Why does Firefox add tracking parameters to Google searches?
It appears to add fewer than other browsers, but I'm not quite sure why it adds "?channel=fenc&client=firefox-b-1-d" to searches when only the q/query parameter is needed for them to work.
View original on fedia.io
Google pays Mozilla to be the default search engine.
My guess is that this is part of that deal, so they can track its effects: this way Google can see how many Firefox users arrive at a Google search through that search integration (as opposed to via other paths like clicking links or entering the URL manually).
Probably in order for Google to know how much of its searches come from being the default search engine in Firefox clients. It is probably part of their deal, and would logically affect the amount of money Google is paying Mozilla to be the default.
Thanks!
Update: I have figured out how to remove the client parameter, though I'm still not sure why the channel parameter is there. Any idea what that's about?
Afaik it’s so google pays mozilla for your search. It only adds that when you search using the address/search bar
As far as I know, these parameters are added by Google.
They are part of the built-in search URL for Google:
https://searchfox.org/mozilla-central/source/browser/components/search/extensions/google/_locales/en/messages.json
I don't know why channel shows as "fenc", though; I have no idea where that is coming from.
I'm curious about this too. Are you using the "Strict" mode for the tracking protection in the settings?
I am not at the moment, maybe I should try that.
Probably because Google has various variants of its pages it can present based on what each browser can or cannot render, if I had to guess.
Not likely, you'd typical just use the user agent string for that.
Oh hrm, good point. I don't know then. >.>