Redirect - #1 Result ???

[maruli]

I start to see google search results with this redirect remark as the refering link:
Redirect - #1 Result
But on google all I find is information about a redirect virus. It makes no sense, as no virus ever would have a reason to redirect anything to my blog.
Does this redirect have a simple explanation? Sorry if this is a dumb question.

[Arne]

This link may give an other explanation.

[maruli]

Arne, thanks, but I could not find any answer on the linked page.

Here are two examples:

www.google.com — fundamental transgression (Redirect - #1 Result)
www.google.com — bandler sociopath (Redirect - #4 Result)

This redirect seems to be something new. I am using statcounter since about half a year, but I have never seen that redirect before Feb. 9.

[tosommerfugle]

Sometimes Google uses a redirector for the search results links, most probably to learn about what links are actually clicked. This means that the referer URL recorded by Statcounter is not for the Google search results page, but simply this redirector URL. This is explained in the link provided by Arne.

If Statcounter users click this link, the result is that the browser redirects to the users own site, instead of showing the Google search results page. This may surprise users, and makes it harder to explore how the searcher used Google.

A recent enhancement parsed these referer URLs to show the keywords (instead of the long URL), and was amended to parse the cd= parameter, which reveals what position on the SERP the user clicked.

[Arne]

Originally Posted by maruli

Arne, thanks, but I could not find any answer on the linked page.

Check the url's and you see what is new.
Instead of showing the referring Google search page, the url makes a redirect to the page in the search result.

Quote from that linked page:

Up to now, the usual referrer for clicks on search results for the term "flowers", for example, would be something like this:

"http://www.google.com/search?hl=en&q=flowers&btnG=Google+Search"

Now you will start seeing some referrer strings that look like this:

"http://www.google.com/url?sa=t&source=web&ct=res&cd=7&url=http%3A%2F%2Fw ww.example.com%2Fmypage.htm&ei=0SjdSa-1N5O8M_qW8dQN&rct=j&q=flowers&usg=AFQjCNHJXSUh7Vw7 oubPaO3tZOzz-F-u_w&sig2=X8uCFh6IoPtnwmvGMULQfw"

If you run your own analyses, be sure that you do not depend on the "/search?" portion of the URL to determine if a visit started with an organic search click.

This redirect seems to be something new. I am using statcounter since about half a year, but I have never seen that redirect before Feb. 9.

Yes, it is new, a Google "invention" that a lot of people are not happy with. But Google don't care.

At the time the Google announcements was written, they said:

The new referrer URLs will initially only occur in a small percentage of searches. You should expect to see old and new forms of the URLs as this change gradually rolls out.

After that, the new url's has increased so we see them more often now than a year (or 6 months) ago. And you will see even more before the end of this year.

I don't know if Statcounter can do anything about it.

[maruli]

Thank you both for explaining. Now I do understand. Except for writing a blog and being curious, how people find it, I am only a user of google.

[CSoft]

Originally Posted by Arne

Yes, it is new, a Google "invention" that a lot of people are not happy with. But Google don't care.

mmmm, I perceive a bit of insatisfaction here. This might not be tolerated in the future when they rule the world and so.
Watch your feelings Floyd, stay Pink !

Facebook is doing the same with links. There´s another thread about it. So this seems to be "NEXT"....who knows

By the way, and since this is the new Beta Forum, yesterday I used the Feedback tab asking for something, and today i received an e-mail from a statcounter team member saying it was solved, and it actually is .

So nice to have this "personal details" in this days

[tosommerfugle]

Actually, Google is not hiding anything by this redirector. The keywords, search parameters and even SERP position are included. The change was even announced, to allow competing analytics packages to keep up to date. They are, in fact, not being evil

Facebook is quite different, in not including any useful source info whatsoever. when wrapping outgoing links. A "dislike" button would be quite relevant here.