Google hijacking 404 error pages
This morning I installed the Google Toolbar beta version on one of my computers and my oh my – there is something that can have huge impact to many webmasters. Google grabs the 404 error code returned to the web browser in certain situations and instead of displaying the 404 error page of the website you are on, it creates a custom 404 error page – made by Google. The “new” 404 error page ‘conveniently’ includes a Google search box and if used by a visitor will drive the visitor away from your website. Even worse – the search box is pre-populated with data from the initial URL query on your website. Imagine a situation where kind of sensitive data is send to Google that way. Even normal data would make it to Google that way and we all know what Google does with data. For me as a webmaster this is a major intrusion into my own intellectual property. My normal 404 error page is effectively disabled by the Google Toolbar. This is bad.
How my application handles your 404 response is my business, not yours.
A similar scenario was noted by GoogleWatch ( http://www.google-watch.org/toolbar.html ) on Sun 20 Feb 2005.
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Good catch.
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[...] Anscheinend scheint es Google mit dem Motto “do no evil” nicht mehr ganz so ernst zu nehmen. Okay, damit erzähle ich ja nichts neues, aber das, was die neue Google Toolbar beta veranstaltet, schlägt dem Faß doch glatt den Boden aus. Anscheinend hijackt die Toolbar die 404er Errors und zeigt eine Site von Google an, die dem User zwar eine Hilfestellung bietet, aber dennoch auf die Google eigene Suche verlinkt und so Google Geld bringt. Besonders im Adult-Business ist mit 404ern einiges an Geld zu verdienen und wohl jeder Webmaster möchte selbst darüber entscheiden können, was mit seinem Traffic, egal ob 404 oder nicht, geschieht. Ich kann das gerade nicht nachvollziehen, weil es die Toolbar aktuell wohl nur für den IE gibt. Sollte sich das jedoch bestätigen, wäre das ein sehr starkes Stück und Google keinen Deut besser als andere Spy- und Malware Klitschen. via Seoker [...]
This is not new at all. We wrote about this specific issue on the Google webmaster blog a couple months ago to let people know about it
http://googlewebmastercentral.blogspot.com/2007/12/fyi-on-google-toolbars-latest-features.html
And in the blog post, it specifically says
“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.”
Actually I do have a custom 404.shtml on my domain that redirects the visitor via meta-refresh to the home page. The toolbar feature still decided to take over my 404
http://www.webhostingresourcekit.com/404.shtml
In a browser without the toolbar installed the redirect works, in a browser with the new toolbar Google takes over my 404 page instead. That ain’t right in my opinion.
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One more reason not to use the Google toolbar.
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I’d much rather be sent to a search page than see a flash for 2 seconds (less with loading time) and then go back to the homepage. Google > crap 404 redirects.
[...] in the webmaster world today over a new feature in the latest beta of Google Toolbar. According to Seoker.com, when a user with the toolbar installed goes to a 404 page, they see a Google page with a [...]
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Umm, as a webmaster, don’t 404. 200 instead and then present your not found page. Problem solved, no?
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Typical Google, being douche bags like normal.
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Hey, it’s better than the hijacking done by Time Warner on my broadband, which looks pretty much the same as any domain squatter with AdSense
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http://www.404-error-page.com/404-error-page-too-short-problem-microsoft-ie.shtml … Microsoft has been doing this sort of thing for years
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[...] in the webmaster world today over a new feature in the latest beta of Google Toolbar. According to Seoker.com, when a user with the toolbar installed goes to a 404 page, they see a Google page with a [...]
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[37] So is doing my provider, Embarq. Just another rip from them…
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I’v enoticed this prior to installing the new beta google toolbar.
They have no right to do such thing and I uninstalled the toolbar because of this and because it seems not allowing me to open many ie windows because at certin level I lose the right click! which is annoying!
If you want to keep control of errors on your site, it’s up to you to avoid sending a 404 alltogether and do something a bit more creative. For example, some sites redirect to a search page on their own.
Most companies enjoy “security” insofar as they haven’t been targeted yet, or suffered a human error resulting in a catastrophic exposure – something Google found out the hard way. While various systems of security are important, no system can overcome laxity, ignorance, or deliberate intent to harm. Necessary is a sustained culture and awareness; an efficient prism through which every activity is viewed from a security perspective prior to action.
Price Waterhouse Cooper and Carnegie-Mellon’s CyLab have recent surveys that show the senior executive class to be, basically, clueless regarding IT risk and its tie to overall enterprise (business) risk. Data breaches and accidents are due to a lagging business culture – absent a new eCulture, breaches and accidents will – and continue to – increase. Here, Google was fortunate, and hopefully its #1 asset, its reputation, will remain intact, but where I am CIO we cannot take chances. Check your local library: A book that is required reading is “I.T. WARS: Managing the Business-Technology Weave in the New Millennium.” It also helps outside agencies understand your values and practices.
The author, David Scott, has an interview that is a great exposure: < >
The book came to us as a tip from an intern who attended a course at University of Wisconsin, where the book is an MBA text. In the realm of risk, unmanaged possibilities become probabilities –Read the book BEFORE you suffer a bad outcome or, worse, propagate one.
One of my clients reports seeing this issue but the sad part is the URL was spelled correctly but may be a little slow in responding. The google message points them to a site named cayouthsports.com.
In the toolbar setup section I told the client to turn off the Provide Suggestion on Error feature and the issue stopped.
Now we seem to have the big 3 Microsoft, Oracle, and Google who are going to tell us how the world should be run.