Bamboozled by Google
November 8, 2009 11:49 AM Subscribe
Why does Google Alerts add stuff like this to the end of the URLs it sends me every day by email:
&ct=ga&cd=eOGlPN9EEgs&usg=AFNjCNGPR1lLrp7KJVpHt-2HktLYhtBMQg
I guess Google has its reasons. So what I really mean is, why does Google do this when most of the time it breaks the link? The result is that, whenever I click on such a link, 90% of the time I get a "page not found" result and I then have to reload the page with the gibberish stripped away. I know that's not a huge chore, but it still seems daft. Can I put a stop to this? No illumination on wikipedia, from Google, or anywhere else that I could find.
I guess Google has its reasons. So what I really mean is, why does Google do this when most of the time it breaks the link? The result is that, whenever I click on such a link, 90% of the time I get a "page not found" result and I then have to reload the page with the gibberish stripped away. I know that's not a huge chore, but it still seems daft. Can I put a stop to this? No illumination on wikipedia, from Google, or anywhere else that I could find.
Looks like a tracking code. "usg" might mean "US geolocation" but I'm just guessing.
Do you have your alerts set to plain text? You can set them to HTML so the links are clickable, which would solve the brokenness if you are using an MUA that renders HTML.
posted by cj_ at 1:20 PM on November 8, 2009
Do you have your alerts set to plain text? You can set them to HTML so the links are clickable, which would solve the brokenness if you are using an MUA that renders HTML.
posted by cj_ at 1:20 PM on November 8, 2009
The ct=ga stands for "context equals Google Alerts". As a contrasting example, when you go to a Youtube video via Google's RSS fee it will have ct=rss. Google (and everyone else who cares about analytics) use it for tracking on their own end to know why/how you got to the page, because links from emails don't always have a referrer the way links from a browser do.
posted by furtive at 3:50 PM on November 8, 2009
posted by furtive at 3:50 PM on November 8, 2009
Response by poster: Thanks for responses. I get the tracking, but it seems to me google isn't aware that the string they add on actually breaks the link 9 times out of ten. cj_ the links I receive are clickable, and I click on them (I use entourage on a mac), and the end result is "page not found".
posted by londongeezer at 8:00 AM on November 9, 2009
posted by londongeezer at 8:00 AM on November 9, 2009
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posted by Netzapper at 11:57 AM on November 8, 2009