3 ms·

It's such a weird thing to change in the first place, who benefits from it?? Lots of negatives and not really any positives I can think of.

by Saris 5y ago

judge2020 5y ago
It seems that they were combating phishing sites. A comment from the field trial's code: // Hostnames using sensitive keywords (typically, brandnames) are often social // engineering, and thus should only show the registrable domain.
- bentcorner 5y ago
  I suppose this implies that the average non-technical user pays no attention to the contents of the address bar? Perhaps for Google to improve security metrics maybe the user needs a new canonical UI element indicating what site they're on, since to most people the address bar is just computer noise.
whoknowswhat11 5y ago
If you support a larger / older user base you'd understand immediately what they are trying to deal with. microsoft.scamsite.com amazon.scamsite.com would turn into scamsite.com that said users click on stuff pretty easily so not surprised it didn't move metrics that much.
- duskwuff 5y ago
  Or, worse, "amazon.com.contact-support.something-else-to-confuse-the-user.shadytld". Even with the path part of URLs dimmed, users are really bad at identifying the authoritative part of a hostname.
  - whoknowswhat11 5y ago
    No question - outlook users struggle here particularly especially if bit behind a Google class filter for email etc (legacy email)
  - slver 5y ago
    Users are bad at it because English is ordered left to right. The path also is. The domain is right to left. It was designed by morons.
    - ben_w 5y ago
      Ironically the opposite order predates the current standard: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Reverse_domain_name_notation#History https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Reverse_domain_name_notation#H...
      - slver 5y ago
        It bugs me that the normal notation is called "reverse notation". :D
sixothree 5y ago
Sounds to me like they see their users as idiots.
- userbinator 5y ago
  They are sheep to be gently herded and monetised. Google's primary business is advertising. Regardless of what propaganda it spreads, the ultimate motivation of making a browser is to make more money for itself. Almost all the changes that it has done make perfect sense in that context.

It's such a weird thing to change in the first place, who benefits from it?? Lots of negatives and not really any positives I can think of.

by Saris 5y ago

It's such a weird thing to change in the first place, who benefits from it?? Lots of negatives and not really any positives I can think of.

judge2020 5y ago

It seems that they were combating phishing sites. A comment from the field trial's code: // Hostnames using sensitive keywords (typically, brandnames) are often social // engineering, and thus should only show the registrable domain.

bentcorner 5y ago
I suppose this implies that the average non-technical user pays no attention to the contents of the address bar? Perhaps for Google to improve security metrics maybe the user needs a new canonical UI element indicating what site they're on, since to most people the address bar is just computer noise.

whoknowswhat11 5y ago

If you support a larger / older user base you'd understand immediately what they are trying to deal with. microsoft.scamsite.com amazon.scamsite.com would turn into scamsite.com that said users click on stuff pretty easily so not surprised it didn't move metrics that much.

duskwuff 5y ago
Or, worse, "amazon.com.contact-support.something-else-to-confuse-the-user.shadytld". Even with the path part of URLs dimmed, users are really bad at identifying the authoritative part of a hostname.
- whoknowswhat11 5y ago
  No question - outlook users struggle here particularly especially if bit behind a Google class filter for email etc (legacy email)
- slver 5y ago
  Users are bad at it because English is ordered left to right. The path also is. The domain is right to left. It was designed by morons.
  - ben_w 5y ago
    Ironically the opposite order predates the current standard: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Reverse_domain_name_notation#History https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Reverse_domain_name_notation#H...
    - slver 5y ago
      It bugs me that the normal notation is called "reverse notation". :D

sixothree 5y ago

Sounds to me like they see their users as idiots.

userbinator 5y ago
They are sheep to be gently herded and monetised. Google's primary business is advertising. Regardless of what propaganda it spreads, the ultimate motivation of making a browser is to make more money for itself. Almost all the changes that it has done make perfect sense in that context.