Author Topic: I am so sick of google's search result urls with tracking info (Read 41,579 times)

mouser · « **on:** July 13, 2011, 07:51 PM »

Anyone know of a firefox or other addon to get rid of this garbage?

When i do a google search result the results LOOK normal, but if you try to copy the link you get something like:
http://www.google.com/url?sa=t&source=web&cd=1&ved=0CBUQFjAA&url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.zmangames.com%2Fboardgames%2Ffiles%2Fmerchants_marauders%2FMM-Rules.pdf&rct=j&q=merchants%20and%20marauders%20rules%20pdf&ei=pfYdTuaNAcyEsgK7_dmhCA&usg=AFQjCNFTT8lB_AUcHq1cUD0z7CrLfm4ffQ&cad=rja

im really sick of this crap that makes it hard for me to copy and share links.

there has to be a firefox plugin to put a stop to this, and honestly it's more than a little bothersome that google insists on tracking every link i click in their search results.

rgdot · « **Reply #1 on:** July 13, 2011, 07:58 PM »

Have not tried any myself

http://www.makeuseof.com/tag/rid-unwanted-redirects-google-search-results/

nosh · « **Reply #2 on:** July 13, 2011, 07:58 PM »

This only seems to happen when you search via the main webpage. I use GoogleBar Lite (it's not the official Google toolbar) and get regular links. I think this may also be possible with other sites that serve as a frontend for Google's search engine.

allen · « **Reply #3 on:** July 13, 2011, 08:23 PM »

DuckDuckGo has solved my problems with the declining quality of Google.

Eóin · « **Reply #4 on:** July 13, 2011, 08:32 PM »

Quote from: mouser on July 13, 2011, 07:51 PM

... and honestly it's more than a little bothersome that google insists on tracking everything I do!

FTFY

Personally, I always use Scroogle these days.

lanux128 · « **Reply #5 on:** July 14, 2011, 02:01 AM »

maybe this would help? - Getting rid of "Google Goo"

mouser · « **Reply #6 on:** July 14, 2011, 02:22 AM »

Thanks for the suggestions, everyone. Now to pick one or more of these solutions..

mouser · « **Reply #7 on:** July 14, 2011, 02:49 AM »

I tried 3 greasemonkey scripts that failed:

Google Search - Remove Redirection (v2.02)
Disable Google Search Result Redirect
Scrub Google Redirect Links

And then finally one that worked (thanks sri and Lashiec!):

Google Tracking-B-Gone

Having said that, it's been strongly suggested to me that I simply stop using the google homepage to search from, and I think i will probably do that, and maybe start using duckduckgo or scroogle, or one of those.

zridling · « **Reply #8 on:** July 14, 2011, 05:14 AM »

Quote from: mouser on July 13, 2011, 07:51 PM

...google insists on tracking every link i click in their search results.

This is why whenever you visit so many corporate sites, you see something different than I do. Amazon shows me different books based on my past clicks, thinking it can know my interests, but they're not helping me explore and find something new, they're just trying to guess what they think I already like. It's essentially corporate censorship of your corner of the web and while it's a great way for them to rake in the cash on the average Joe, they have no clue how strange I really am! It blows chunks.

MilesAhead · « **Reply #9 on:** July 14, 2011, 05:27 AM »

I generally use Scroogle or AltaVista. Although I notice when I do an AV search now it says Yahoo. They bought them maybe?

ewemoa · « **Reply #10 on:** July 14, 2011, 05:48 AM »

Quote from: MilesAhead on July 14, 2011, 05:27 AM

Although I notice when I do an AV search now it says Yahoo. They bought them maybe?

From:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/AltaVista

Quote

AltaVista is a web search engine owned by Yahoo!. AltaVista was once one of the most popular search engines but its popularity declined with the rise of Google. In 2010, Yahoo! announced that it plans to discontinue the site.

MilesAhead · « **Reply #11 on:** July 14, 2011, 06:51 AM »

Guess I may as well remove it from the list and go straight to yahoo.

lanux128 · « **Reply #12 on:** July 14, 2011, 06:53 AM »

Quote from: MilesAhead on July 14, 2011, 05:27 AM

I generally use Scroogle or AltaVista. Although I notice when I do an AV search now it says Yahoo. They bought them maybe?

long ago if memory serves right, Yahoo used AltaVista's search index then they bought them outright when they bought AV's parent company Overture.

joiwind · « **Reply #13 on:** July 14, 2011, 09:14 AM »

There is also Ixquick (which has been talked about here before I think) - it's fast, private and more easily configurable than Scroogle - I like it !

Read the About page for all details.

ewemoa · « **Reply #14 on:** July 14, 2011, 10:24 AM »

FWIW, with NoScript in FF, copying-and-pasting Google results seems to work here without "goo".

Also appears to apply for:

https://encrypted.google.com/

justice · « **Reply #15 on:** July 14, 2011, 10:41 AM »

Quote from: mouser on July 14, 2011, 02:49 AM

And then finally one that worked (thanks sri and Lashiec!):
Google Tracking-B-Gone

This script works perfectly in Google Chrome too.

urlwolf · « **Reply #16 on:** July 14, 2011, 11:45 AM »

I'm using duckduckgo too, pretty happy.

40hz · « **Reply #17 on:** July 14, 2011, 11:55 AM »

+1 for DuckDuckGo.

My second preference is ixquick.

These days I only use Google if I have to.

allen · « **Reply #18 on:** July 14, 2011, 05:26 PM »

Quote from: 40hz on July 14, 2011, 11:55 AM

These days I only use Google if I have to.

I like to think they'll get things straightened out at some point, but as of right now the only reason I can think of to use Google is habit. Hell, even Bing is better than Google these days.

Edit: OK, saying "Even bing" isn't very nice, Bing isn't bad at all.

mahesh2k · « **Reply #19 on:** July 14, 2011, 05:49 PM »

Duckduckgo and scroogle can replace google for you. Owner of duckduckgo always listens and is active on community forums so you can request features you want on their official forum. Google+ pretty much turned me off their search engine so using bing and DDG these days. :-)

J-Mac · « **Reply #20 on:** July 16, 2011, 05:55 AM »

I use the Greasemonkey script GoogleMonkeyR. Not only removes tracking but lets me change the number of columns, eliminate sponsored results, and more.

Jim

mouser · « **Reply #21 on:** July 16, 2011, 06:24 AM »

Excellent find J-Mac -- GoogleMonkeyR works quite well! (took me a while to find that the options dialog is available under the upper right Gear menu on search results screen).

nosh · « **Reply #22 on:** July 16, 2011, 07:33 AM »

Greasemonkey options (for the site you're currently at) are normally available from its status bar icon.

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lanux128 · « **Reply #23 on:** July 16, 2011, 07:45 AM »

in newer versions of firefox (versions 4 & 5), the statusbar is hidden by default. you need to install an add-on to bring back the status bar.

● https://addons.mozilla.org/en-US/firefox/addon/status-4-evar/

J-Mac · « **Reply #24 on:** July 16, 2011, 01:26 PM »

Quote from: lanux128 on July 16, 2011, 07:45 AM

in newer versions of firefox (versions 4 & 5), the statusbar is hidden by default. you need to install an add-on to bring back the status bar.

● https://addons.mozilla.org/en-US/firefox/addon/status-4-evar/

Part of the problem is that Mozilla no longer calls it a "status bar"; they have re-christened the bar formerly known as "Status" as the "Add-On Bar"... Go figure.

Jim