Disable or scrub Google search redirects, aka URL modification or obfuscation

Disable or scrub Google search redirects, aka URL modification or obfuscation

How can Google search redirects be disabled in Opera?

This problem gets referred to by various names such as URL modification or link obfuscation.

I'm referring to the way that you can no longer copy any link in Google search results by Right Click > Copy Link As.

Also it is now impossible to download any pdf in search results by Right Click > Save Linked Content As.

(This is *not* about malware that hijacks search results and sends you to a bogus site; that is an entirely unrelated issue and I don’t have that problem.)

EXAMPLE:

[tried to attach a screengrab. Not sure if it's working]


If you try to right-click or copy the first, blue line that says “[pdf] 2005 BASEBALL”…

you *used* to get this, before Google screwed everything up:

www.pony.org/files/baseball_rules.pdf

Now you get this instead:

http://www.google.com/url?sa=t&rct=j&q=&esrc=s&source=web&cd=1&ved=0CCsQFjAA&url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.pony.org%2Ffiles%2Fbaseball_rules.pdf&ei=dJ8qT-WjCsnygge8h9TrDw&usg=AFQjCNFlKo5gnMtU9_MhY6VM2y2GPVjxnA

I have spent days trying solutions posted online. None work. These include user scripts with names like “Clean Google Search URL” or “Disable URL Modification”.

I see that you have posted this in the Google forums:
https://groups.google.com/a/googleproductforums.com/d/topic/websearch/4BXTkaoqoQU/

I have created a user JS that disables the rewrite of links in Google Search results.

Disable Google Search Rewrite:
https://gist.github.com/1780197/

Installing user JS:

1. Create a folder for storing user JS files.
2. Go to the user JS on GitHub > Right click on "raw" > Save Linked Content As... > Save the JS file to your user JS folder.
3. Opera > Settings > Preferences... > Advanced > Content > JavaScript Options... > Under "User JavaScript folder", select "Choose..." > Select the folder > OK > OK > OK.

Originally posted by planetrock:

If you try to right-click or copy the first, blue line that says “[pdf] 2005 BASEBALL”…you *used* to get this, before Google screwed everything up: www.pony.org/files/baseball_rules.pdf

I still do get http://www.pony.org/files/baseball_rules.pdf. Why? Because I edited Site Preferences, Scripting for Google to disable javascript. This trick also gets rid of the right-pointing arrows and page previews.

Originally posted by XP1:

I see that you have posted this in the Google forums:
https://groups.google.com/a/googleproductforums.com/d/topic/websearch/4BXTkaoqoQU/

I have created a user JS that disables the rewrite of links in Google Search results.

Disable Google Search Rewrite:
https://gist.github.com/1780197/

Installing user JS:

1. Create a folder for storing user JS files.
2. Go to the user JS on GitHub > Right click on "raw" > Save Linked Content As... > Save the JS file to your user JS folder.
3. Opera > Settings > Preferences... > Advanced > Content > JavaScript Options... > Under "User JavaScript folder", select "Choose..." > Select the folder > OK > OK > OK.

I tried the user JS, but unfortunately it doesn't seem to change anything.
If I hover over say a PDF link on the Google Search results page, the Opera pop-up correctly shows the link address as pointing directly to the file. However if I then right click on the link and try to save it, the saved file is always "url.htm" and when I hover again on the link it's changed to an enormously long url which goes to the file but won't let me save it directly.

Originally posted by DaveHawley:

I tried the user JS, but unfortunately it doesn't seem to change anything.
If I hover over say a PDF link on the Google Search results page, the Opera pop-up correctly shows the link address as pointing directly to the file. However if I then right click on the link and try to save it, the saved file is always "url.htm" and when I hover again on the link it's changed to an enormously long url which goes to the file but won't let me save it directly.

Ahh, yes. I forgot.

Are you using HTTP or HTTPS for Google.com?

If you are using HTTPS, then you need to enable: opera:config#UserPrefs|UserJavaScriptonHTTPS (select, copy, and paste the link if it doesn't work).

You will get a security warning message every session.
If you don't want this security warning message, you can patch the DLL (option 1):
http://my.opera.com/XAntares/blog/xanocta/
https://bitbucket.org/xaxa/nocta/src/

The patch is "xa-nocta-plugin-00-SilentHTTPSUserJS.pl".

Option 2 is bundling this user JS into an extension, so you won't need to enable the HTTPS user JS setting; thus, you will not see the security warning message.

Brilliant!
Thank you, all now working perfectly.

I was already familiar with xa-nocta and used their script to disable the warning message.
Great job!


EDIT: Even better! I've found I now only have to press "back" once to get back to the Google search list, instead of twice! Woo-hoo!

Originally posted by XP1:

[Ahh, yes. I forgot.

Are you using HTTP or HTTPS for Google.com?

I'm using HTTP.

Originally posted by XP1:

Disable Google Search Rewrite:
https://gist.github.com/1780197/

Installing user JS:

1. Create a folder for storing user JS files.
2. Go to the user JS on GitHub > Right click on "raw" > Save Linked Content As... > Save the JS file to your user JS folder.
3. Opera > Settings > Preferences... > Advanced > Content > JavaScript Options... > Under "User JavaScript folder", select "Choose..." > Select the folder > OK > OK > OK.

It works! Amazing! I can't thank you enough. I never realized how often I need 'actual' non-obfuscated URLs; turns out it's a heck of a lot. So this is saving me major headaches every day.

TO FUTURE USERS: To get this to work I had to disable Javascript for google.com by right-click > Edit Site Preferences > Scripting > uncheck 'Enable JavaScript'

Somehow this does NOT disable the above script although it sounds like it would.

So far, gmail seems to work, which I was afraid it wouldn't with JavaScript disabled, because the domain for Gmail is google.com and not gmail.com.

Originally posted by Pesala:

I still do get http://www.pony.org/files/baseball_rules.pdf. Why? Because I edited Site Preferences, Scripting for Google to disable javascript. This trick also gets rid of the right-pointing arrows and page previews.

I tried that and it didn't work.

There are also two Opera extensions which remove the redirection on Google search result links:

1. Remove Google Redirects
https://addons.opera.com/en/extensions/details/remove-google-redirects/

2. No Google Search Redirect
https://addons.opera.com/en/extensions/details/noredirect/

I'm not sure what the difference between the two extensions is, if any; I'm currently using the first one.