Google URLs changed?

[BenFox]

Is it just me or has Google totally changed the makeup of search URLs?

Just saw this as the first search in a session.

http://www.google.co.uk/webhp?sourceid=chrome-instant
&ix=heb&ie=UTF-8&ion=1#hl=en&output=search&sclient=psy-ab
&q=example%20search&pbx=1&oq=&aq=&aqi=&aql=&gs_sm=&gs_upl=
&fp=1a63dd651ba9306&ix=heb&ion=1&ix=heb&ion=1
&bav=on.2,or.r_gc.r_pw.r_qf.,cf.osb&fp=1a63dd651ba9306
&biw=1366&bih=643&ix=heb&ion=1


Earlier today they were much shorter (no example to hand).

[edited by: tedster at 9:35 pm (utc) on Feb 13, 2012]
[edit reason] workaround so the full URL displays [/edit]

[g1smd]

The search URL varies from browser to browser and OS to OS and whether you're logged in or not.
There's sometimes some incredibly long hexadecimal numbers in some parameters, presumably for tracking every click.

[Robert Charlton]

BenFox - Here's the url for a search for [testing] that I just tried on FF, not signed in, also on google.co.uk, with cookies flushed...

http://www.google.co.uk/#hl=en&cp=7&gs_id=16&xhr=t&q=testing&pf=p&sclient=psy-ab&source=hp&pbx=1
&oq=testing&aq=0&aqi=g4&aql=&gs_sm=&gs_upl=&bav=on.2,or.r_gc.r_pw.,cf.osb
&fp=aed547ad0aef82b&biw=1207&bih=785

I've noticed in the past year or two that Google had been been intermittently returning extremely long urls, and that they grew longer to include new queries when I refined or changed my search, so that the whole session history appeared to be kept in the url, even when I had search History turned off.

When I change my query now, though, to [testing again], the first query is updated, and some numbers are added, while others remain the same....

http://www.google.co.uk/#sclient=psy-ab&hl=en&source=hp&q=testing+again&pbx=1
&oq=testing+again&aq=f&aqi=g2g-v1g-j1&aql=&gs_sm=3&gs_upl=1224923l1227126l2l1227918l6l4l0l2l2l0l139l460l1.3l6l0
&bav=on.2,or.r_gc.r_pw.,cf.osb&fp=aed547ad0aef82b&biw=1207&bih=785

I should note that current URLs for google.com appear to be much the same in another browser, where I'm signed in, but with search history turned off. Haven't compared the fine details.

[g1smd]

One thing that annoys me immensly is this:

Do a search. Mouseover the title line of any result and it will show the URL of the page to be visited. Right click the link and open it in a new tab. Go back to the original tab and mouseover the link. Now it shows some huge long Google URL with multiple parameters, not the real URL for the page.