Google is in the process of replacing direct website links with its own URLs, such as ‘search.app’ and ‘share.google’, when articles are shared directly from the Discover feed. This new approach includes a message detailing the article’s title, source, and a note stating “Shared via Google.” Additionally, rich previews of the articles are generally preserved. This change is part of the Google app’s version 16.12.40.sa.arm64 and seems to aim at gathering data on content sharing, similar to the practices employed by platforms like X and Apple.
Interestingly, this alteration does not affect sharing after opening an article in a Chrome Custom Tab. About five months after Google began unveiling a refreshed Discover feed that redesigned the share article icon, the tech giant has implemented changes significantly modifying how shared articles are presented to recipients. With this new update, websites are now replaced with Google’s alternative links, visible within both the launcher and Google app feeds. This update follows recent tests of a full-width layout for articles in the Discover feed.
Notably, the new shortened links facilitate sharing by minimizing long addresses, which can be cumbersome. However, they may create some confusion initially since recipients may not be familiar with the new ‘search.app’ and ‘share.google’ formats. To alleviate this, shared links will include an editable message that explains what the article is about. It is essential to highlight that sharing links through the Discover feed does not impact how links are shared when tapping articles opened in a Chrome Custom Tab—those will continue to use the original website URLs.
This shift to link shorteners aligns with Google’s goal of collecting data and insights about user interactions with shared content, in a manner similar to how other platforms operate.
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