Can I stop Google from changing my searches?

Thanks for the ideas. Unfortunately, deleting the only other extension I had and disabling plug-ins did not change the behavior. I don't have a lot of stuff installed on my system, although I suppose it could be something outside Safari. I can't find any information about the CleanLinks extension, so I don't know if it is old or recent.

Thanks for the pointer. The article you link to says to remove adware, install the newest version of El Capitan and restart. That did not fix the issue either, sad to say.

I wonder, though, do other people also find that Google changes their search results? If not, then I need to look closer at my computer. My assumption from the existence of a Safari extension to solve the problem that it was universal, but no one has confirmed that.

Just to illustrate, when I type in "Google changes searches" in the Safari address/search bar, it changes to:

"https://www.google.com/?client=safari#q=google+changes+searches"

Does that happen to you as well?

Thanks for the link, but it found nothing. But does Safari behave the same on your Mac?

The EtreCheck report is below, but I still would like to have someone tell me whether they have this problem or not. If no one else has it, or not everyone does, then I know the cause is my computer, but if everyone has the same thing, it isn't a problem with my computer. Can someone please say that they do, or do not, have this problem?

EtreCheck version: 2.9.12 (265)

Report generated 2016-05-05 09:08:42

Download EtreCheck from https://etrecheck.com

Runtime 1:36

Performance: Excellent

Click the [Support] links for help with non-Apple products.

Click the [Details] links for more information about that line.

Problem: Other problem

Description:

Google changing searches in Safari

Hardware Information:ⓘ

MacBook Pro (Retina, 13-inch, Early 2015)

[Technical Specifications] - [User Guide] - [Warranty & Service]

MacBook Pro - model: MacBookPro12,1

1 3.1 GHz Intel Core i7 CPU: 2-core

8 GB RAM Not upgradeable

BANK 0/DIMM0

4 GB DDR3 1867 MHz ok

BANK 1/DIMM0

4 GB DDR3 1867 MHz ok

Bluetooth: Good - Handoff/Airdrop2 supported

Wireless: en0: 802.11 a/b/g/n/ac

Battery: Health = Normal - Cycle count = 21

Video Information:ⓘ

Intel Iris Graphics 6100

SyncMaster 2048 x 1152 @ 60 Hz

DELL 2405FPW 1920 x 1200 @ 60 Hz

System Software:ⓘ

OS X El Capitan 10.11.4 (15E65) - Time since boot: about 3 days

Disk Information:ⓘ

APPLE SSD SM0512G disk0 : (500.28 GB) (Solid State - TRIM: Yes)

EFI (disk0s1) <not mounted> : 210 MB

Recovery HD (disk0s3) <not mounted> [Recovery]: 650 MB

Macintosh HD (disk1) / : 499.06 GB (272.39 GB free)

Encrypted AES-XTS Unlocked

Core Storage: disk0s2 499.42 GB Online

USB Information:ⓘ

VIA Labs, Inc. USB3.0 Hub 4 TB

VIA Labs, Inc. USB3.0 Hub

Seagate BUP Fast HDD 4 TB

EFI (disk2s1) <not mounted> : 315 MB

Boot OS X (disk2s3) <not mounted> : 134 MB

Roberta (disk4) /Volumes/Roberta : 4.00 TB (1.84 TB free)

Encrypted AES-XTS Unlocked

Core Storage: disk2s2 4.00 TB Online

Seagate Expansion Desk 4 TB

EFI (disk3s1) <not mounted> : 210 MB

Boot OS X (disk3s3) <not mounted> : 134 MB

Vidalia (disk5) /Volumes/Vidalia : 4.00 TB (1.84 TB free)

Encrypted AES-XTS Unlocked

Core Storage: disk3s2 4.00 TB Online

Broadcom Corp. Bluetooth USB Host Controller

VIA Labs, Inc. USB2.0 Hub

VIA Labs, Inc. USB2.0 Hub

Kensington Kensington USB/PS2 Orbit

Apple Inc. Apple USB Ethernet Adapter

Thunderbolt Information:ⓘ

Apple Inc. thunderbolt_bus

Gatekeeper:ⓘ

Mac App Store and identified developers

Kernel Extensions:ⓘ

/Applications/Tunnelblick.app

[not loaded] net.tunnelblick.tap (20141104 (Tunnelblick build 4558) - 2016-04-26) [Support]

[loaded] net.tunnelblick.tun (20141104 (Tunnelblick build 4558) - 2016-04-26) [Support]

/Library/Application Support/VirtualBox

[loaded] org.virtualbox.kext.VBoxDrv (5.0.16 - 2016-03-10) [Support]

[loaded] org.virtualbox.kext.VBoxNetAdp (5.0.16 - 2016-03-10) [Support]

[loaded] org.virtualbox.kext.VBoxNetFlt (5.0.16 - 2016-03-10) [Support]

[loaded] org.virtualbox.kext.VBoxUSB (5.0.16 - 2016-03-10) [Support]

System Launch Agents:ⓘ

[not loaded] 7 Apple tasks

[loaded] 145 Apple tasks

[running] 86 Apple tasks

System Launch Daemons:ⓘ

[not loaded] 45 Apple tasks

[loaded] 147 Apple tasks

[running] 96 Apple tasks

Launch Agents:ⓘ

[not loaded] com.teamviewer.teamviewer.plist (2016-04-08) [Support]

[not loaded] com.teamviewer.teamviewer_desktop.plist (2016-04-08) [Support]

Launch Daemons:ⓘ

[loaded] com.barebones.authd.plist (2016-02-23) [Support]

[loaded] com.malwarebytes.MBAMHelperTool.plist (2016-05-04) [Support]

[loaded] com.microsoft.office.licensing.helper.plist (2015-06-04) [Support]

[loaded] com.teamviewer.Helper.plist (2016-02-01) [Support]

[not loaded] com.teamviewer.teamviewer_service.plist (2016-04-08) [Support]

[loaded] net.tunnelblick.tunnelblick.tunnelblickd.plist (2016-02-22) [Support]

[not loaded] org.virtualbox.startup.plist (2016-03-10) [Support]

User Launch Agents:ⓘ

[loaded] net.tunnelblick.tunnelblick.LaunchAtLogin.plist (2016-02-18) [Support]

[not loaded] org.virtualbox.vboxwebsrv.plist (2016-03-10) [Support]

User Login Items:ⓘ

Quicksilver Application (/Applications/Quicksilver.app)

iTunesHelper Application (/Applications/iTunes.app/Contents/MacOS/iTunesHelper.app)

Dropbox Application (/Applications/Dropbox.app)

aText Application (/Applications/aText.app)

Box Sync Application (/Applications/Box Sync.app)

Other Apps:ⓘ

[loaded] com.adobe.Acrobat.Pro.70752

[running] com.blacktree.Quicksilver.129632

[running] com.box.sync.47072

[running] com.getdropbox.dropbox.19232

[loaded] com.microsoft.Word.53792

[running] com.microsoft.autoupdate.fba.81632

[running] com.producteev.Producteev.128032

[loaded] com.trankynam.aText.101472

[running] net.tunnelblick.tunnelblick.2272

[loaded] org.libreoffice.script.51232

[loaded] 399 Apple tasks

[running] 224 Apple tasks

Internet Plug-ins:ⓘ

Default Browser: 601 - SDK 10.11 (2016-04-13)

QuickTime Plugin: 7.7.3 (2016-04-13)

SharePointBrowserPlugin: 14.6.3 - SDK 10.6 (2016-04-20) [Support]

Safari Extensions:ⓘ

Clean Links for Google - Dennis Umetzu - http://www.umetzu.com (2016-05-04)

3rd Party Preference Panes:ⓘ

None

Time Machine:ⓘ

Mobile backups: OFF

Auto backup: YES

Volumes being backed up:

Macintosh HD: Disk size: 499.06 GB Disk used: 226.66 GB

Destinations:

Roberta [Local]

Total size: 4.00 TB

Total number of backups: 139

Oldest backup: 10/29/13, 9:37 AM

Last backup: 5/5/16, 7:33 AM

Size of backup disk: Excellent

Backup size 4.00 TB > (Disk size 499.06 GB X 3)

Vidalia [Local]

Total size: 4.00 TB

Total number of backups: 138

Oldest backup: 10/29/13, 9:37 AM

Last backup: 5/5/16, 8:35 AM

Size of backup disk: Excellent

Backup size 4.00 TB > (Disk size 499.06 GB X 3)

Top Processes by CPU:ⓘ

10% Producteev

9% WindowServer

7% launchd

4% kernel_task

1% Box Sync Monitor

Top Processes by Memory:ⓘ

1.49 GB com.apple.WebKit.WebContent(11)

1.13 GB kernel_task

254 MB Mail

205 MB Skype

205 MB mds_stores

Virtual Memory Information:ⓘ

283 MB Free RAM

7.72 GB Used RAM (1.83 GB Cached)

610 MB Swap Used

Diagnostics Information:ⓘ

May 2, 2016, 10:31:36 AM Self test - passed

Thanks for the promising suggestion, but unchecking it did not change the behavior, unfortunately.

Thanks for confirming that this is not universal behavior. That explains why numerous searches for the issue were not successful.

And thanks for the save-mode idea. Unfortunately, the behavior remained in safe mode.

aText is a partial replacement for SpellCatcher (my favorite software of all time). It is a text expander that lets me create abbreviations that it will replace when I type with the full text. So I could define "sy" to be replaced by "Sincerely yours."

Producteev is a basic project manager program that allows assigning tasks to teams and vice versa. It was recommended to me by a consultant I work with. I'm just learning it, and don't use it much yet.