Google abandons URL shortening in Chrome | Computerworld

Google has called quits on the notion of truncating URLs in Chrome, according to a note from earlier this month in the Chromium project's ... CloseAd computerworld UNITEDSTATES UnitedStates Australia India Netherlands NewZealand UnitedKingdom Welcome!HerearethelatestInsiderstories. HowApple'siCloudPrivateRelaycreatesashadowITnightmare GoogleKeepcheatsheet:Howtogetstarted Androidvs.iOSintheenterprise:ITnowhasarealchoice Gmailvs.Outlook:Whichworksbetterforbusiness? MoreInsider SignOut SignIn Register SignOut SignIn Register NEWInsiderPRO LearnMore LatestInsider MSRTvs.MSERT:WhentouseeachWindowsmalwaretool HowAppleischangingMDMiniOS15 MicrosoftOneDrivecheatsheet FromMDMtoUEMinadecade:Whatwe’velearnedaboutenterprisemobilemanagement NEWFROMIDG LearnMore Welcome!CheckoutthelatestInsiderstorieshere. SignOut SignIn Register MorefromtheIDGNetwork AboutUs| Contact| Reprints| PrivacyPolicy| CookiePolicy| MemberPreferences| Advertising| IDGCareers| AdChoices| E-commerceLinks| California:DoNotSellMyPersonalInfo| FollowUs × Close Fastforward:What'scominginfutureChromeupdates? RELATEDSTORIES GoogletotrialdrasticallytruncatedURLsinChromeinanti-phishingmove SPONSOREDBYAdvertiserNameHere Sponsoreditemtitlegoeshereasdesigned What'sinthelatestChromeupdate?Fasterphishingsitewarnings,moreActions What'sinthelatestEdgeupdate?Verticaltabsforall,andfasterstart-ups GettyImages GooglehascalledquitsonthenotionoftruncatingURLsinChrome,accordingtoanotefromearlierthismonthintheChromiumproject'sbugdatabase."Thisexperimentdidn'tmoverelevantsecuritymetrics,sowe'renotgoingtolaunchit,"EmilyStark,astaffsoftwareengineerontheChrometeam,wroteintheJune7entry.AndroidPolice firstreportedonStark'snoteJune10. Stark'snotification,whichreferredtowhatChromium—theopen-sourceprojectthatproducescodeforChromeandseveralotherbrowsers,includingMicrosoft'sEdge—calledthe"simplifieddomain"experiment,putaendtoeffortsdesignedtoabridgewhatshowsinthebrowser'saddressbar.InAugust2020,Googleannounced—Starkwasoneofthetrioofengineerswhopennedthedeclaration—thatitwouldruntrialswithsomeChromeusersthatwouldhidemuchofasite'sURL.Theidea,Googlesaid,wastofoilphishingattacks."Ourgoalistounderstand—throughreal-worldusage—whethershowingURLsthiswayhelpsusersrealizethey'revisitingamaliciouswebsite,andprotectsthemfromphishingandsocialengineeringattacks,"theengineerssaid.ThetrialsbeganwithChrome86,whichlaunchedinearlyOctober2020. RatherthandisplayallofanURL,ChromeinsteadcondensedittowhatGooglecalledthe"registrabledomain,"oritsmostsignificantpart.IfthefullURLfor,say,aComputerworldarticlewashttps://www.computerworld.com/article/3082024/google-android-chrome-os-flip-flops.html,thentheregistrabledomain—andtheonlybitthatwouldshowintheaddressbar—wouldbecomputerworld.com.Bydoingso,thethinkingwent,URLsthattriedtoobfuscatethedomainbypaddingtheactualaddresswith—stickingtothesameexample— computerworld.comelsewhereinalongstring,wouldbeexposed.ThroughoutthevariousversionsofChromefrom86on,userscouldenabletheURLshorteningthroughsettingsinthechrome://flagsoptionpageiftheyhadnotbeenselectedbyGoogletoparticipatebutwantedtoseethechangeforthemselves.Perhapsnotsurprisingly,themodificationwasdamnedbysome;long-timeusersofanybrowseroftentakeuptorchesandpitchforkswheneveranylong-heldUI(userinterface)orUX(userexperience)elementisonthechangeorchoppingblock.AsofChrome91—whichlaunchedMay25—thebrowseronlydropsthehttps://fromtheURL,andtheoptionalsettingsatchrome://flagsnolongerexist.Otherbrowsers,notablyApple'sSafari,continuetousetheshort,domain-onlyURLsthatGooglehasnowspurned.Edge,however,neveradoptedthetestproducedbyChromium,andhascontinuedtoturnedoutfulladdresses(evenincludinghttps://). Related: Browsers Google Security SeniorReporterGreggKeizercoversWindows,Office,Apple/enterprise,webbrowsersandwebappsforComputerworld. Follow Copyright©2021IDGCommunications,Inc. 7inconvenienttruthsaboutthehybridworktrend ShopTechProductsatAmazon