Google's Search Result Changes Break Safety Trick for Spotting Fake Links

Google has made changes to its search results that have broken a long-standing safety trick for spotting fake links. For years, users could hover over a link and see where it really goes by looking at the bottom corner of their screen.

However, some search results now pass through a Google redirect first, making this trick useless on many results. When a user hovers over one of these redirected links, they will only see a scrambled Google address, not the actual destination.

This change has been implemented as part of Google's efforts to combat 'evolving forms of abuse,' but it seems to have inadvertently caught innocent users in its crossfire.