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Google Search

Run a speed test from Google Search

GeneralEdward Kiledjian

There are dozens of sites and services that promise to test your internet speed. The most popular are:

Now you can also add Google to the list.

1 - Go to the Google Search Page (on a PC or Android device)

2 - Enter Speed Test

3 - Choose the Run Speed Test option and ignore the search results

4 - Wait until Google delivers your speed test results

Android Smartphones - This tool also works on Android devices. Just search for Speed Test on the Google search bar on your launcher and it will perform the same test and return results with a similar look & feel.

Some public WIFI hotspots seem to block it while allowing other services to run. Not sure why.

Does it work in other languages?

 I tried the search on the Google Canada French site using both "Speed Test" and "test de vitesse" and I was not given the speed test web applet. Looks like this may be reserved for english language searches only for now.

 

Conclusion

Nothing special or different here but this could be one more feature in your cap. I do like the fact that Google interprets the results and explains (in plain English) what kind of video streaming performance you should be able to expect from your connection. 

    Changing Google.com country domain no longer works

    GeneralEdward Kiledjian

    Google power users knew that changing the Google country top-level domain (ccTLD) would allow you to find results optimized for another country or language (e.g. searching Google.ch instead of Google.com to get more swiss biased results). 

    There are a tone of reasons why I used this little trick:

    • Accessing Google.com results when terminating a VPN in another country
    • Travelling to a European country that skews results (right to be forgotten) and wanting "real" information returned
    • and much more

    In a blog post, Google announced that results will now be customized based on the user's location (without regard for the country ccTLD input in the URL). So if I am in France and try to access American results by using the Google.com site, I will still get french results.

    Google explains that 1/5 searches are location dependent (therefore detecting and using the user's actual location makes sense).  If I am traveling to Paris and search for pâtisserie, the logic motivation is that I am searching for a pâtisserie in Paris, not Toronto (my home city). 

    You can still search for results in another location but the process is much more complicated now (you can still go into settings and select the correct country service you want to receive.) 

    “It’s important to note that while this update will change the way Google Search and Maps services are labeled, it won’t affect the way these products work, nor will it change how we handle obligations under national law. ”
    — Google blog post

    Source: Google Blog

    Bypass Google's AMP with DeAMPify for Android

    GeneralEdward Kiledjian

    A handful of readers asked me to review the DeAmpify Android app and talk about it on my blog. So for those readers, here is my opinion.

    Google introduced AMP in 2015 (Accelerated Mobile Pages) with the hope of speeding up the mobile web by degunking all of the junk publishers were adding to their web pages (tracking, advertising, etc.)

    The CBC web page I am using for this article connects to 16 separate domains (to load content) and has eight different trackers. Obviously, this clogs up the page and makes it slower to load and less responsive.

    Journalists and privacy advocates have been criticizing AMP because they claim it is another Google attempt to control content by encouraging publishers to use the search giant's AMP caching servers. Additionally, Google chooses what tags will be allowed for AMP markup on web pages. 

    For those with modern high-end smartphones connected to super fast LTE networks, the difference is minor. But if you are on a mid-level phone or a slower connection, an AMP page could load in half the time. 

    A crafty developer (Joao Dias) created an Android app called Deampify whose sole purpose in life is to convert AMP links back to "normal" web ones. The app is free with a small in app purchase option to unlock pro features:

    • Disable Ads
    • Ability to add exceptions so that some websites still show the AMP versions
    • Tasker integration so that you can load original pages when you’re on Wifi but load the faster AMP pages when you’re on 4G/3G for example. 

    DeAMPify demonstration video

    Important considerations

    “DeAMPify doesn’t work if you click on an AMP link inside of Chrome”

    Since a link clicked in Chrome does not kick off the Android intent process, you cannot redirect it to DeAMPify and this the app cannot perform its magic. The app works in any non-Chrome app (messenger, hangouts, the Google Search app, etc).

    How does DeAMPify work?

    When you click on an AMP enabled page, the app searches the HTML code for the original web page URL and then passes this to the browser. So in effect, it is pre-downloading the entire web page anyway.

    Conclusion

    So is this useful and do I recommend it? No! I tried to find a reason to like this app but I couldn't. I don't have a technical or moral issue with AMP so there is no reason for me to go out of my way to bypass it. 

    Additionally, it is pre-downloading the web page to find the non-AMP URL so I am not saving bandwidth and may actually be slowing down my browsing experience. 

    I'm glad the app exists in case someone does want it but it's going to be useless for most Android owners. The only reason someone would probably consider this is if they have a moral issue with Google playing manager of the AMP technology and wants to "stick it" to the man.  To me it feels like stabbing yourself to teach someone else a lesson.