Google thinks I'm in Washington DC, nowhere else does

Google thinks I'm in Washington DC but afaik everywhere else doesn't. When I run a "what is my ip" all of them get it correct. I'm fairly certain most if not all web sites that have US and UK sites also correctly geo locate me. A little hesitant on this because I've been getting a lot of confirm you are not a bot requests on some sites. But that could be from clicking on U.S. google search results and then the site detecting I'm in UK etc.

But all google results are American and shopping results are in $. Extremely frustrating.

Multiple devices, ruled out VPN / plugin interference, I've also renewed my IP 3 times! This is BT FTTP. I saw a new ipv4 each time I tried but not sure about ipv6. BT support useless and don't understand the issue and promised to escalate and call me back, never did!

Any ideas?
Thanks

So when you go to google.com and google.co.uk what does it say in bottom left had corner, my says 'United Kingdom'

What's your results if you go to https://www.iplocation.net/

In reply to a post by oldskool:

Any ideas?

WiFi or Ethernet?
Anything useful on https://iplocation.io/ ?

Tried a different web browser? Tried a Private/Incognito/Inprivate window?

I think this is governed by your google account location settings. This is one thing I have specifically set to the UK to force it to show UK results (which doesn't work).

To answer, it says United Kington on both .com and .co.uk

But in incognito, nothing is shown for the location.

Searching:

Search Results Example

It matches me exactly to my town

I've tired both wifi and ethernet

On iplocation.io it is comprehensive but every single match gets me correctly located, some of them right down to my town.

I have also tried a different browser, like Firefox which has never been installed before, tried in incognito mode, to rule out any cache or location history. I've also cleared the cache on my other browser.

I've even run a traceroute (OS X) just to check routing.

Its happening on other peoples devices in the house which is totally independent of any plugin or vpn I've installed.

Have you tried a different router as I think Google uses it's mapping cars to gather wifi locations.

In reply to a post by oldskool:

I've tired both wifi and ethernet

Great, if it was WiFi only then you could blame Google's wifi mapping technology getting something wrong.

On iplocation.io it is comprehensive but every single match gets me correctly located, some of them right down to my town.
Its happening on other peoples devices in the house which is totally independent of any plugin or vpn I've installed.

This means the various geolocation databases are correct for the IP addresses that BT has assigned to your connection, and means the problem is with Google. Perhaps try using Bing or DuckDuckGo to work around the problem.

IPv4 addresses have run out, so internet providers around the planet buy and sell from each other blocks of addresses. It is possible the address you have from BT was previously located in the USA.

Try sending Feedback to Google:
https://support.google.com/websearch/answer/6223687

Edited by jchamier (Sun 17-Dec-23 12:39:08)

I sort had this problem but only when I go on my travles to the USA. I have own travel router that VPN in to my network in UK. So Laptops,Phones, Tablets, Firesticks connect to travel router. So when come back from USA and back in UK Google thinks my IP is located in USA. The advertising in USA lot more then we do get in UK (lot medicaid, medicare, federal rebate for solar add's on Youtube)

I took about 3 weeks being back in UK until started getting any UK adds again.

And yes it is annoying. Just prefix all searches with UK

Unfortunately I dont have any others here to try.

I just use the BT supplied one and then have my own wifi network, controller, switch etc.

In reply to a post by jchamier:

In reply to a post by oldskool:

I've tired both wifi and ethernet

Great, if it was WiFi only then you could blame Google's wifi mapping technology getting something wrong.

On iplocation.io it is comprehensive but every single match gets me correctly located, some of them right down to my town.
Its happening on other peoples devices in the house which is totally independent of any plugin or vpn I've installed.

This means the various geolocation databases are correct for the IP addresses that BT has assigned to your connection, and means the problem is with Google. Perhaps try using Bing or DuckDuckGo to work around the problem.

IPv4 addresses have run out, so internet providers around the planet buy and sell from each other blocks of addresses. It is possible the address you have from BT was previously located in the USA.

Try sending Feedback to Google:
https://support.google.com/websearch/answer/6223687

Thanks this sounds very logical and is probably what's happening.

I hoped that renewing my IP a couple of times would solve it but despite changing, it didn't. Perhaps I'm still falling into a block of IP's that were previously located in the U.S.

I did submit a ticket to google last week about this but nothing changed / no reply. I forced an ip change since, each time located in a part of Washington DC strangely.

I'll try one my time and if its still an issue, leave it connect and also submit it to Google to see if they resolve it.

p.S. Bing is all good.

In reply to a post by amiga_dude:

I sort had this problem but only when I go on my travles to the USA. I have own travel router that VPN in to my network in UK. So Laptops,Phones, Tablets, Firesticks connect to travel router. So when come back from USA and back in UK Google thinks my IP is located in USA. The advertising in USA lot more then we do get in UK (lot medicaid, medicare, federal rebate for solar add's on Youtube)

I took about 3 weeks being back in UK until started getting any UK adds again.

And yes it is annoying. Just prefix all searches with UK

Good idea! I read about this too, a location can stay sticky to your google account for some time and I cleared all my cache and history.

In my case it's happening on other peoples devices so I'm certain it is linked to my ip.

I occasionally have a message pop up on Google saying something like 'please confirm this is your location to receive relevant results' and a map which IIRC is in Washington State.

In reply to a post by FibreBubble:

Have you tried a different router as I think Google uses it's mapping cars to gather wifi locations.

??? They would have to logon to the wifi to even get an IP address from DHCP. so I don't see how this could work.

Google passively pick up the MAC of the base station (BSSID) when the mapping cars drive past. The cars know where they are.

Turning off broadcasting your network name doesn’t protect from this.

If you use Google services then access something like Google Maps while you're on your Wi-Fi and let it determine your location - it should then associated your GPS position with your BSSID and the ISP you're using.

Also make sure that any privacy features like iCloud Relay are off.

Google probably knows where you live.

As the OP has reported the problem affects different devices, is happening when his IP address is changed and only affects Google. The router being mis-located by Google is my guess as to what is happening.

In reply to a post by jchamier:

Google passively pick up the MAC of the base station (BSSID) when the mapping cars drive past. The cars know where they are.

Turning off broadcasting your network name doesn’t protect from this.

The BSSID is agreed to be a MAC address. But it is the MAC address of the wifi interface and therefore inside the user's own network. MAC addresses are not seen across a routed interface, so I don't see that Google or anyone would have access to it across the public internet. If they can, I would be interested to know how they do that. But they would need to see the MAC address across the public internet to be able to correlate with the MAC address they see from the Google car.

In reply to a post by oldskool:

This is BT FTTP. I saw a new ipv4 each time I tried but not sure about ipv6

My guess is that you are connecting with IPv6, since both BT and Google use it. IPv6 is easier to geolocate due to ISPs usually registering a massive number of IPs in one CIDR rather than the piecemeal approach they need to use for IPv4.

But it's possible BT have a relatively new IPv6 CIDR that Google haven't caught up with yet.

In reply to a post by DFScale:

The BSSID is agreed to be a MAC address. But it is the MAC address of the wifi interface and therefore inside the user's own network.

No the BSSID is broadcast as part of the wifi signal - I can see the BSSID for all of the neighbouring wifi routers.

In reply to a post by brookheather:

No the BSSID is broadcast as part of the wifi signal - I can see the BSSID for all of the neighbouring wifi routers.

On windows I used the free InSSIDer years ago, now there are some free tools in the Microsoft Store. On macOS there is a paid tool with a yellow logo that works well, I can't recall the name.

In reply to a post by Oliver341:

But it's possible BT have a relatively new IPv6 CIDR that Google haven't caught up with yet.

Then try Google with https://ipv4.google.com/ to force IPv4.

I had this after coming back from Finland. Oddly all the devices in my house thought my IP was from Finland even the ones that i wasnt signed into (i can understand the ones im signed into and used in Finland, but not the ones i wasnt)

I ended up contacting Google to say its got my wrong location. Dunno if it was coincidence but not long after it fixed itself

In reply to a post by jchamier:

In reply to a post by Oliver341:

But it's possible BT have a relatively new IPv6 CIDR that Google haven't caught up with yet.

Then try Google with https://ipv4.google.com/ to force IPv4.

That is interesting!

IPv4 returns the correct location & results

IPv6 still has me in Washington DC

In reply to a post by brookheather:

In reply to a post by DFScale:

The BSSID is agreed to be a MAC address. But it is the MAC address of the wifi interface and therefore inside the user's own network.

No the BSSID is broadcast as part of the wifi signal - I can see the BSSID for all of the neighbouring wifi routers.

You are actually arguing with a quote out of context.

Of course you can see the BSSID of neighbouring wifi because you are effectively a candidate station to join that wifi network - in just the same way as a wired ethernet card MAC can be seen by DHCP, because that ethernet card is a candidate to join that LAN. Google are able to do this from the Google car.

The significant point is that even though the BSSID can be seen from the street, it cannot be seen across the user's router interface, because MACs are not seen across routers. Hence there is no simple way for Google or anyone to correlate the BSSID seen in the street with any incoming network connection via the wider internet.

In reply to a post by DFScale:

Hence there is no simple way for Google or anyone to correlate the BSSID seen in the street with any incoming network connection via the wider internet.

They don’t do that.

They take the broadcast BSSID (so it doesn’t matter if you change your network name) and align it with a GPS position they have themselves.

Then all Android phones and Google maps on iPhones nearby that hear the BSSID know where they are.

No network (TCPIP) required.

In reply to a post by jchamier:

They take the broadcast BSSID (so it doesn’t matter if you change your network name) and align it with a GPS position they have themselves.

Then all Android phones and Google maps on iPhones nearby that hear the BSSID know where they are.

No network (TCPIP) required.

So the client determines its own location using Google, rather than the client determining from Google.. Makes sense.

In reply to a post by DFScale:

So the client determines its own location using Google, rather than the client determining from Google.. Makes sense.

Yes, in that the WiFi networks are geolocated, so your mobile device can use them as reference points. Works well when you have no view of the sky (for GPS) e.g. indoors.

There are others doing the same thing, e.g. SkyHook (https://www.skyhook.com/)

I wish Google and other data-hoarders/spies thought I was somewhere else! My location invariably shows my post town which admittedly is four miles away. Hard enough to keep one's details private. But each to his/her own.

In reply to a post by Malwaremike:

I wish Google and other data-hoarders/spies thought I was somewhere else! My location invariably shows my post town which admittedly is four miles away. Hard enough to keep one's details private. But each to his/her own.

I'm with Zen and every time I use Google (as little as possible) I'm usually located in Leeds. No one sees me in SE18!

In reply to a post by Woolwich:

I'm with Zen and every time I use Google (as little as possible) I'm usually located in Leeds. No one sees me in SE18!

When I was in plusnet I was jumping between Sheffield or London. Now I'm with Virgin Media, I'm always located to my town.

This bugged me for a long time. I spent time trying to figure it out today and found the problem and figured out the fix. I did a ton of searches and most sites including several Google support sites report it's an ISP issue. It's NOT.

In SETTINGS, PRIVACY and SECURITY, SITE SETTINGS, PERMISSIONS, change the LOCATION PERMISSION to "Sites can ask for your location." If you do NOT give Google permission to use your location, it defaults to DC.

That's because you are in Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada and google is messing you up. Confusing you with Vancouver, Washington, District of Columbia.

Your "fix" does not apply to UK residents .

Edit: Or are you the OP, "oldskool" and lost your login details?

Edited by pluralist (Thu 14-Mar-24 16:08:01)