What is Digg?Warning: The Content in this Article May be Inaccurate
Readers have reported that this story contains information that may not be accurate.25 Comments
- icoms, on 02/12/2008, -1/+9google is in your browsers stealing your 404s
- Deodrus, on 02/12/2008, -4/+11Umm.. you installed the Toolbar. You can uninstall it.
However, these privacy features can be easily disabled at any time by accessing the toolbar's "Google" menu.
Would you complain that Norton Firewall automatically disables your Windows Firewall? Stop making mountains out of molehills. Stupid sensationalist titles. - nsusa, on 02/11/2008, -1/+6Just noticed that the toolbar also hijacks any mailto link and instead of opening your email program (Outlook, etc.) it redirects the visitor away from the website to Gmail.
- MattCutts, on 02/12/2008, -0/+4(I'm a software engineer at Google.)
I did a blog post to explain how this feature works: http://www.mattcutts.com/blog/404-pages-in-google- ...
The short answer is that only default 404 pages (< 512 bytes) will show this feature. If you want to show a custom 404 page, just makes sure that it's > 512 bytes and the feature won't trigger.
Oh, and the 404 page also gives instructions right on the page in case any user wants to turn off the feature (click a wrench icon, uncheck a box, click save and it's off) - geekchic, on 02/12/2008, -1/+5It's not entirely true.
Google's Toolbar does NOT hijack a website's 404 page where the website owner has set up a custom 404 page - as any sensible website should do.
However, if the website doesn't serve a custom 404 error, you would get the webhost generic and useless error page - then, and only then will Google offer suggestions based on its understanding of the website.
If a website doesn't want Google to suggest alternatives - then all they have to do is do their job properly in the first place, and that means setting up a custom 404 error page on their own server. - z0mbie2099, on 02/12/2008, -0/+3Google should offer public DNS servers.
- sajnikanth, on 02/12/2008, -1/+3Wow..never thought about this from a webmaster's point of view. Apart from losing visitors, some creative 404s can be missed. http://www.sendcoffee.com/minorsage/404error.html
- troydoogle7, on 02/12/2008, -0/+2thats only if you clicked the option use gmail for mailto: links.... you should have just said no. Just go into the options and turn it off
- jggr, on 02/12/2008, -1/+2Not yet, but they are traveling on the road of good intentions.
- inactive, on 02/12/2008, -0/+1In Soviet Russia 404's Steal YOU!
- jggr, on 02/12/2008, -0/+1From: http://googlewebmastercentral.blogspot.com/2007/12 ...
-snip-
404 errors with default error pages
When a visitor tries to reach your content with an invalid URL and your server returns a short, default error message (less than 512 bytes), the Toolbar will suggest an alternate URL to the visitor. If this is a general problem in your website, you will see these URLs also listed in the crawl errors section of your Webmaster Tools account.
If you choose to set up a custom error page, make sure it returns result code 404. The content of the 404 page can help your visitors to understand that they tried to reach a missing page and provides suggestions regarding how to find the content they were looking for. When a site displays a custom error page the Toolbar will no longer provide suggestions for that site. You can check the behavior of the Toolbar by visiting an invalid URL on your site with the Google Toolbar installed.
-/snip- - gmfpanda2, on 02/11/2008, -3/+4This is crazy! Google needs to back off.
- medalian1, on 02/12/2008, -0/+1I always wondered who was dumb enough to install 3rd party toolbars.
- iDiggster, on 02/12/2008, -1/+1I don't mean to sound sensationalist in any way, but Google has a history of doing slightly random things such as this. Does anybody remember the furore over Google Web Accelerator and Google AutoLink?
The problem with this is that the 404 page is of critical importance for websites because as bland as it may seem, the 404 plays a crucial role in retaining visitors. Websites with a good 404 will use the page to suggest alternatives to help the visitor find what they want and most importantly stay on the site.
IMO this move by Google to hijack the 404 is clearly all about advertising revenue and has very little to do with improving the user experience. I hope that this is not a default option, and if it is, that it can be easily turned off. - supporter12, on 02/12/2008, -3/+3google is evil
- themusclehead, on 02/13/2008, -0/+0Yeh, effectively the facebook way. Make everything as hard for user as you can and keep all default settings in your favor.
Cheap little tricks. - Cubedude04, on 02/12/2008, -1/+1"Umm.. you installed the Toolbar. You can uninstall it."
Did you even read the article. The problem does not lie with the end user but with the web master - themusclehead, on 02/13/2008, -0/+0Never mind its the "Do No Evil" at its best!
Do No Evil Just Monetize!
Crawl the protected pages with Adword Bots, Manually Pick And Kick Websites, Change Quality Score Overnight And Make Advertisers Pay More, All In A Day's Work!
Google should change their home page to GOOG :) - inactive, on 02/12/2008, -1/+1Im waiting for the day when google collects your facial features, DNA and blood type.
- jggr, on 02/12/2008, -2/+1Even still, regardless of intent, Google is really over stepping their bounds. Nothing should *ever* hijack another page. Even if it is a generic 404. That's not Google's decision to make. If the webmaster wants the generic page, then that's what their user's get.
But to be honest, this is what you get when you install toolbars. I still don't know why people actually use those things. But to each their own. - nsusa, on 02/12/2008, -1/+0The website used for the screenshot actually has a custom 404 page in place that uses a meta refresh to redirect the visitor to the home page. Google still takes over the 404 response.
http://www.webhostingresourcekit.com/404.shtml - inactive, on 02/12/2008, -2/+1JOIN THE GOOGLE NATION.
- chandan333, on 02/12/2008, -2/+1again an idea that nobody else have thought of yet comes from google.
BUT yes, as a webmaster this is a major intrusion into someone's owned intellectual property. - TechieFrank, on 02/12/2008, -6/+1I doubt it is legal.
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