5 ms·

but what the hell is the point of that if the url redirects to another url? do they really want to track people copy-pasting urls into email/ims? if so, why not

but what the hell is the point of that if the url redirects to another url? do they really want to track people copy-pasting urls into email/ims? if so, why not use goo.gl?

jxi 14y ago
What redirect? And, did you even read the comment that you're replying to? 1. There isn't a redirect from that huge link. 2. The post replying to just explained a theory that doesn't involve tracking: the URL needs to be that long to be unique enough to specify a page with the exact same search results.
- michaelt 14y ago
  Perform the following experiment: 1. Visit https://www.google.com/search?q=hackernews https://www.google.com/search?q=hackernews 2. Mouse over first result, note the url news.ycombinator.com shown in your browser's status bar. 3. Right-click the first result and 'copy link location' 4. Check what's on your clipboard. For me it's www.google.com/url?sa=t&rct=j&q=&esrc=s&source=web&cd=1&cad=rja&ved=0CDIQFjAA&url=http%3A%2F%2Fnews.ycombinator.com%2F&ei=fRb5UNSeD-am0AW88YGQBg&usg=AFQjCNGKJHXhsq1s0-gYR96B--m47G9oRw&bvm=bv.41248874,d.d2k 5. Visit said URL in your browser and note you get redirected to news.ycombinator.com As you can see, you are redirected via a huge link.
  - janzer 14y ago
    Yes, but that is not the url type being talked about by patio11 or the original article. For the url type under discussion here: 1. Visit https://www.google.com/ https://www.google.com/ 2. type "hackernews" into the search box and hit enter. 3. look at the long url in your address bar.
  - bkraptor 14y ago
    You can use this addon: http://userscripts.org/scripts/show/121923 http://userscripts.org/scripts/show/121923
  - daave 14y ago
    As janzer said, that's not the URL patio11 is talking about, however this redirect is here for a good reason too. It's needed to preserve the search terms in the referrer header for links that are triggered by JavaScript - which is needed if webmasters want to see which search terms are driving traffic to their sites.
    - No1 14y ago
      I presume it's also handy for tracking click-throughs.

but what the hell is the point of that if the url redirects to another url? do they really want to track people copy-pasting urls into email/ims? if so, why not use goo.gl?

jxi 14y ago

What redirect? And, did you even read the comment that you're replying to? 1. There isn't a redirect from that huge link. 2. The post replying to just explained a theory that doesn't involve tracking: the URL needs to be that long to be unique enough to specify a page with the exact same search results.

michaelt 14y ago
Perform the following experiment: 1. Visit https://www.google.com/search?q=hackernews https://www.google.com/search?q=hackernews 2. Mouse over first result, note the url news.ycombinator.com shown in your browser's status bar. 3. Right-click the first result and 'copy link location' 4. Check what's on your clipboard. For me it's www.google.com/url?sa=t&rct=j&q=&esrc=s&source=web&cd=1&cad=rja&ved=0CDIQFjAA&url=http%3A%2F%2Fnews.ycombinator.com%2F&ei=fRb5UNSeD-am0AW88YGQBg&usg=AFQjCNGKJHXhsq1s0-gYR96B--m47G9oRw&bvm=bv.41248874,d.d2k 5. Visit said URL in your browser and note you get redirected to news.ycombinator.com As you can see, you are redirected via a huge link.
- janzer 14y ago
  Yes, but that is not the url type being talked about by patio11 or the original article. For the url type under discussion here: 1. Visit https://www.google.com/ https://www.google.com/ 2. type "hackernews" into the search box and hit enter. 3. look at the long url in your address bar.
- bkraptor 14y ago
  You can use this addon: http://userscripts.org/scripts/show/121923 http://userscripts.org/scripts/show/121923
- daave 14y ago
  As janzer said, that's not the URL patio11 is talking about, however this redirect is here for a good reason too. It's needed to preserve the search terms in the referrer header for links that are triggered by JavaScript - which is needed if webmasters want to see which search terms are driving traffic to their sites.
  - No1 14y ago
    I presume it's also handy for tracking click-throughs.