Google has changed a bit...

[iamaboringperson]

Has anyone else noticed that within the last couple of days google has no longer been using direct links from the search results?

Now they send you to their address which redirects you to the site. (If you know what I mean)

Probably, this is to monitor which sites are popular, and which aren't.

Interesting.

[odin]

Huh?

[CLS2086]

Did not see that

[Linchpin]

Looks the same to me?

Im not sure what you mean exactly...

[HopperJF]

On a slightly different note, Google have released an Instant Messaging protocol..

http://www.google.com/talk/ for more info..

[InTheSand]

Hi,

I'd noticed this too...

Say you were searching for Micro$oft, in the past, Google would return a link directly to http://www.microsoft.com

Now it returns a link to http://www.google.co.nz/url?sa=t&ct=res&cd=1&url=http%3A//www.microsoft.com/&ei=6p8NQ4jDDKSO-AHljMGOBQ

(and apologies for stuffing up the forum's formatting with this over-long URL!)

 - Ali

[Karlos]

You can also freely sign up to use the google maps API in your own sites (as long as you don't use it for a service you make somebody else pay for).

Which is nice...

[alx]

@InTheSand, InTheSand

Say you were searching for Micro$oft, in the past, Google would return a link directly to http://www.microsoft.com

Now it returns a link to http://www.google.co.nz/url?sa=t&ct=res&cd=1&url=http%3A//www.microsoft.com/&ei=6p8NQ4jDDKSO-AHljMGOBQ

I don't get that here.  In the past though, Google have tested out new features on a random selection of people (this happened a while ago with something in the main search tool - cannot remember what it was though).  If it's a success, they might well roll it out to the rest of us mere mortals.

[lorddef]

Well the actual href within the page returned will be direct to the site but it calls a javascript function on mouse click.

For example this search brings up the first result as "http://www.lorddef.net"

Inside the tag in adition to the href="http://www.lorddef.net/" is the following:

onmousedown="return rwt(this,'res','1','')

which calls the following function:

function rwt(el,ct,cd,sg){el.href="/url?sa=t&ct="+escape(ct)+"&cd="+escape(cd)+"&url="+escape(el.href).replace(/\+/g,"%2B")+"&ei=P8UNQ__2Ao7AwgHZyLGbBQ"+sg;el.onmousedown="";return true;}

Which seems to send it to a redirect instead. If you have javascript disabled then you'll just go straight to the href.

[Rooster]

I get direct sites here..  Perhaps it's related to your country?

In other news, anyone ever use Google Earth?  That is a HOT application.  Stumbled apon it once on like the anniversary of the US landing on the moon.  http://earth.google.com/  check it out

They also have this http://desktop.google.com/?pr=hpp-gds-en-v2-3
going on..  Haven't tried it yet..  Looks like their trying to fidn ways of providing more info (news/weather/chat/etc) like Yahoo, but without cluttering up their searchbox only website that so many have come to love...

[Linchpin]

Agree... google-earth is great!

Odd how the picture quality is much better over the usa than anywhere else in the world ...

[sboisvert]

Another way google invades your privacy.

Of course this is nothing new; Yahoo has been doing this for ages now.

[Rooster]

I don't know about elsewhere in the world, but tools like Google Earth have been around for years on the web.  I've used many of them, in fun of course, just to see my house and places I know..  

Biggest gripe with GE is that it has a tilt feature, so you can look down at an angle at the area you wish to see..  Gripe is that is still uses flat images, so, for instance, if you look at Cleveland, OH, you won't see skyscrapers (tall buildings).  Considering most sat. pics are taken at an angle anyway, not directly overhead, was kind of bummed..  Give us something to look forward to in the future though!

[boing]

I don't understand your tilt/angle references.

sboisvert, how do you say google further invades your privacy?

I'm interested in hiking and exploring. And I love the *color* satellite images from http://maps.google.com.  I'd like to equip my laptop with a GPS unit (maybe a USB device so it could also be used with a PDA) and some satellite-imaged map software.  Anybody got any solid, experienced recommendations???

[Karlos]

boing wrote:
I don't understand your tilt/angle references.

sboisvert, how do you say google further invades your privacy?

I'm interested in hiking and exploring. And I love the *color* satellite images from http://maps.google.com.  I'd like to equip my laptop with a GPS unit (maybe a USB device so it could also be used with a PDA) and some satellite-imaged map software.  Anybody got any solid, experienced recommendations???

Assuming you have yourself a website, you can get a google map API key for it.

You can then make yourself a small tool that will centre and zoom on any geocoded location you give it, deal for a GPS