If you want to email or post a link to a Google search, it’s a pain, because they’re pretty long. Here’s an example:
http://www.google.com/search?q=some+terms+here&ie=utf-8&oe=utf-8&aq=t&rls=org.mozilla:en-US:official&client=firefox-a
But most of that isn’t necessary, here’s what it could look like:
http://google.com/search?q=some+terms+here
To create your own version, just take the original search URL, look for the part after "search?" that starts with "q=". Keep everything up to the next & symbol, and delete everything else. The www starting part can also be safely removed to save a bit more space.
You can also create your own simple queries by starting them with starting with http://google.com/search?q= and adding your terms, separating them with + signs.
Amazon is another offender; here’s a full URL for a book:
http://www.amazon.com/Norstrilia-Cordwainer-Smith/dp/1596872578/ref=pd_bbs_sr_1/102-4304635-3614560?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1181107054&sr=8-1
and here’s all you need to get to the same product page:
http://amazon.com/dp/1596872578
The important part here is the dp/ and the following number, you can delete everything else. This works with everything from books to computers on Amazon.
Once you get the hang of URL formats, it’s easy to try on your favorite sites. Try to spot the important parts, and experiment with deleting the other bits. The URL components are often separated by & signs, and you can usually delete the www part to save a few more characters.
Who needs tinyurl.com? 🙂
Pete Warden's blog 