Denying Google info about our sites - Can it be done?

[diberry]

I have stopped using Analytics, Adwords/Adsense, WMT and any other Google product that could allow them to track my traffic and stats at all. But tedster informed me in another thread that I would also need to block all Chrome users, since that browser sends info to Google. And that even if I did that, there was a good chance some ISPs sell info to Google.

I still think removing the Google products denies them some specifics, which is better than nothing. But are there more aggressive ways we could deny Google info on our sites, or try to distort the info they're getting?

[tedster]

Here's one other bit of information - about WMT. That's the one place where Google is giving you something that they already have anyway. The only thing you give them is an email address, and then the data that they ALREADY have is available to you.

For example, how else will you know how many organic impressions your domain gets in Google Search for a query term - and that gives you your organic CTR? Or your average ranking on a term - and you know how volatile Google can be across various geographies.)

So I don't advise avoiding WMT, that's just like cutting off your own nose - I say TAKE THIS PARTICULAR FREEBIE!

[mrguy]

I agree with Tedster if you are a brand or don't run affiliate sites. Using Google's free tools probably won't hurt you and can in fact be very helpful.

However in my opinion and own experience, if you are running a network of affiliate sites, the last thing you want to do is use Google tools.

[Sgt_Kickaxe]

Diberry, Google uses ALL available methods of recording data and saves it all, permanently. Some services, like GWT as tedster points out, are beneficial (for now). However, GWT requires you to log in and when you do you provide your current IP that is matched against all of the beacons you were recorded by while online, and some of those methods you'd never realize are there.

example: Do you have firefox? If so, have you bookmarked ANY Google service (search, adsense, gmail etc)? I'm not talking about the google toolbar here though it records too, I mean actual bookmarks.

If so the bookmark loads the Google favicon from a Google server for every page you visit online thus giving Google a complete map with datestamps of every url you visited(IP+URL+Datestamp+who knows what else).

Mozilla is aware of the loading of favicons as some have complained they take too much room. The solution posted on the Mozilla site suggests a css method of removing them however that method does not stop them from being called. There is currently no solution provided by Mozilla to stop this. (edit: besides suggesting you delete bookmarks?!?)

Solution: Add your Google links to a redirect page and host it on your own server and then bookmark your own server. That way firefox will attempt to load the favicon from YOUR server, at least for now until someone makes firefox follow the redirect. This isn't a Google only issue, it's a potential problem with every site you have bookmarked. Bonus: This solution lets you turn the tables on data gatherers because you have access to your server records to see who is trying to gather data from your bookmarks.

Citation: The Mozilla site has a page detailing active ways in which your browser may be contacting other sites on the web and on their list it mentions bookmarks being reloaded per page load, including favicon hosted directly from its source. (live bookmarks updating)

Useful official link on How to stop Firefox from automatically making connections without my permission which mentions the live bookmark updating described above and more: [support.mozilla.org...]

[HermanMunster]

@Sgt_Kickaxe: The Live Bookmarks (with capitals) that Mozilla is referring to on that page are RSS feed subscriptions - which need to reload to stay updated - not standard browser bookmarks.

This would bother me if it is true, and I read your post about it on the other forum, but I couldn't duplicate your results in my own logs. I have my own site in my bookmarks toolbar and I see no indication that my browsing elsewhere (or anyone else's) is showing up in my server logs due to the favicon being reloaded in Firefox with every page load.

I'm not an expert on the subject by any means, but I did do some reading and from what I found it looks like there was a similar problem when favicons were first introduced in Internet Explorer, but it was dealt with and is not an issue in newer browsers. The favicons are only supposed to reload when you re-visit a page.

I'm not disputing your experience, but I would be interested in seeing this verified somehow. In my searches I didn't find any mention of this problem elsewhere, but maybe I missed something.

[diberry]

@Tedster, I had wondered if that was the case with WMT. I find what @Sgt_Kickaxe is saying interesting too - that just the login gives them *some* info. I'm am currently using WMT just for my dinged site, but I'm not finding it that helpful - probably because I don't know what to look for, but maybe also because I haven't been penalized. The Penguin algo just doesn't rate my pages that high (and as I've mentioned elsewhere, I kind of agree with it), and I think I'm learning more from watching my analytics package.

@@Sgt_Kickaxe, I actually don't use bookmarks because they used to slow Firefox down, and I just got used to typing in URLs. Now I type every URL into my Bing search window to give Bing as much info as I can (the enemy of my enemy is my friend, for now?). Even so, I should look further into what you're talking about with Firefox revealing stuff to Google.

I used to have a homepage I stored on one of my servers with scripted links to thinks like Google services. Do you know whether that's superior to typing it into Bing and going from there?

[netmeg]

I would be afraid that, once going down this road, it would be more time and trouble than it's worth to try to block and keep blocked every little interaction with Google.

[diberry]

@netmeg, I have a feeling that will be the case, too. I just wanted to see if anyone knows how it could be done, and from there try to assess whether it's worth doing.