If you are a Firefox browser user on Android, you may have encountered an annoying issue when trying to access Google search engine – ending up on a completely blank page instead of the usual results.
This problem has been reported by many Firefox for Android users recently across multiple versions of the browser. It appears to affect not just google.com, but also localized Google domains like google.de, google.co.uk, google.com.br, and google.fr. Some users mention that google.co.in loads the desktop instead of mobile site.
Meanwhile, testing indicates Chrome for Android is not impacted by this particular bug – it seems to be specific to Firefox on Android.
What Causes the Google Blank Page Problem in Firefox for Android Browser
According to Mozilla engineer Dennis Schubert, who often diagnoses Firefox bugs and compatibility issues, the root of this problem lies in server-side User Agent sniffing.
User Agent sniffing is a common technique used by websites to identify details about the browser and device that is accessing the site. It examines specific strings included in the HTTP headers that are sent with each request.
In this case, Schubert discovered that Google’s servers are serving a completely empty HTML document to any Firefox for Android user agent that is version 65 or higher. So essentially, Google’s systems are detecting Firefox Android browsers above version 65 and intentionally showing them a blank page for some reason.
This is why the issue does not occur in Chrome for Android or earlier versions of Firefox for Android. It seems to be specifically targeting newer versions of Firefox on Android devices by identifying them through User Agent sniffing.
Temporary Workarounds for Google Search Blank Page Issue While Waiting for Google to Resolve
This Google search blank page bug has been reported on GitHub and escalated as a critical Firefox for Android issue. However, Google would need to fix the problem on their end, since it stems from how their servers handle certain user agents.
Until then, there are a few temporary workarounds Firefox users can try:
- Use a different browser like Chrome for Android to search Google and access other Google services.
- Consider using alternative search engines such as DuckDuckGo that are not impacted by this Firefox user agent issue.
- Advanced users can try changing the user agent in Firefox settings or via extensions to mimic another browser like Chrome. This may allow accessing Google sites normally.
- For some regions, requesting the desktop site version in Firefox for Android settings may load the page properly.
Unfortunately, one workaround that does NOT seem to resolve the problem is disabling Enhanced Tracking Protection in Firefox. Some users note that this makes a cookie banner appear, but the page remains blank after accepting. So ETP does not appear to be the culprit.
Steps to Take When Troubleshooting Google Search Shows Blank Page Issue in Firefox for Android Browser
If you are encountering the blank Google page in Firefox for Android, here are some steps to troubleshoot and identify if you are being affected by this specific user agent bug:
- Confirm you are using Firefox for Android, not another browser
- Check your Firefox version – if it is 65 or above, you are likely hitting the issue
- Try replicating the problem across google.com and other localized Google domains
- Test if Chrome for Android properly loads the same Google sites without problems
- See if disabling ETP fixes it (likely it will not based on reports)
- Attempt switching the User Agent setting in Firefox to mimic Chrome or another browser
If you determine those signs match, you are probably dealing with the same User Agent sniffing bug unfortunately. Until Google rectifies it on their back end, your options are using the temporary workarounds mentioned earlier.
