Conficio stated:
Quote:
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One remark about scripts (sh, pearl, etc.). They should not influence the results, because scripts usually do not interpret the JavaScript, like a browser does. Has anyone seen a script engine that does interpret JavaScript? As the search engines are blind for JS generated menus etc. so are scripting engines for this code. Anyone proofing me wrong?
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The JS contained in the Google pages actually invokes a script function when clicked which performs the following:
Code:
new Image()).src="/url?sa=T&start="+n+"&url="+escape(el.href);
On initial inspection this JS seems like it actually calls the server to serve an image. In fact an image is not called, but the server side script (
/url) does run.
This script would most likely pickup the URL values and store them in a db or a log file. For example, the "start" variable is the (ranking) number which the link appeared in the SERPs. Google could compile stats on how many position #2s are clicked or #3s are clicked, etc. Google would also record the URL sent in the href element to generate stats like how often has this URL or domain been visited through Google SERP clicks.
This technique has been used for years in many instances, one which is most common being the tracking of bulk email messages. In HTML format messages (sent by spammers or legits) you will notice in the more sophisticated messages there is usually an IMG tag that doesn't actually call an image, but has something like SRC="php_OR_asp_OR_cgi" as what would normally be the URL of the image.
This allows bulk mailers to track how many % of a campaign has been opened (or re-opened), how many instances of the message were forwarded and opened by others (and who'd forwarded to them) and with some smart CSS this technique can be adapted to track % of messages that were printed (signalling these are really hot prospects, triggering follow-up messages or phone contacts). Those evil spammers especially like this technique, as they can verify with great certainty if a mail account is active, as someone is actually opening the messages. SIBEBAR: to avoid this type of tracking, download your mail, disconnect from ISP and then read messages.
I suspect Google is only compiling data at this stage, but with a considerable amount of data collected from weeks/months of users clicking, Google could start to draw conclusions from the stats that only we eMarketeers would dream about having access to. How they eventually (or if) Google ever applies this data to anything useful remains to be seen.