7 ms·

Google search parameters in 2012

42 points by APuschilov 14y ago

kristopher 14y ago
Always a good idea to truncate one's search queries when sharing with others down to a simple "/search?q=" Example: https://google.com/search?q=google https://google.com/search?q=google
mise 14y ago
I can't read the content on my small Android screen, zooming in hides the blog content.
- ferongr 14y ago
  http://www.imgur.com/tnlK0.jpg http://www.imgur.com/tnlK0.jpg Enterprise Quality responsive web design
  - APuschilov 14y ago
    thanks for this :(
TazeTSchnitzel 14y ago
It irritates me that all this stuff is sent in the URL. Personally, I would put the query (and query-related) things in the URL, then use POST parameters for the stuff that the user needn't see.
- mthq 14y ago
  Well that would break back and forward history navigation as browsers require you te explicitly resend POST parameters.
  - VMG 14y ago
    Also the possibility to bookmark and to send a link to somebody else. Also after all, you want to GET the search result, not POST anything.
- deleted 14y ago
  [deleted]
- madrona 14y ago
  What's the harm of sending it in the URL? That it looks a little uglier? Using POST instead of GET defeats bookmarking or linking ability.
Zirro 14y ago
Are there any add-ons out there which allow you to remove specific parameters from the URL before requesting it? This would be very useful for me, as I have a slight (probably OCD-related) problem with the parameters added while browsing YouTube. Before I start viewing a video, I always remove "&feature=related" and similar ones appearing, causing a reload. I would prefer not requesting with those parameters in the first place.
- APuschilov 14y ago
  Yes, you can find a bunch of Greasemonkey scripts for Google and Youtube doing exactly this. An alternative might be NoCrap, which sounds like a useful thing (I have to admit that I haven't used it though) http://www.ghacks.net/2012/01/17/nocrap-removes-annoyances-from-google-search/ http://www.ghacks.net/2012/01/17/nocrap-removes-annoyances-f...
- Matt_Cutts 14y ago
  You can also make a custom setting in Chrome to send only the parameters to Google that you want. In the Settings panel, click on Manage Search Engines. Make a "new" search engine but make the query go to Google (or YouTube, or whatever) with only the parameters you want. You can start with the url for Google and prune down the input encoding or the sourceid or whatever you want, or just make the path be "/search?q=%s" if you want to go really minimal.
  - APuschilov 14y ago
    that's a great solution. it would be also quite great if you would tell us what these (to us) unknown parameters mean :)
kori23 14y ago
The most important parameter of all is missing i.e. ncr (no country redirect), which, ironically stopped working for me in the last few days. Can someone confirm that the following query gives non personlized search results?: http://www.google.com/search?q=ubuntu&ncr=1&pws=0 http://www.google.com/search?q=ubuntu&ncr=1&pws=0 btw, this thing has been my #1 complaint with google for years. How hard is to make a completly 'neutral' non personalized version of Google available at a specific adress or with a checkbox in your google account.
- falling 14y ago
  > How hard is to make […] Since you are on HN, I assume you either are an engineer of some sort or something close to that and you are working on some product, so I expect you to know that the answer to questions that begin like that is very, very often “more than you expected”. (I would like the option of a “neutral” Google Search too)
  - kori23 14y ago
    I guess any change to something so big as google search is not simple per se. But my problem is that I think this is their business decision and not a technical problem that needs to be solved as I remember a thread here mentioning that even engineers at Google have a problem with this (that is, personalized seach results)
  - chc 14y ago
    Given that it worked that way until recently, I'm sort of inclined to say "Already implemented but UI missing."
- timothya 14y ago
  It's strange how often I see this complaint about wanting a non-personalized version of Google. On google.com, there is a toggle switch allowing you to turn off personal results on a particular search (it's been there since the launch of SPYW). And if you're looking for a more permanent setting, there's one available in the Google search preferences (available through the gear on the search results page or at https://www.google.com/preferences https://www.google.com/preferences) which allows you to set it to "Do not use personal results".
visa 14y ago
Guys checkout how much Google is paying to it employees http://www.visasquare.com/visa-greencard/salary/google-inc-31830.html http://www.visasquare.com/visa-greencard/salary/google-inc-3...

42 points by APuschilov 14y ago

Always a good idea to truncate one's search queries when sharing with others down to a simple "/search?q=" Example: https://google.com/search?q=google https://google.com/search?q=google

mise 14y ago

I can't read the content on my small Android screen, zooming in hides the blog content.

ferongr 14y ago
http://www.imgur.com/tnlK0.jpg http://www.imgur.com/tnlK0.jpg Enterprise Quality responsive web design
- APuschilov 14y ago
  thanks for this :(

TazeTSchnitzel 14y ago

It irritates me that all this stuff is sent in the URL. Personally, I would put the query (and query-related) things in the URL, then use POST parameters for the stuff that the user needn't see.

mthq 14y ago
Well that would break back and forward history navigation as browsers require you te explicitly resend POST parameters.
- VMG 14y ago
  Also the possibility to bookmark and to send a link to somebody else. Also after all, you want to GET the search result, not POST anything.
deleted 14y ago
[deleted]
madrona 14y ago
What's the harm of sending it in the URL? That it looks a little uglier? Using POST instead of GET defeats bookmarking or linking ability.

Zirro 14y ago

Are there any add-ons out there which allow you to remove specific parameters from the URL before requesting it? This would be very useful for me, as I have a slight (probably OCD-related) problem with the parameters added while browsing YouTube. Before I start viewing a video, I always remove "&feature=related" and similar ones appearing, causing a reload. I would prefer not requesting with those parameters in the first place.

APuschilov 14y ago
Yes, you can find a bunch of Greasemonkey scripts for Google and Youtube doing exactly this. An alternative might be NoCrap, which sounds like a useful thing (I have to admit that I haven't used it though) http://www.ghacks.net/2012/01/17/nocrap-removes-annoyances-from-google-search/ http://www.ghacks.net/2012/01/17/nocrap-removes-annoyances-f...
Matt_Cutts 14y ago
You can also make a custom setting in Chrome to send only the parameters to Google that you want. In the Settings panel, click on Manage Search Engines. Make a "new" search engine but make the query go to Google (or YouTube, or whatever) with only the parameters you want. You can start with the url for Google and prune down the input encoding or the sourceid or whatever you want, or just make the path be "/search?q=%s" if you want to go really minimal.
- APuschilov 14y ago
  that's a great solution. it would be also quite great if you would tell us what these (to us) unknown parameters mean :)

kori23 14y ago

The most important parameter of all is missing i.e. ncr (no country redirect), which, ironically stopped working for me in the last few days. Can someone confirm that the following query gives non personlized search results?: http://www.google.com/search?q=ubuntu&ncr=1&pws=0 http://www.google.com/search?q=ubuntu&ncr=1&pws=0 btw, this thing has been my #1 complaint with google for years. How hard is to make a completly 'neutral' non personalized version of Google available at a specific adress or with a checkbox in your google account.

falling 14y ago
> How hard is to make […] Since you are on HN, I assume you either are an engineer of some sort or something close to that and you are working on some product, so I expect you to know that the answer to questions that begin like that is very, very often “more than you expected”. (I would like the option of a “neutral” Google Search too)
- kori23 14y ago
  I guess any change to something so big as google search is not simple per se. But my problem is that I think this is their business decision and not a technical problem that needs to be solved as I remember a thread here mentioning that even engineers at Google have a problem with this (that is, personalized seach results)
- chc 14y ago
  Given that it worked that way until recently, I'm sort of inclined to say "Already implemented but UI missing."
timothya 14y ago
It's strange how often I see this complaint about wanting a non-personalized version of Google. On google.com, there is a toggle switch allowing you to turn off personal results on a particular search (it's been there since the launch of SPYW). And if you're looking for a more permanent setting, there's one available in the Google search preferences (available through the gear on the search results page or at https://www.google.com/preferences https://www.google.com/preferences) which allows you to set it to "Do not use personal results".

visa 14y ago

Guys checkout how much Google is paying to it employees http://www.visasquare.com/visa-greencard/salary/google-inc-31830.html http://www.visasquare.com/visa-greencard/salary/google-inc-3...