Why does hitting 'enter' when searching redirect my browser?
February 8, 2012 12:02 PM Subscribe
Weird re-direct issue when searching Google...
I'm having a strange issue whenever I search for something on Google where it seems to be re-directing or invoking some piece of JavaScript that seemingly does nothing.
It doesn't happen all the time; I can search using the search box on Firefox and have it work fine, but if I use Google.com, as soon as the page begins to switch into 'instant search' mode (When you start typing in characters in the search box) and I hit enter to search, I get one of the following -
or
If I don't hit enter, and just stop typing and let the instant search do it's thing, the results I get are fine. It's only when explicitly hitting 'enter' do I get a redirect to a 404 or the empty function blocks above. It's becoming increasingly annoying, as every time I want to modify a search result and forget not to hit enter, I get the error and then have to go back and re-remember what I searched for.
I'm running on Firefox 10.0 (this has been happening to me since probably Firefox 8) on Windows XP in a corporate, 'managed' environment. The only extensions I'm running are IE Tab 2 and User Agent Switcher 0.7.3
I'm having a strange issue whenever I search for something on Google where it seems to be re-directing or invoking some piece of JavaScript that seemingly does nothing.
It doesn't happen all the time; I can search using the search box on Firefox and have it work fine, but if I use Google.com, as soon as the page begins to switch into 'instant search' mode (When you start typing in characters in the search box) and I hit enter to search, I get one of the following -
(function(){})();(function(){})();or
404. That’s an error.
The requested URL /sclient=psy-ab&hl=en&site=&source=hp&q=test&pbx=1&oq=test&aq=f&aqi=&aql=&gs_sm=e&gs_upl=1093l1344l0l1552l4l4l0l0l0l0l0l0ll0l0&bav=on.2,or.r_gc.r_pw.,cf.osb&fp=c72a5663660767bd&biw=1249&bih=729 was not found on this server. That’s all we know. If I don't hit enter, and just stop typing and let the instant search do it's thing, the results I get are fine. It's only when explicitly hitting 'enter' do I get a redirect to a 404 or the empty function blocks above. It's becoming increasingly annoying, as every time I want to modify a search result and forget not to hit enter, I get the error and then have to go back and re-remember what I searched for.
I'm running on Firefox 10.0 (this has been happening to me since probably Firefox 8) on Windows XP in a corporate, 'managed' environment. The only extensions I'm running are IE Tab 2 and User Agent Switcher 0.7.3
Does your FF have a corporate CA installed (for signing their own https sites)? If so, what does FF say the signer for the Google search page cert is? A lot of corporate networks play man-in-the-middle to do sniffing, caching, page-rewrites, etc. and it often wreaks havoc on advanced javascript.
posted by introp at 12:07 PM on February 8, 2012
posted by introp at 12:07 PM on February 8, 2012
Response by poster: Does it happen when you run it in IE Tab 2?
I almost never run IE Tab 2. I installed it to get to some sites on the corporate network that explicitly whitelist IE, and that don't render correctly when using User Agent Switcher to make Firefox pretend to be IE 7.
posted by Fidel Cashflow at 12:09 PM on February 8, 2012
I almost never run IE Tab 2. I installed it to get to some sites on the corporate network that explicitly whitelist IE, and that don't render correctly when using User Agent Switcher to make Firefox pretend to be IE 7.
posted by Fidel Cashflow at 12:09 PM on February 8, 2012
Response by poster: If so, what does FF say the signer for the Google search page cert is?
Interesting. When going to https://www.google.com and grabbing the Cert information, I get the following:
Website: www.google.com
Owner: This website does not supply ownership information
Verified by: Thawte Consulting (Pty) Ltd.
posted by Fidel Cashflow at 12:11 PM on February 8, 2012
Interesting. When going to https://www.google.com and grabbing the Cert information, I get the following:
Website: www.google.com
Owner: This website does not supply ownership information
Verified by: Thawte Consulting (Pty) Ltd.
posted by Fidel Cashflow at 12:11 PM on February 8, 2012
The reason I asked is because the IE tab is because I believe it calls the IE object, and I'd be curious if it has the same issue.
posted by Pants! at 12:13 PM on February 8, 2012
posted by Pants! at 12:13 PM on February 8, 2012
Response by poster: A lot of corporate networks play man-in-the-middle to do sniffing, caching, page-rewrites, etc. and it often wreaks havoc on advanced javascript.
Yeah, I'm sure something like this is going on at some level. All HTTP requests are routed though some MITM infrastructure that is doing some sort of security scanning, including inserting an interstitial 'confirmation' page when attempting to navigate to non-well known websites (some text confirming that you're connecting to a site that is 'unknown' to the software, and to be careful about phishing attempts, etc. Boilerplate warnings.)
For example, I can browse metafilter.com and ask.metafialter.com without a interstitial 'confirmation' page, but metatalk.metafilter.com generates one.
posted by Fidel Cashflow at 12:18 PM on February 8, 2012
Yeah, I'm sure something like this is going on at some level. All HTTP requests are routed though some MITM infrastructure that is doing some sort of security scanning, including inserting an interstitial 'confirmation' page when attempting to navigate to non-well known websites (some text confirming that you're connecting to a site that is 'unknown' to the software, and to be careful about phishing attempts, etc. Boilerplate warnings.)
For example, I can browse metafilter.com and ask.metafialter.com without a interstitial 'confirmation' page, but metatalk.metafilter.com generates one.
posted by Fidel Cashflow at 12:18 PM on February 8, 2012
Response by poster: The reason I asked is because the IE tab is because I believe it calls the IE object, and I'd be curious if it has the same issue.
So I just gave it a shot, and I got a security certificate warning from IE when using IE Tab 2 and searching on Google - something to the effect that the name on the cert did not match the name on the site, and did I want to continue. I clicked yes, and I'm not having any re-direct issues when using the 'enter' button. So this makes me think there is something sitting on the corporate network and re-writing google search requests in a way that is tailored to IE 7.
BUT, it seems as if the instant search feature isn't active for IE 7, and I can't seem to turn it on, so that makes me think it might not be an equivalent test. Does IE7 have the Javascript support necessary for Instant Search to work?
posted by Fidel Cashflow at 12:27 PM on February 8, 2012
So I just gave it a shot, and I got a security certificate warning from IE when using IE Tab 2 and searching on Google - something to the effect that the name on the cert did not match the name on the site, and did I want to continue. I clicked yes, and I'm not having any re-direct issues when using the 'enter' button. So this makes me think there is something sitting on the corporate network and re-writing google search requests in a way that is tailored to IE 7.
BUT, it seems as if the instant search feature isn't active for IE 7, and I can't seem to turn it on, so that makes me think it might not be an equivalent test. Does IE7 have the Javascript support necessary for Instant Search to work?
posted by Fidel Cashflow at 12:27 PM on February 8, 2012
i had a similar problem and cleaning out all my cookies helped
posted by wurly at 6:32 PM on February 8, 2012
posted by wurly at 6:32 PM on February 8, 2012
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posted by Pants! at 12:05 PM on February 8, 2012