Google is showing Ukraine and Russian search results and is following me around with it

--- this issue has been resolved ---

 

Well, I am in The Netherlands. The cable provider is Ziggo (very big). The connection uses the latest Cisco modem (3 months old). The connection is 300mbit.

I ignored it initially. I suspected that my hosting provider had some how done it (VPS with Amsterdam IP). However, today I discovered that it follows me across IP's and when signed in to Google. This is suspicious.

I used Google Chrome, Firefox ESR (stability release) and Firefox 57 (latest) to test, including incognito mode (anonymous) so that Google would just see the IP. This is why I initially suspected that my VPS IP (hostname 'optimalisatie.nl') was the cause, because I was using it mainly for Google search.

My debian 8 based laptops are super clean. They use GRSecurity so that a limited amount of software can run. Just internet browsing and email basically, FileZilla and a text editor. Nothing else. One of the laptops has a cleaned chip to protect against the Intel ME backdoor.

I started this topic to gain insights in possible explanations, and if no explanation could be suggested, to keep a log of suspicious activity so that others may benefit from it.

 

After further investigation it appears that it may not be related to my Google account, and that the VPS must have been the cause. Somehow it redirected all searches to Google.com.ua. It was a Plesk based VPS with double firewall (Leaseweb + Plesk firewall), a Amsterdam IP and Dutch DNS hostname (optimalisatie.nl). SSH was restricted to 1 IP so a hack is unlikely. It redirected both when signed in to Google + incognito, making it clear that a hard redirect was taking place (on a very clean laptop and secured server). Leaseweb is one of the biggest hosting providers in Europe, a hack with them is unlikely.

I am sorry for posting this so soon and considering that Google may have been the cause. I tested some search results, and while just having cancelled the VPS for the Ukraine Google search redirect, I noticed a top 10 full of Ukraine websites for a Spanish made product and no such listings when testing with fresh IP's from other European countries. However, when testing the same query in Google.nl with a Dutch IP I now see the same Ukraine websites so this has been a mistake on my end.