Google Results, Changes In Their URL's?

Today and today only I am seeing our results in Google not being displayed as our straight URL. I am seeing them for the first time being displayed like they are at Yahoo. In sort of a redirect type URL. What, is Google worried about leaking PR... LOL!!! No, really... are they trying to count how many times people click on the result itself, tracking it some new way with this new URL I am seeing? My first clue was that my listing wasn't purple indicating I'd visited that link before. Which in of itself almost scared the pants off me. Then I saw my site, and relief followed immediately.

Here's the new URL's I'm seeing:
http://www.Google.com/urlsa=U&start=2&q=http://www.phoenixhomes.com/&e=9717

Anyone else seeing this on the DC's near you?

 

I've heard of this before - seems its only 'on occassion' and 'random'

 

I've never seen this.

How many years, months or weeks have you seen this on and off for?

 

I noticed it awhile ago, but I don't see it happen often.

 

I've seen this before too. I'm sure there's a thread on this somewhere.

 

Google can track clicks without using that method. (Although they probably use both from time to time to compare results).

If you inspect the HTML, you will see on all of the links: onmousedown="return clk(this,'res',1)"

clk is a function that calls an image that has the details of the click you have just performed. You never see the image, but Google is then able to track the number of clicks, and also the position of that click on the SERP.

 

I think its a mechanism which allows them to see if the update delivers more relevant results.

If they update and everyone is clicking on the first few results then their update has worked.
If people are clicking on results on page 8 then its back to the drawing board.

 

If you change some file name. Pls do not delete the old file, within which you can add a link to the new file name. In this way can google track quickly to your new file name.

for example:

http://www.freshes.com/polysaccharide.htm (new)
http://www.freshes.com/en/process/polysacc.htm (old)

 

I agree. Seen such results from time to time.

I started guessing, that Google counts outside visits.

But they only happen , as you said, randomly. No clue of when, how, when and where

 

Here's one...
http://forums.digitalpoint.com/showthread.php?t=17460

 

Yeah, they probably only do a really small sample. Otherwise they'd use up heaps of server resources just serving all the click track scripts. I mean a tracker needs at the very least to do either a file write or a db query. Imagine if they tracked every click from every user... millions of extra queries every minute/hour...

 

Thanks for all the input guys/gals! I knew this would be a good place to ask about this.

Have a good weekend everyone!