The issue:
Android users with Firefox can't access Google Search (including intl sites and localized domains like google.de, .co.uk, .com.br). Instead, they see a blank page.
Cause:
A server-side bug on Google's end related to User-Agent (UA) sniffing, which serves an empty page to newer Firefox versions.
Affected versions:
All Firefox versions on Android (>= 65) including Mobile 121.0, Nightly 123, and older.
Chrome not affected:
The bug is specific to Firefox.
Solutions:
- Use a different browser (Chrome, etc.) or search engine (DuckDuckGo).
Advanced users can:
Status:
- Problem identified as critical and escalated.
- Still unresolved at the time of reporting.
Additional notes:
- Disabling Firefox's Enhanced Tracking Protection doesn't fix the issue.
- Some users report google.co.in loading the desktop site instead of mobile.
After intending to for years, I've recently switched to DuckDuckGo after getting increasingly frustrated with Google's search results. This makes that decision feel all the more like the right one.
I find it hard to say this is deliberate on Google's part but at best it's yet another case of Google blatantly skipping over Firefox testing.
I did so, too.
I've done so repeatedly over the past years, each time giving it one month to evaluate how useful its result are to my productivity before deciding whether to swap back.
After now giving it three months, I can say this:
In theory though, DDG is nice. If they can improve the quality of their results, I can work around the maps issue. But it's still significantly behind Google, but I also have to see this in context of course: Google has a fuckton of money to throw around, for the budget they have, DDG is impressive.