Large time behavior of solutions to the generalized damped wave equation $u_{tt}+A{u}_t+\nu Bu+F(x,t,u,u_t,\nabla u)=0$ for $(x,t)\in {ℝ}^n\times [0,\infty )$ is studied. First, we consider the linear nonhomogeneous equation, i.e. with F = F(x,t) independent of u. We impose conditions on the operators A and B, on F, as well as on the initial data which lead to the selfsimilar large time asymptotics of solutions. Next, this abstract result is applied to the equation where $A{u}_t=u_t$, $Bu=-\Delta u$, and the nonlinear term is either $|u_t{|}^{q-1}{u}_t$ or ${\left|u\right|}^{\alpha -1}u$. In this case, the asymptotic profile of solutions is given...