How to get rid of Google Custom Search (CSE) in Maxthon Nitro browser

If you like your browser to be fast, you certainly use Maxthon Nitro, a Chrome-based experimental browser from the Maxthon company.

However in the latest betas, the Nitro developers thought they would just replace the good old Google Search by their Google Custom Search (also known as CSE) when you search something in the URL bar. The problems are, apart the obvious privacy issues, that CSE returns far less results than vanilla Google, and that Maxthon adds some advertisements in the search results.

We’re really sorry for Nitro developers, but, we just thought that was not acceptable, especially since there is no setting to modify the search engine.

Nitro with Google CSE

Nitro without Google CSE, same search terms. Observe the number of results…

So here is how to get rid of Google CSE in the Nitro browser! Our operation will restore Google Search when you search something in the URL bar.

It is quite simple, all you need is your favourite hex editor. If you don’t have one, we recommend using the excellent HxD editor.

Open the file %APPDATA%\mxnitro\1.1.1.800\mxnitro.dll in your hex editor (be careful not associating DLL files with the editor…), and locate around offset 00109640 the following Unicode string: “cse”

You will find the following string:

h.t.t.p.:././.w.w.w...g.o.o.g.l.e...c.o.m./.c.s.e.?.c.x.=.p.a.r.t.n.e.r.-.p.u.b.-.2.6.9.8.8.6.1.4.7.8.6.2.5.1.3.5.:.5.8.4.8.7.5.3.6.4.8.

http://www.google.com/cse?cx=partner-pub-2698861478625135:5848753648 (without the dots)

Nitro original file

You can replace this string with something better, like:

h.t.t.p.:././.w.w.w...g.o.o.g.l.e...c.o.m./.s.e.a.r.c.h.?.c.s.e._.g.o._.t.o._.h.e.l.l.=.t.r.u.e.&.x.x.x.x.x.x.x.x.x.x.x.x.x.x.x.x.x.x.x.

http://www.google.com/search?cse_go_to_hell=true&xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx (without the dots)

Nitro patched file

Keep in mind that the replacement string must form a valid Google Search URL, and that you need to keep it the same length (do NOT use BackSpace or DEL keys). It doesn’t matter so much what you write as long as the URL is valid. You have to replace the cx URL parameter, otherwise Google will still recognize the URL as being a CSE search.

Note that the dots between each characters are not really dots, it’s the null character (0x00). So better not touch the existing dots.

The good news is that you are no longer limited to Google Search. You could modify that URL to use Bing Search, DuckDuckGo or Qwant. The only limit is yourself!

Here are a few strings for different search engines:

Bing Search: http://www.bing.com/search?xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

Yahoo Search: http://search.yahoo.com/search?xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

DuckDuckGo: http://duckduckgo.com/?xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

Qwant: http://www.qwant.com/?xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

Save the file, and forever gone is Google CSE! Enjoy your CSE-free Nitro 🙂