Ask HN: Why are Google search result URLs so ugly?

https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=10054875

by hammock • 11 years ago

13 3 11 years ago

news.ycombinator.com

I have always heard around here and elsewhere that best practice is to use human-readable URLs, and that with today's tools it's really not necessary to do otherwise.

Yet when I right-click and copy a link from a Google search results page (e.g. to share an article with someone), I get something that looks like below. This despite displaying a (abridged) human-readable URL on the page itself. Why?

https://www.google.com/url?sa=t&rct=j&q=&esrc=s&source=web&cd=1&cad=rja&uact=8&ved=0CB8QFjAAahUKEwiQ9arirKbHAhUJ_IAKHaxdAhQ&url=https%3A%2F%2Fhbr.org%2F2008%2F07%2Femployee-motivation-a-powerful-new-model&ei=cLTMVZD9Ion4gwSsu4mgAQ&usg=AFQjCNFvsdgJlMw6Xc6vWMoX6hjTwsHU9w&sig2=RHlWUOJ95bb3wDBW45zABw&bvm=bv.99804247,d.eXY

CatsoCatsoCatso• 11 years ago

It allows Google to track your click. Look at the parameters after the 'url?' part of the link. Lets break it up, some will make sense to you, some only to Google.

    https://www.google.com/url?sa=t&
    rct=j&
    q=&
    esrc=s&
    source=web&
    cd=1&
    cad=rja&
    uact=8&
    ved=0CB8QFjAAahUKEwiQ9arirKbHAhUJ_IAKHaxdAhQ&
    url=https%3A%2F%2Fhbr.org%2F2008%2F07%2Femployee-motivation-a-powerful-new-model&
    ei=cLTMVZD9Ion4gwSsu4mgAQ&
    usg=AFQjCNFvsdgJlMw6Xc6vWMoX6hjTwsHU9w&
    sig2=RHlWUOJ95bb3wDBW45zABw&
    bvm=bv.99804247,d.eXY

This is all done server side so no need for cookies or JavaScript.

ocdtrekkie• 11 years ago

Bear in mind, Google's primary advantage in search is the number of people using their search engine, and their ability to track what people do. Moreso than any machine intelligence factor, Google just profits off knowing what term you search and then what you decided to click on.

steeples• 11 years ago

There are innumerable plugins to stop this tracking occurring. Google needs to know what their users are clicking on, and by virtue are now in the business of changing their code so frequently as to thwart these privacy tools. It's a game of cat and mouse between the privacy tools and Google. Make sure to download addons/extensions that will update to reflect any changes in Google Search

Ask HN: Why are Google search result URLs so ugly?

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