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It gives extra information for the owners of the site that is the top search result, who otherwise wouldn't know that you searched for the term.

• axod 19y ago
  True, so the top result may know that you searched for them even if you didn't click on them. I'm at a loss to see how they would use that information in a bad way though - all they have is some server logs telling them a person from the IP address a.b.c.d did a search for them, and google suggested the browser prefetch their page. I know it's the principle and a slippery slope and everything, but I'm not sure how an IP is of any use - especially given the number of ISPs that use dynamic pools, or web caches etc
  • Tichy 19y ago
    They also get to set a cookie. Anyway, maybe that one use by Google is not too bad. But it seems unnecessary, and in general that functionality seems to be only good for spying on users. So why enable it in an open source product?
    • axod 19y ago
      I'd say because for most people it'll speed up the responsiveness of their browsing experience, and they won't really care if a website sets a cookie or logs their IP address. If you're doing something you don't want to be spied on, anonymous proxies work well.