I hate the Google redirects because they are noticeably slow. They did more to move me off Hangouts than anything else. They also plague Google News, but AMP is slowly "fixing" that problem.
Gmail/G Suite now editing URLs in mail message bodies to use Google URL redirect
51–60 of 89 posts
Re: Gmail/G Suite now editing URLs in mail message bodies to use Google URL redirect
#52[deleted]
Re: Gmail/G Suite now editing URLs in mail message bodies to use Google URL redirect
#53Earlier quoted context omitted.
If they're rewriting emails that you send out, that allows them to also track what the recipients of the emails do, even non-gmail ones. And not every gmail user uses the webmail interface either -- many use standalone clients that wouldn't normally have this tracking. Also, there is something very wrong when we're okay with Google rewriting parts of our emails. How long until they decide to start modifying other bit…
> If they're rewriting emails that you send out That's not the claim. The claim is that they're rewriting urls you receive. I suppose if the imap claim is true, and you reply, and you quote the redirector url in your reply, and someone clicks that link, they could detect it. That seems a little annoying and presents a slight risk, but it doesn't seem like the type of thing that would be intentionally designed in, eve…
And why I started with 'If' -- my previous comment is preconditioned on Google actually doing what the OP originally claimed (which didn't seem to be specifically limited to downloaded emails,) a claim I do find dubious.
Re: Gmail/G Suite now editing URLs in mail message bodies to use Google URL redirect
#54This also breaks GPG clearsigned messages that have URLs in the body, as demonstrated in this message I just sent myself: -----BEGIN PGP SIGNED MESSAGE----- Hash: SHA256 Hello, please visit my site at https://www.google.com/url?q=https://sneak.berlin&source=gmail-imap&ust=1603637677000000&usg=AOvVaw2HZaWQujRWlDNrZMKZIsed. Best, - -jp -----BEGIN PGP SIGNATURE----- iQIzBAEBCAAdFiEEVTmtAN5MQvOv4RV1BSRD9N8qVcIFAl+MVwwACg…
ust is a timestamp. usg is probably some kind of HMAC (q || ust, secret) so that only google can generate the redirecting urls. If you change the usg, the redirection fails. The same happens if you change ust or q.
Re: Gmail/G Suite now editing URLs in mail message bodies to use Google URL redirect
#55Can't repro. Links in text/plain, HTML, and mixed survive round trip through Google. Suggests that whatever client the OP is using is confused by the data-saferedirecturl attribute in Gmail's web presentation?
Yes, I think he is talking about the data-saferedirecturl attribute. He's not wrong though, as the redirect stored in the attribute is loaded when you click a link.
Re: Gmail/G Suite now editing URLs in mail message bodies to use Google URL redirect
#56Its been a long run with gmail but I'm going to make the full leap to protonmail pretty soon. It takes a little work to migrate things but I just cant stand gmail for so many reasons now.
And after Google pay thought it was a good idea to send my phone number out to every online merchant (I now get nonstop spam texts and calls) I've had it with the company.
Re: Gmail/G Suite now editing URLs in mail message bodies to use Google URL redirect
#57I can't reproduce this either, so I'll ask maybe a simple question: how does URL-rewriting benefit Google in this situation?
Google already knows the bodies of emails and can do whatever analytics they please on them. The vast majority of users are also using it via their web client, meaning that Google can put arbitrary JavaScript on the page to record which links are being clicked on. They already have most of the metadata that they could scrape from a rewritten URL, since you're already on their property. It's possible that I'm missing something, but it feels like it's a lot of effort for information that Google already possesses.
Re: Gmail/G Suite now editing URLs in mail message bodies to use Google URL redirect
#58I've planned to quit using Gmail for a long time now. Any tips on how to do it efficiently? I would prefer a native email client coupled to a simple hosting solution.
I would definitely recommend using 2 email addresses. Pick one for your important stuff and another for spam (give this out to merchants and what not). Protonmail works but there are others. Also realize that you are not going to self destruct if you miss an email from migrating as long as you cover the most important contacts. It can actually be a good spring cleaning exercise.
Re: Gmail/G Suite now editing URLs in mail message bodies to use Google URL redirect
#59I hate the Google redirects because they are noticeably slow. They did more to move me off Hangouts than anything else. They also plague Google News, but AMP is slowly "fixing" that problem.
Me too. Noticeably slow is a bit of understatement. Often times, I have to wait >4s for a redirect, which is kinda infuriating, given that I know it's not the issue of the actual website, just google messing with the URLs.
Why does all the SPDY nonsense matter when Google adds huge latency in other ways.
Re: Gmail/G Suite now editing URLs in mail message bodies to use Google URL redirect
#60I can reproduce it on gmail.com
Google seems to hide this via Javascript.
To reproduce in Chromium:
Enable dev tools, enable "Preserve log", go to settings and enable "Auto-open DevTools for popups".
Then click on a link in a mail.
Now you can see under the Network tab, that the new window did not go to the link you clicked but to a Google redirect url.
I guess Google outputs a normal link in the html but then intercepts the click and sends you to their tracking url.
As nobody seems to be able to reproduce it for IMAP, I guess that either A) the author is in an a/b test group that got targeted with the tracking links or B) he uses an email client that uses some other protocol or C) He is outright lying or D) Something else.
My money is on B. The author says on Twitter he uses mail.app on a Mac. I would not be surprised if the developer of a hip shiny Mac app happily used the newest shiny API from Google.
Can someone with a Mac and that app reproduce it?