Google hijacking 404 error pages

February 11th, 2008 • Related • Filed Under

This morning I installed the Google Toolbar beta version on one of my computers and my oh my - there is something that can have huge impact to many webmasters. Google grabs the 404 error code returned to the web browser in certain situations and instead of displaying the 404 error page of the website you are on, it creates a custom 404 error page - made by Google. The “new” 404 error page ‘conveniently’ includes a Google search box and if used by a visitor will drive the visitor away from your website. Even worse - the search box is pre-populated with data from the initial URL query on your website. Imagine a situation where kind of sensitive data is send to Google that way. Even normal data would make it to Google that way and we all know what Google does with data. For me as a webmaster this is a major intrusion into my own intellectual property. My normal 404 error page is effectively disabled by the Google Toolbar. This is bad.

There Are 45 Responses So Far. »

  1. Comment by Joey on 12 February 2008:

    How my application handles your 404 response is my business, not yours.

  2. Comment by Xirium on 12 February 2008:

    A similar scenario was noted by GoogleWatch ( http://www.google-watch.org/toolbar.html ) on Sun 20 Feb 2005.

  3. Pingback by Is Google Toolbar Hijacking 404 Pages? : Codswallop on 12 February 2008:

    [...] I logged in this morning to see a message from Wendy pointing me at this article. [...]

  4. Pingback by New Google Toolbar Beta Hijacks 404 Pages? on 12 February 2008:

    [...] (via Chris Garrett, image credit SEOker) [...]

  5. Comment by impuLsive on 12 February 2008:

    Good catch.

  6. Pingback by SEOKER: Google hijacking 404 error pages at Conceptualist.com, By Sahar Sarid on 12 February 2008:

    [...] news for the internet, real bad. Via SEOKER.Com: This morning I installed the Google Toolbar beta version on one of my computers and my oh my - [...]

  7. Pingback by SEOKER: Google hijacking 404 error pages - Domainly on 12 February 2008:

    [...] news for the internet, real bad. Via SEOKER.Com: This morning I installed the Google Toolbar beta version on one of my computers and my oh my - [...]

  8. Pingback by No evil ha ha - It’s My Life on 12 February 2008:

    [...] the privacy issue and now this [...]

  9. Pingback by Bb's RealTech | Google is the new Cloverfield Monster on 12 February 2008:

    [...] Oh, the horror! Google hijacks 404 pages! [...]

  10. Pingback by Google toolbar realizando hijack de paginas 404 « Nataniel. Notas sobre as TIC on 12 February 2008:

    [...] um erro de acesso a um determinado site. Pois bem, a ultima actualização do Google Toolbar, faz hijack nestas paginas e [...]

  11. Pingback by Ajax Girl » Blog Archive » New Google Toolbar Beta Hijacks 404 Pages? on 12 February 2008:

    [...] (via Chris Garrett, image credit SEOker) [...]

  12. Pingback by Google Takes a (404) Page from OpenDNS’s Book| Zoli’s Blog on 12 February 2008:

    [...] brouhaha this morning over the fact that Google’s Toolbar “hijacks” 404 error pages and displays their own promo [...]

  13. Pingback by Google Toolbar swapping 404 pages - WebProNews Blog on 12 February 2008:

    [...] Seoker blog witnessed something disturbing after adding the beta of the Google Toolbar to a [...]

  14. Pingback by TechCrunch Japanese ????? » ???Google Toolbar?404???????????? on 12 February 2008:

    [...] ?via Chris Garrett ???? SEOker? [...]

  15. Pingback by TechCrunch Japanese ????? » ???Google Toolbar?404???????????? on 12 February 2008:

    [...] ?via Chris Garrett ???? SEOker? [...]

  16. Pingback by Uh Oh. Google Search Bar Hijacking Server Error Pages! on 12 February 2008:

    [...] Read More [...]

  17. Pingback by Klaut Google zukünftig den Traffic von 404er Fehlerseiten? - Adult Webmaster Blog on 12 February 2008:

    [...] Anscheinend scheint es Google mit dem Motto “do no evil” nicht mehr ganz so ernst zu nehmen. Okay, damit erzähle ich ja nichts neues, aber das, was die neue Google Toolbar beta veranstaltet, schlägt dem Faß doch glatt den Boden aus. Anscheinend hijackt die Toolbar die 404er Errors und zeigt eine Site von Google an, die dem User zwar eine Hilfestellung bietet, aber dennoch auf die Google eigene Suche verlinkt und so Google Geld bringt. Besonders im Adult-Business ist mit 404ern einiges an Geld zu verdienen und wohl jeder Webmaster möchte selbst darüber entscheiden können, was mit seinem Traffic, egal ob 404 oder nicht, geschieht. Ich kann das gerade nicht nachvollziehen, weil es die Toolbar aktuell wohl nur für den IE gibt. Sollte sich das jedoch bestätigen, wäre das ein sehr starkes Stück und Google keinen Deut besser als andere Spy- und Malware Klitschen. via Seoker [...]

  18. Comment by Matt Cutts on 12 February 2008:

    This is not new at all. We wrote about this specific issue on the Google webmaster blog a couple months ago to let people know about it
    http://googlewebmastercentral.blogspot.com/2007/12/fyi-on-google-toolbars-latest-features.html

  19. Comment by Matt Cutts on 12 February 2008:

    And in the blog post, it specifically says
    “404 errors with default error pages
    When a visitor tries to reach your content with an invalid URL and your server returns a short, default error message (less than 512 bytes), the Toolbar will suggest an alternate URL to the visitor. If this is a general problem in your website, you will see these URLs also listed in the crawl errors section of your Webmaster Tools account.

    If you choose to set up a custom error page, make sure it returns result code 404. The content of the 404 page can help your visitors to understand that they tried to reach a missing page and provides suggestions regarding how to find the content they were looking for. When a site displays a custom error page the Toolbar will no longer provide suggestions for that site. You can check the behavior of the Toolbar by visiting an invalid URL on your site with the Google Toolbar installed.”

  20. Comment by SEOker on 12 February 2008:

    Actually I do have a custom 404.shtml on my domain that redirects the visitor via meta-refresh to the home page. The toolbar feature still decided to take over my 404

    http://www.webhostingresourcekit.com/404.shtml

    In a browser without the toolbar installed the redirect works, in a browser with the new toolbar Google takes over my 404 page instead. That ain’t right in my opinion.

  21. Pingback by Google übertreibt es mit der kommenden Toolbar…. » Computer, Software und Internet News - Comaniy.biz on 12 February 2008:

    [...] wie ich gerade gelesen habe klaut die geplante Version der Google Toolbar demnächst auch noch die 404-Fehler Seiten. Das geht in Meinen Augen wirklich zu weit. Schließlich [...]

  22. Pingback by Seoker.com » Update on the Google 404 Page Hijack on 12 February 2008:

    [...] I am getting quite some feedback on my posting about Google hijacking 404 error pages, here is a quick update. Some visitors pointed out that if a 404 error page is in place Google will [...]

  23. Pingback by Rumor: Google Likes Your 404 - Reality: Not Really : The Last Podcast on 12 February 2008:

    [...] to a number of reports today, Google’s latest beta of the Google Toolbar hijacks 404 pages and reroutes them to a Google [...]

  24. Pingback by The Daily Poll: Is Google in the Wrong for “Hijacking” 404 Pages? on 12 February 2008:

    [...] in the webmaster world today over a new feature in the latest beta of Google Toolbar. According to Seoker.com, when a user with the toolbar installed goes to a 404 page, they see a Google page with a [...]

  25. Pingback by A Warm Cup of Link Love | eMoms at Home on 12 February 2008:

    [...] page to help people find what they are looking for if they used a broken link to get to your site, Google has taken the liberty of hijacking it and displaying their own 404 page that serves up their own results… and their own [...]

  26. Comment by yaph on 12 February 2008:

    One more reason not to use the Google toolbar.

  27. Pingback by Do No Evil | Bronte Media on 12 February 2008:

    [...] Think Google are bad for creating friendly 404 pages? [...]

  28. Pingback by agenturblog.de - Google: Finger weg von unseren 404 Seiten! on 12 February 2008:

    [...] 5.0 beta). Diese bringt unter der Haube ein neues Feature mit, dass selbst Matt Cutts zu einem eher zurückrudernden neuen Kommentar [...]

  29. Comment by Joey on 12 February 2008:

    I’d much rather be sent to a search page than see a flash for 2 seconds (less with loading time) and then go back to the homepage. Google > crap 404 redirects.

  30. Pingback by The Daily Poll: Is Google in the Wrong for “Hijacking” 404 Pages? : Tech Web Daily on 12 February 2008:

    [...] in the webmaster world today over a new feature in the latest beta of Google Toolbar. According to Seoker.com, when a user with the toolbar installed goes to a 404 page, they see a Google page with a [...]

  31. Pingback by Stöckchen:die eigene Error 404 verhindert, dass Google Dir Deine Besucher wegnimmt on 12 February 2008:

    [...] So kam ich auf die Idee eines Stöckchens. Eine Blog Parade kam mir denn doch zu groß dafür vor. Wenn ganz, ganz viele mitmachen, hat die neue Google Toolbar keine Chance Dir Deinen Traffic zu klauen, wie Oliver# es formulierte und Seoker spricht gar von Hijacking. [...]

  32. Comment by noonespecial on 12 February 2008:

    Umm, as a webmaster, don’t 404. 200 instead and then present your not found page. Problem solved, no?

  33. Pingback by AOWS » Nos quieren robar el 404 on 12 February 2008:

    [...] + Google hijacking 404 error pages [...]

  34. Comment by xxdesmus on 12 February 2008:

    Typical Google, being douche bags like normal.

  35. Pingback by Google se aprovecha de los errores 404 | Mangas Verdes on 12 February 2008:

    [...] y el clásico formulario de búsqueda que ha hecho famosa a la compañía. La gente de Google (Matt Cutts, por ejemplo) aseguran que se trata de un buen servicio, tanto para el usuario como para el webmaster, ya que al [...]

  36. Pingback by ¿Google interfiriendo con las páginas de error 404 con su toolbar? - FayerWayer on 12 February 2008:

    [...] Google hijacking 404 error pages (Seoker vía [...]

  37. Comment by Cyndy Aleo-Carreira on 12 February 2008:

    Hey, it’s better than the hijacking done by Time Warner on my broadband, which looks pretty much the same as any domain squatter with AdSense

  38. Pingback by Google saca partido de los errores 404 | Mangas Verdes on 12 February 2008:

    [...] polémica a la vista. Numerosos webmasters anglosajones han puesto ya el grito en el cielo por una nueva funcionalidad en la actualizada Barra [...]

  39. Comment by Michael Pate on 12 February 2008:

    http://www.404-error-page.com/404-error-page-too-short-problem-microsoft-ie.shtml … Microsoft has been doing this sort of thing for years

  40. Pingback by Google hijacking 404 error pages : Broerse Blog on 12 February 2008:

    [...] don’t use toolbars so what the heck do I care. A link [...]

  41. Pingback by The Daily Poll: Is Google in the Wrong for “Hijacking” 404 Pages? : New Web 2.0 Magazine on 13 February 2008:

    [...] in the webmaster world today over a new feature in the latest beta of Google Toolbar. According to Seoker.com, when a user with the toolbar installed goes to a 404 page, they see a Google page with a [...]

  42. Comment by Car Specs on 14 February 2008:

    [37] So is doing my provider, Embarq. Just another rip from them…

  43. Pingback by google toolbar hijacking 404 pages - BlackHatCrew - Elite Webmaster SEO Forum on 17 February 2008:

    [...] My normal 404 error page is effectively disabled by the Google Toolbar. This is bad. source: Seoker.com ? Google hijacking 404 error pages and an update: Seoker.com ? Update on the Google 404 Page Hijack __________________ My Ratios :: [...]

  44. Pingback by Google Toolbar hijackt 404 Seiten on 18 February 2008:

    [...] aus Seoker, cogniview und [...]

  45. Pingback by Google hijacking 404 error pages : An Information Technology Perspective on 26 February 2008:

    [...] Source [...]

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