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Google now has at least 3 ways to track your search clicks and visits that they hide from you. |
Have you ever tried to copy a URL directly from Google Search? |
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When I did that a few months ago, I unexpectedly got something like this from my clipboard. |
https://www.google.com/url?sa=t&rct=j&q=&esrc=s&source=web&cd=&cad=rja&uact=8&ved=2ahUKEwjUmK2Tk-eCAxXtV0EAHX3jCyoQFnoECAkQAQ&url=https%3A%2F%2Fcodingbeautydev.com%2Fblog%2Fvscode-tips-tricks&usg=AOvVaw0xw4tT2wWNUxkHWf90XadI&opi=89978449
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I curiously visited the page and guess what? It took me straight to the original URL. |
This cryptic URL turned out to be a middleman that would redirect you to the actual page. |
But what for? |
After some investigation, I discovered that this was how Google Search had been recording our clicks and tracking every single visited page. |
They set custom data- attributes and a mousedown event on each link in the search results page: |
<a jsname="UWckNb" href="https://codingbeautydev.com/blog/vscode-tips-tricks" data-jsarwt="1" data-usg="AOvVaw0xw4tT2wWNUxkHWf90XadI" data-ved="2ahUKEwjUmK2Tk-eCAxXtV0EAHX3jCyoQFnoECAkQAQ"> </a>
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A JavaScript function would change the href to a new URL with several parameters including the original URL, as soon as you start clicking on it. |
import express from 'express'; const app = express(); app.get('/url', (req, res) => { // Record click and stuff... res.redirect(req.query); }); app.listen(3000);
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So even though the browser would show the actual URL at the bottom-left on hover, once you clicked on it to copy, the href would change instantly. |
Why mousedown over click? Probably because there won't be a click event when users open the link in a new tab, which is something that happens quite often. |
And so after right-clicking to copy like I did, mousedown would fire and the href would change, which would even update that preview URL at the bottom-left. |
The new www.google.com/url page would log the visit and move out of the way so fast you'd barely notice it -- unless your internet moves at snail speed. |
They use this data for tools like Google Analytics and Search Console so site owners can improve the quality of their search results and pages by analyzing click-rate -- something probably also using as a Search ranking factor. Not to mention recording clicks on Search ads to rake all the billions of yearly ad revenue. |
 | Google Search Console. Source: Search Console Discover report now includes Chrome data |
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But Google got smarter. |
They realized this URL tracking method had a serious issue for a certain group. For their users with slower internet speeds, the annoying redirect technique added a non-trivial amount of delay to the request and increased bounce rate. |
So they did something new. |
Now, instead of… |
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