Google SERPs: Now With more JavaScript

Update April 28 2009
It is working again! The cmd + mouse click opens in a new tab again. Thanks Google!

Original story ->

For years Google tracked your clicks on the search results page. Just for better results, of course.
And for a few days now I am getting an ugly “improvement”:
The “next page” and “previous page” links are also javascriptified and the URL has changed as well. Philipp from Blogoscoped sees it as well.

The new URL for the SERPs page is now

http://www.google.com/#q=integration+server&hl=en&safe=active&sa=N&fp=rIBnr-8AheY

instead of something like

http://www.google.com/search?q=integration+server&hl=en&safe=active&start=0&sa=N

No big difference here. BUT the problem I have with the new way links are handled is, that link can no longer being opened in a new tab by clicking cmd + left mouse.

Google now calls this by each “mousedown” on the URL title

return rwt(this,”,”,’res’,’1′,’IDENTIFIER1′,’&sig2=IDENTIFIER2′)

function(a,d,e,g,h,f,i,j) {
    try {
        if(a===window) {
            a=window.event.srcElement;
            while(a)
                if(a.href) { 
                    break;
                    a=a.parentNode
                }
        }
        var b=encodeURIComponent||escape,c=a.href.split("#"),k=["/url?sa=t",d?"&oi="+b(d):"",e?"&
cad="+b(e):"","&ct=",b(g||"res"),"&cd=",b(h),"&url=",b(c[0]).replace(/\+/g,"%2B"),"&
ei=","ogPvScHgNZOGsAb0yeX2Bg",f?"&usg="+f:"",i,c[1]?"#"+c[1]:""].join("");
    a.href=k;
    a.onmousedown=""
    } catch(l) { }
    
    return true
};

I think Google should allow a way to offer opening a link in an new tab with the keyboard again.

I am not giving a Software Engineering comment on this “function(a,d,e,g,h,f,i,j)“. Sure, its faster to transfer an ‘a’-character then a meaningful name…