"Now?" Has this not always been the case? I tend to use the web UI on my desktop which, IIRC, has always made links bounce through a Google. I use an app on my

"Now?" Has this not always been the case? I tend to use the web UI on my desktop which, IIRC, has always made links bounce through a Google. I use an app on my mobile device so I can't confirm whether links bounce through Google. Is Google rewriting the links in the message such that if I forward to someone's non-Gmail address, they still bounce through Google? Or is the client 'rewriting' links dynamically? This same thing happens all over the web. Drop a link in your Medium-hosted blog, and they'll front the link with their own and then redirect. What's the new, surprising bit here?