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I work for a company that has offices in several cities. I moved recently, but I didn't change jobs; I just brought my computer with me to the new office. When I visit Google now, it still thinks I'm in the old city, 300 miles away from where I actually am.

I'm not logged into a Google account. To be fair, I don't know if this behavior is limited to Google; I don't know of other sites that track visitors' locations, so I can't check. Why is it happening, and what can I do about it?

EDIT:
I have tried clearing my cookies, but that hasn't changed anything. Here's a screenshot of where Google is reporting my location:

city located in left-hand sidebar

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  • I admit upfront that I don't know enough about this problem to be 100% sure that it's a web app issue. Sorry if it turns out to be better for Super User or another site.
    – Pops
    Sep 12, 2011 at 14:56
  • There's probably a cookie set with your (former) location in it. Try clearing your cookies for google.com.
    – ale
    Sep 12, 2011 at 15:04
  • I've cleared the cookies several times, including once just now, but that hasn't fixed it. @AlEverett
    – Pops
    Sep 12, 2011 at 15:41
  • Can you explain what do you mean by google thinks you're in a different city? Where does it display your city?
    – Greg
    Sep 12, 2011 at 15:49
  • @Greg, updated with screenshot.
    – Pops
    Sep 12, 2011 at 15:57

2 Answers 2

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I can think of a couple reasons this may happen

  1. The company you are at is routing through a common gateway, which was located at your old office, so your public IP address looks like your old location
  2. Cookies (ruled out) or localStorage set on the browser. Clearing cookies may not clear localStorage. Try using a different browser (one you have not accessed Google Plus with before) and see if the problem continues.
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  • I have never accessed Google Plus. I was wondering about some sort of common network thing, but I have no idea how that would work so I couldn't even ask about it intelligently.
    – Pops
    Sep 12, 2011 at 15:57
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    Try browsing to whatismyipaddress.com and see what that says about your location.
    – ale
    Sep 12, 2011 at 16:50
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    Okay, this isn't just Google. At @AlEverett's recommendation, I visited whatismyipaddress.com. That site also reports that I'm in the old city, based on my IP. Since this has turned out to be not-Web-Apps-related, I'm going to consider this question resolved. I've asked a follow-up question about how this technology works on Super User.
    – Pops
    Sep 13, 2011 at 13:20
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From trying to figure out the same problem, I have read that it's your internet service providers address, specifically, Where there server is located, beecause they are your hookup to the internet. Changing ISPs would prove/disprove the theory.

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  • You had "IPO", but I assume you meant ISP. If you meant something else, please re-edit the answer. Thanks!
    – jonsca
    Nov 2, 2014 at 2:10

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