support/Google/Chrome

Several weeks ago, I read about Google’s newspaper ads for Chrome. I wasn’t sure what to make of it. It seemed a bit weird for Google to use offline media to advertise for a free online tool. Now, I’ve started to notice several print-banners in Germany. An example is shown below.

Originally posted 2011-01-12 02:35:48.

How many browser versions did you upgrade this year? I was on v8 of Chrome on New Years day, and now by Christmas I’m on v16. So that’s 8 versions in a year… what the hell? And I remember the time when IE6 to IE7 took 5 years to release. So what exactly is going on with Chrome?

Chrome Accelerates

Chrome is accelerating their release cycles. This year they released a new major version every 45 days on average. This makes the browser very fluid.

FireFox Catchup

It seems FireFox got the message. From March, they’ve jumped from v3.6 to v9. Their major releases are almost monthly now. IE on the other hand still has the traditional approach of long major releases.

Why the Fluidity?

Chrome is making version numbering obsolete. It’s almost comparable to the apps experience on your phone. Do you really care which version of GroupOn’s app you run? No, as long as it works. This is also what users have started to expect from browsers…

• that there browser works well
• and is secure

This is what Chrome is offering… making version numbering meaningless.