Recommended Posts

You know when you search for something on Google and all the search results are actually redirection URLs before they take you to the actual website? For example searching for "Neowin" and the first result is "http//www.google.com/url?sa=t&rct=j&url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.neowin.net%2F". Is there some way to make Google (or Yahoo) not have that redirection URL and instead take me directly to "http//www.neowin.net"?

Google SSL Privacy Real Link Userscripts.org

And if you use Chrome import thease in your registry


Windows Registry Editor Version 5.00
[HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Policies\Google\Chrome\ExtensionInstallSources]
"1"="http://userscripts.org/*"
[HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Wow6432Node\Policies\Google\Chrome\ExtensionInstallSources]
"1"="http://userscripts.org/*"
[/CODE]

I've been using "Remove Google Redirects 1.0.1" on Chrome which recently stopped working for me.

It is really annoying because when you click on a link and then want to go back, it either takes you back to the redirect, or takes you to the page you were on before going to Google, so you have to go back twice and then go forward.

Right clicking and Copy Link Address gives you a strange URL not suitable for sharing.

Sometimes the redirect hangs, but going to the website directly by typing it in in that time goes to the page directly.

This is the one thing they have got wrong with Google Search. I don't know why they can't use Javascript for their tracking instead.

I've been using "Remove Google Redirects 1.0.1" on Chrome which recently stopped working for me.

It is really annoying because when you click on a link and then want to go back, it either takes you back to the redirect, or takes you to the page you were on before going to Google, so you have to go back twice and then go forward.

Ok after trying a few of them I decided to write my own. It was quite easy actually considering I've never written a Chrome extension before. If you don't trust the file, you can open the CRX file with WinZip to inspect the code which is less than 20 lines long.

SkipRedirects.zip

To download: Just download the zip file and extract to desktop. Inside "Chrome", click "Wrench", click "Tools", click "Extensions". Then drag the CRX file from the desktop to the extension page inside Chrome.

noob question but what do these redirects do?

The redirects are there for Google to track which links you've clicked on. When you click on a search result, instead of going to www.neowin.net you are taken to www.google.com/redirect?www.neowin.net and then Google will redirect you to www.neowin.net afterwards. It's another step in an otherwise straightforward step. It wastes time when you are on dial-up or your DNS server is slow.

This topic is now closed to further replies.
  • Recently Browsing   0 members

    • No registered users viewing this page.
  • Posts

    • Microsoft kills AI-powered history search feature in Edge by Usama Jawad In June 2025, Microsoft began rolling out AI-powered history search functionality with Edge 138. The idea was simple: allow customers to use natural language phrases and synonyms to find their desired history items rather than matching keywords exactly. Although the company had already rolled out this capability in a phased manner, it has now decided to cancel it. In an update on its Microsoft 365 Roadmap, Microsoft has announced that it has decided not to move forward with AI-powered history search. The company has not detailed the exact reasoning behind this move, but it has apologized to customers for the inconvenience. The move is rather interesting as it seemingly could have improved user productivity. Edge users wouldn't have to worry about typos or exact keywords, and just focus on what they were trying to locate in their browser history. Microsoft had also assured users that an on-device AI model would be leveraged for this functionality, and no data would be sent to the cloud. IT admins also had the ability to control its availability through the EdgeHistoryAISearchEnabled policy. When the feature began rolling out last year, many of our readers called it creepy, noting that they couldn't trust Microsoft to keep their data on their device. Others also questioned its usefulness, saying that it's simply a way for Microsoft to insert more AI bloat into its products. Although the Redmond tech giant had stated that it will be more mindful about surfacing Copilot features in Windows 11 apps, we later discussed how this is mostly a rebranding exercise rather than an actual axing of AI functionalities. Indeed, a Microsoft executive later emphasized how they want to reshape Windows for the agentic AI era. That said, it does seem like at least AI-powered Edge history search isn't a part of that vision.
    • For you to jump on and defend your sweetheart? I agree, it didn't.
    • Not likely, of course, that we will see routine citizenship checks as they only involve compliance with existing federal voting laws already on the books for decades. This seems a non-issue entirely. Only fools would have the government rush headlong into an AI program few can understand or predict, or even debug...
  • Recent Achievements

    • Week One Done
      tuben earned a badge
      Week One Done
    • First Post
      OffsetAbs earned a badge
      First Post
    • Reacting Well
      OffsetAbs earned a badge
      Reacting Well
    • First Post
      Kolakid60 earned a badge
      First Post
    • Week One Done
      xvvxcvv earned a badge
      Week One Done
  • Popular Contributors

    1. 1
      +primortal
      424
    2. 2
      +Edouard
      185
    3. 3
      PsYcHoKiLLa
      147
    4. 4
      Steven P.
      72
    5. 5
      FloatingFatMan
      71
  • Tell a friend

    Love Neowin? Tell a friend!