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I've been using the 'ClearURLs' FF addon for quite a while now, and it gives you the URLs back in the results. https://docs.clearurls.xyz/ https://docs.clearur

I've been using the 'ClearURLs' FF addon for quite a while now, and it gives you the URLs back in the results. https://docs.clearurls.xyz/ https://docs.clearurls.xyz/

joeblubaugh 20d ago
That wouldn’t work at all with this url format - the url can only be resolved by requesting the goto link. I recommend reading more than the headline
- deleted 20d ago
  [deleted]
- Dylan16807 20d ago
  > That wouldn’t work at all with this url format - the url can only be resolved by requesting the goto link. What is "that" you say wouldn't work? The extension can work fine by requesting every goto link upfront. As far as your google searches go, this is just as private as before. I would recommend you avoid judging a comment because of a metric it neither said nor implied.
  - hurfdurf 20d ago
    Previously the clear target URL of a search result was added to the result-link (or div?) as an additional data-tag (aria or whatever, can't remember), and thus was able to be used with a userscript or similar to replace the Googleified tracking redirect link. And it was also part of the googliefied tracking URL, either way you were able to see the clear target URL. That no longer is possible, you must ask google.com for consent to visit the result link before seeing what the final target URL is.
    - Dylan16807 20d ago
      But the extension doesn't need to use that exact mechanism, and the person that linked it didn't mention specific mechanisms. The purpose of the extension is putting the real URLs back, and it can still do that. And it can still prevent google from knowing which search results you click on, even though OP didn't mention that feature.
      - joeblubaugh 20d ago
        You can read the extension source, and description. It is obvious that what it does is strip url parameters and decode well known google encodings.
        Dylan16807 20d ago
        I said it can use a different mechanism. Why would I want to read the code for more details on the current mechanism?
        joeblubaugh 18d ago
        If my mom had wheels she’d be a bicycle. The thread started with an offhand mention of an extension that doesn’t address the issue raised in the post and is in fact currently defeated by link redirects entirely. We’ve had redirecting trackers like bit.ly for over a decade and the extension didn’t address it then.
        Dylan16807 17d ago
        But don't say "that wouldn't work" when you actually mean "it needs an update". It works on the old Google method, so even if it doesn't follow redirects on other sites, it could easily follow them on Google. It's not your mom being a bike, it's a bike with flat tires being a bike. I bet the reason it doesn't do redirects right now is that the situations you find redirects in have usually been places where investigating them loses privacy. But if these were fresh links already personal to your search, checking all the redirects is fully private.
      - josephcsible 20d ago
        > But the extension doesn't need to use that exact mechanism How do you figure? How else could it possibly work now?
        Dylan16807 20d ago
II2II 20d ago
I decided to verify the article's claims, forgetting that I had ClearURLs installed, and ClearURLs does not handle this new format. The article also suggests that it cannot be decoded.
josephcsible 20d ago
The reason this change is so bad is that it encrypts the actual URL, specifically to break addons like that.

I've been using the 'ClearURLs' FF addon for quite a while now, and it gives you the URLs back in the results. https://docs.clearurls.xyz/ https://docs.clearurls.xyz/

joeblubaugh 20d ago

That wouldn’t work at all with this url format - the url can only be resolved by requesting the goto link. I recommend reading more than the headline

deleted 20d ago
[deleted]
Dylan16807 20d ago
> That wouldn’t work at all with this url format - the url can only be resolved by requesting the goto link. What is "that" you say wouldn't work? The extension can work fine by requesting every goto link upfront. As far as your google searches go, this is just as private as before. I would recommend you avoid judging a comment because of a metric it neither said nor implied.
- hurfdurf 20d ago
  Previously the clear target URL of a search result was added to the result-link (or div?) as an additional data-tag (aria or whatever, can't remember), and thus was able to be used with a userscript or similar to replace the Googleified tracking redirect link. And it was also part of the googliefied tracking URL, either way you were able to see the clear target URL. That no longer is possible, you must ask google.com for consent to visit the result link before seeing what the final target URL is.
  - Dylan16807 20d ago
    But the extension doesn't need to use that exact mechanism, and the person that linked it didn't mention specific mechanisms. The purpose of the extension is putting the real URLs back, and it can still do that. And it can still prevent google from knowing which search results you click on, even though OP didn't mention that feature.
    - joeblubaugh 20d ago
      You can read the extension source, and description. It is obvious that what it does is strip url parameters and decode well known google encodings.
      - Dylan16807 20d ago
        I said it can use a different mechanism. Why would I want to read the code for more details on the current mechanism?
        joeblubaugh 18d ago
        If my mom had wheels she’d be a bicycle. The thread started with an offhand mention of an extension that doesn’t address the issue raised in the post and is in fact currently defeated by link redirects entirely. We’ve had redirecting trackers like bit.ly for over a decade and the extension didn’t address it then.
        Dylan16807 17d ago
        But don't say "that wouldn't work" when you actually mean "it needs an update". It works on the old Google method, so even if it doesn't follow redirects on other sites, it could easily follow them on Google. It's not your mom being a bike, it's a bike with flat tires being a bike. I bet the reason it doesn't do redirects right now is that the situations you find redirects in have usually been places where investigating them loses privacy. But if these were fresh links already personal to your search, checking all the redirects is fully private.
    - josephcsible 20d ago
      > But the extension doesn't need to use that exact mechanism How do you figure? How else could it possibly work now?
      - Dylan16807 20d ago

II2II 20d ago

I decided to verify the article's claims, forgetting that I had ClearURLs installed, and ClearURLs does not handle this new format. The article also suggests that it cannot be decoded.

josephcsible 20d ago

The reason this change is so bad is that it encrypts the actual URL, specifically to break addons like that.