Google SERPS redirects fail if user doesn't accept cookies

[graeme_p]

I block all cookies by default.

This now causes a problem with Google. Some links in the SERPS are redirected. With cookies off, the redirects fail: the redirect is actually an blank HTMl page containing a redirect Javascript.

However, turning OFF Javascript makes it work again: there is a meta http-equiv refresh inside a no-script tag.

The end result is that a small number of users will have links in the SERPS that do not work. It may matter for sites with lots of privacy conscious users who block cookies.

[tedster]

Thanks for the observation. The links that go through redirects (direct scripts, I believe) are often Sitelinks, correct?

[graeme_p]

Sitelinks usually (always?) go through redirects, as do the green breadcrumb links that sometimes replace the URL, but Google sometimes (randomly?) redirects some links on the main SERPS titles as well.

One good things I noticed as a result of this is that everything I want from Google search (e.g. "more search tools") now works perfectly without Javascript.

[levo]

A similiar issue exists for Google Publisher Tag, might be related;

"Clickthrough doesn't work in email applications if a cookie can't be set or cookies are disabled (such as in Microsoft Outlook or offline email clients). We are working to resolve this issue." [support.google.com...]

They have been "working" on it since at least a month...

[enigma1]

Using noscript for FF, will block the google redirect. I prefer to use it because it's hard to tell from the search results the landing URL. It's hidden in the google's link parameters and I don't find it too secure to have the redirect by default on.

I haven't seen a problem having cookies on/off.

[zeus]

[webmasterworld.com...] here we have the topic