diff --git a/app/scrapers/generalized.py b/app/scrapers/generalized.py
index 12ade912..b2634f71 100644
--- a/app/scrapers/generalized.py
+++ b/app/scrapers/generalized.py
@@ -37,8 +37,11 @@ def get_page(self, query, startIndex=0, qtype=''):
                 url = self.imageURL
         elif qtype == 'news' and self.name in NEWS_SCRAPERS:
             url = self.newsURL
-        payload = {self.queryKey: query, self.startKey: startIndex,
-                   self.qtype: qtype}
+        if qtype == '':
+            payload = {self.queryKey: query, self.startKey: startIndex}
+        else:
+            payload = {self.queryKey: query, self.startKey: startIndex,
+                       self.qtype: qtype}
         if self.name == 'mojeek' and qtype == 'news':
             payload['fmt'] = 'news'
         response = requests.get(url, headers=self.headers, params=payload)