Google Search offers a web filter mode that removes AI overviews, knowledge cards, hotel listings, flight dashboards, and other content injected by Google of the search results. This leaves just the traditional list of ten blue links.
The mode has been available for several years and can be enabled by adding the &udm=14 URL parameter to a search query. Manually adding the parameter to each search is cumbersome. However, Chrome users can set Web mode as the default search engine, which automatically applies it to each search.
How to set web mode as default in Chrome on desktop
- Paste chrome://settings/searchEngines into the address bar.
- Click Add next to Site Search.
- In the dialog box, enter the following:
- Name: Google web mode,
- Shortcut: @web,
- URL with %s instead of query: {google:baseURL}search?q=%s&udm=14.
- Locate Google Web Mode in the list of search engines, click the three-dot menu next to it, and select Set as default.
Google Search will now run all queries through web mode by default.
How to do it for Android
- Open TenBlueLinks.org in Chrome for Android.
- Open a new tab and do any search on Google.
- In the search results, tap the three-dot menu and go to Settings.
- In Search Engine, Google Web should now appear at the bottom.
- Select it to set it as the default search engine.
TenBlueLinks.org uses an XML configuration that registers the search engine in web mode with the &udm=14 parameter. The site does not see search queries or participate in the search process. The same approach works in Chrome for iOS.
What changes Google search web mode and what doesn’t
Web mode does not improve search quality, ranking, or recency. Simply filter out additional content created by Google that appears above or next to organic results.
Users searching for things like hotels, flights, or product comparisons will see standard websites in the results instead of Google’s built-in tools.
The udm=14 parameter is among several URL parameters that affect how Google Search displays results. While there is documentation for the others, the web mode setting offers the most notable difference for users who prefer a results page without AI summaries or feature panels.
