Google’s new links for iPhone users are not what they seem
Google search is headline news. Whether or not its search position is a monopoly is being argued in the courtroom as users watch on, uncertain as to what will change when all this ends. And while iPhone users may feel more on the sidelines than their Android counterparts, Google’s default position on their phones is central to those debates. Set against this backdrop, a new change has just been discovered that impacts those googling from their iPhones, and it will come as a surprise.
Per SERoundtable, Google’s Page Annotation addition to its iOS app means that “when you are browsing a web page in the Google App native browser, Google can ‘extract interesting entities from the webpage and highlight them in line.’ When you click on them, Google takes you to more search results.” The website owner has no control over these faked links, which are automatically applied.
The issue for those websites is clear cut, “this will lead to people going to your site, then Google injecting links on your site that will lead your website visits to Google Search.” And while websites can opt out of this change, it’s a clunky process that requires a form to be completed and then 30-days for the changes to be applied. Painful. “Like Google hasn’t taken enough away from you,” SERoundtable comments. “Now Google is taking users who are on your website and taking them to search. They will likely never find their way back to your website again.”
Google’s added iOS links
Injecting links into websites carries security and privacy risks. While one might trust the automated process behind the scenes and Google’s own security controls, it will be a concern that such links are automatically applied and take users away from the website they have elected to visit.
Clearly, the wider concern will be the control of the user journey and manipulating them into visiting sites without making a deliberate choice. Google’s response, per its support site, is that “words, topics, products, places, celebrity names, and other entities that are mentioned in a page might be highlighted as clickable annotations in the Google App browser for iOS. By clicking the annotation, the user will be navigated to the search page with the results for this annotation. Site owners can choose to opt out of this annotation feature by submitting the opt-out form. The Page Annotation feature triggered on your site will be disabled within 30 days after submitting the opt-out form. You only need to do this once.”
From a privacy perspective, your journey will then continue under Google’s control. Remember all this history is visible to Google and can be associated with your account. The more pertinent point at the moment though, as The Verge points out, is that “it seems like a curious move for a company embroiled in antitrust fights over both its search and advertising businesses.”
My advice is simple. If you’re using an iPhone and have concerns over security and certainly privacy, I would stick to a secure browser for your search and would not use Google’s app.