URL Question

[jacks]

Just wondering if anyone can explain these very long and cryptic URLs.

Below is the URL as originally searched for by my browser.
https//news.google.com/articles/CBMiX2h0dHBzOi8vYWJjbmV3cy5nby5jb20vVVMvd29tYW4tY2hhcmdlZC1mZWxvbnktYnJlb25uYS10YXlsb3ItcHJvdGVzdC1oaXQtcnVuL3N0b3J5P2lkPTczMjYzMDY30gFjaHR0cHM6Ly9hYmNuZXdzLmdvLmNvbS9hbXAvVVMvd29tYW4tY2hhcmdlZC1mZWxvbnktYnJlb25uYS10YXlsb3ItcHJvdGVzdC1oaXQtcnVuL3N0b3J5P2lkPTczMjYzMDY3?hl=en-US&gl=US&ceid=US:en"

After awhile it goes away and is replaced by the one below. (This URL makes sense to me.)
https//abcnews.go.com/US/woman-charged-felony-breonna-taylor-protest-hit-run/story?id=73263067

Does anyone know why the first URL seems so unrelated and long and why it is necessary?

Just curious, thank you.

 

[Sabertooth]

I do not know exactly, but having been a programmer for 40 years, I'd say that the long one is a permanent address that is based on a database file. The second is a shortcut URL which is only temporarily assigned to that article.

 

[thecolorsblend]

My developer days are far behind me but the Google URL looks like a referrer URL that redirects to the ABC News website. Presumably, you went to Google News, found a story on ABC News that looked interesting, clicked it and it redirected you from google.com to the ABC News page.

Reasons for this type of approach include analytics, metrics and other information-gathering. Basically, information about your system is deposited into some Google database who knows where and filed away for who knows how long.

 

[jacks]

I do not know exactly, but having been a programmer for 40 years, I'd say that the long one is a permanent address that is based on a database file. The second is a shortcut URL which is only temporarily assigned to that article.

Maybe others know for sure, but that seems like a very reasonable explanation, thank you.
Programmer for 40 years! I always thought 20 years was long enough for any job. (Except for musicians and politicians of course...)

 

[jacks]

My developer days are far behind me but the Google URL looks like a referrer URL that redirects to the ABC News website. Presumably, you went to Google News, found a story on ABC News that looked interesting, clicked it and it redirected you from google.com to the ABC News page.

Reasons for this type of approach include analytics, metrics and other information-gathering. Basically, information about your system is deposited into some Google database who knows where and filed away for who knows how long.

Another great explanation, thank you. Maybe it's a combination of the two. The first is the Google data base and the second the ABC link.

 

[chevyontheriver]

Just wondering if anyone can explain these very long and cryptic URLs.

Below is the URL as originally searched for by my browser.
https//news.google.com/articles/CBMiX2h0dHBzOi8vYWJjbmV3cy5nby5jb20vVVMvd29tYW4tY2hhcmdlZC1mZWxvbnktYnJlb25uYS10YXlsb3ItcHJvdGVzdC1oaXQtcnVuL3N0b3J5P2lkPTczMjYzMDY30gFjaHR0cHM6Ly9hYmNuZXdzLmdvLmNvbS9hbXAvVVMvd29tYW4tY2hhcmdlZC1mZWxvbnktYnJlb25uYS10YXlsb3ItcHJvdGVzdC1oaXQtcnVuL3N0b3J5P2lkPTczMjYzMDY3?hl=en-US&gl=US&ceid=US:en"

After awhile it goes away and is replaced by the one below. (This URL makes sense to me.)
https//abcnews.go.com/US/woman-charged-felony-breonna-taylor-protest-hit-run/story?id=73263067

Does anyone know why the first URL seems so unrelated and long and why it is necessary?

Just curious, thank you.

It has lots of tracking data in it, data on you, data Google can then sell because YOU are their product.

 

[paul1149]

It's a redirect. Everything you click on from within google, including links in an email in gmail, go first to google so they can track you. It's intentionally written in code so no one knows exactly what it contains, but in addition to the destination url it most probably tells google where the link was clicked on (be it a google search or gmail or something else), your IP address, perhaps your personal identification if they know it, whether it's an AdSense link so revenue is involved, etc.

I would strongly recommend moving away from google, not only on privacy grounds but also for more unbiased searches. My preferred engine is www.Startpage.com

 

[jacks]

It's a redirect. Everything you click on from within google, including links in an email in gmail, go first to google so they can track you. It's intentionally written in code so no one knows exactly what it contains, but in addition to the destination url it most probably tells google where the link was clicked on (be it a google search or gmail or something else, your IP address), perhaps your personal identification if they know it, whether it's an AdSense link so revenue is involved, etc.

I would strongly recommend moving away from google, not only on privacy grounds but also for more unbiased searches. My preferred engine is www.Startpage.com

Thank you, yes I'm as paranoid about Google as the next person. I do use Startpage.com (in fact used it when it was still ixquick in the US.) or Duckduckgo.com as my search engines. I was at Google News, when I clicked the link that redirected me to the ABC article. It seems almost impossible to avoid Google altogether when surfing the web. (And if Google isn't tracking you, someone else probably is.) Also I use Gmail, which I'm sure lays my life bare. Any suggestions on an e-mail account that doesn't harvest personal information?

 

[paul1149]

Yes, it's hard to avoid google. I still use gmail and calendar and voice and of course youtube. That's about it though.

I used Duck exclusively for a few years, but recently came across some weirdness when doing an image search for 'Biden groping', or something like that. When the region was set to Default (I'm in the US), only ten images showed up. When it was set to something like Vietnam, an endless supply of links manifested. That's not right, so I asked on their subreddit, and there was no answer. Startpage works correctly on the search, so I've switched to it now.

I still us gmail for my public email stuff, but I now use the Thunderbird email client. This way there are no redirects.

I've moved my personal mail over to www.vivaldi.net. They make the browser I use, Vivaldi (and i think it's the best), and they used to make the old Opera browser, which was way ahead of its time. I trust them. They have free email accounts, and you can use encryption if desired; it's built in.

 

[jacks]

Yes, it's hard to avoid google. I still use gmail and calendar and voice and of course youtube. That's about it though.

I used Duck exclusively for a few years, but recently came across some weirdness when doing an image search for 'Biden groping', or something like that. When the region was set to Default (I'm in the US), only ten images showed up. When it was set to something like Vietnam, an endless supply of links manifested. That's not right, so I asked on their subreddit, and there was no answer. Startpage works correctly on the search, so I've switched to it now.

I still us gmail for my public email stuff, but I now use the Thunderbird email client. This way there are no redirects.

I've moved my personal mail over to www.vivaldi.net. They make the browser I use, Vivaldi (and i think it's the best), and they used to make the old Opera browser, which was way ahead of its time. I trust them. They have free email accounts, and you can use encryption if desired; it's built in.

That's interesting about Duckduckgo. I heard Startpage gives the same results as Google, without the tracking, but haven't checked it out. I have never heard of Vivaldi.net. I currently use either Opera or Brave. I didn't see where Vivaldi has e-mail, but I will look into it further. Thanks you. I guess when all is said and done, I just hope I'm not as interesting as others may be and all I do is bore the trackers.

EDIT: I installed Vivaldi, very much like Opera and I like the split tab feature. I also see now their e-mail. (Had to download browser first.) Looks good!

 

[paul1149]

I installed Vivaldi, very much like Opera and I like the split tab feature. I also see now their e-mail. (Had to download browser first.) Looks good!

Anyone can access vivaldi mail at Vivaldi Webmail :: Welcome to Vivaldi Webmail. At some point in the not too distant future Vivaldi, the browser, will have a built-in mail client, as the old Opera used to.

Yes, I think the Vivaldi browser smokes them all.