How can I add a Google search box to my website?

wahle509 picture wahle509 · Dec 11, 2012 · Viewed 111.1k times · Source

I am trying to add a Google search box to my own website. I would like it to search Google itself, not my site. There was some code I had that use to work, but no longer does:

<form method="get" action="https://www.google.com/search">
<input type="text" name="g" size="31" value="">
</form>

When I try making a search, it just directs to the Google homepage. Well, actually it directs here: https://www.google.com/webhp

Does anyone have a different solution? What am I doing wrong?

Answer

Cryothic picture Cryothic · Apr 12, 2013

Sorry for replying on an older question, but I would like to clarify the last question.

You use a "get" method for your form. When the name of your input-field is "g", it will make a URL like this:

https://www.google.com/search?g=[value from input-field]

But when you search with google, you notice the following URL:

https://www.google.nl/search?q=google+search+bar

Google uses the "q" Querystring variable as it's search-query. Therefor, renaming your field from "g" to "q" solved the problem.