My MSIE browser's autosearch results returned a slightly odd-looking Google search results page. There seemed no way to fix this via MSIE's settings.
(Note: "autosearch" refers to doing a search by typing search keywords into the browser's address box rather than by typing the words into the separate search box or into a search page query field.)
This seemed related to registry entries that seemed to force a custom search engine setting like
"http://www.google.com/custom?client=pub-3794288947762788&forid=1&channel=5369970905&ie=UTF-8&oe=UTF-8&safe=active&cof=GALT%3A%23008000%3BGL%3A1%3BDIV%3A%23336699%3BVLC%3A663399%3BAH%3Acenter%3BBGC%3AFFFFFF%3BLBGC%3A336699%3BALC%3A0000FF%3BLC%3A0000FF%3BT%3A000000%3BGFNT%3A0000FF%3BGIMP%3A0000FF%3BFORID%3A1&hl=en&q={searchTerms}"
Solution:
It appears that my Asus motherboard might have come with DeviceVM software including both their Splashtop product (rebranded as Asus Express Gate) and their Browser Configuration Utility. (The alternative hypothesis is that the latter came with my Gigabyte graphic card, but that seems unlikely.)
Regardless of where it came from, using Windows' normal "Add or remove programs" control panel utility to uninstall the Browser Configuration Utility appears to have fixed the problem. It also seems to have restored the normal Windows MSIE ability to let the settings for its searchbox dictate the search engine used for address box autosearch purposes.
Comment: It appears as if the primary purpose of the DeviceVM Browser Configuration Utility is to alter my autosearches to look like an intermediary to a search engine like Google so that a referral-fee portion of Google's ad revenues from my searches gets paid to a 3rd party like DeviceVM or Asus.
