Google-search – teach Google Search that when I say “JavaScript”, I don’t mean “Java”

I don't know about the technical details of the implementation of those other sites. However, if there are sites that don't use account or cookie prefs to know what you normally search, I would expect nothing less than different results.

Google has been personalizing search results for years to give you information tailored to your needs. Recently, Google search results have been more explicit, displaying search results based on what people in your friend network work have shared. Also, see ratings and reviews on Google Places, for example, where your ratings and those of your friends modify your results giving you better, more personalized information.

I had the same problem/wish. This is what I did to solve it:

• Install this Greasemonkey script (which is a bit out of date, since it was made before Oracle bought Sun)

• Edit the script slightly to make it work with Oracle's website. This is the edited script:

  // ==UserScript==
  // @name           Java 6 Documentation Redirect
  // @namespace      http://freecog.net/2007/
  // @description    Redirects to the Java SE 6 documenation from older pages.
  // @include        http://download.oracle.com/javase/*
  // ==/UserScript==
  
  var old_loc = loc = window.location.href;
  loc = loc.replace(/\/javase\/[^\/]+\/docs\//, "/javase/6/docs/");
  if (loc != old_loc) window.location.replace(loc);
  

The only changes are to the @include URL and the regex.

That way, whenever you open a Java documentation page, it redirects to the Java 6 version. If you ever really need to see an older version, you can temporarily disable the user script.