Feb 13
Google wants your 404 pages
404 is the dreaded http error code that plagues the Internet from it’s birth. If you just came online today for the first time, a 404 is a very simple way to let you know that you’ve made a mistake. All webservers implement this and will most likely display an error message saying that the page you’re trying to reach doesn’t exist.
In the early days of the Internet, web browsers where very basic and simple, and would display http error codes directly to the user. Most recent web browsers have fancy ways to let you know that you have fat fingers and will display a nice dialog offering you choices in what to do to get to the page you wanted.
Most recent webservers will let it’s admin configure a custom error page, that’s supposed to be more user friendly and informative, and this was the pinnacle of development in error pages.
This is the point at where Google enters the scene of the odd world of http error codes. Some Google labs engineer must have thought of using such dumb pages in a way to increase big G’s stream of cash, by slapping a custom page of their own onto users of Google toolbar.
Such custom page offers help to guide the lost web user by using Google web search, and thus showing some more ads.
There’s a big commotion about this all over the tech blogsphere. Users are fond of their error pages and become restless whenever someone tries to show them another version of the sad true, you’ve mad a typo.
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I have not seen any of the new 404 pages yet myself. But I can understand the reactions. We do love our patterns, and when someone decides to change it, especially to give us instructions, we get upset.
I can’t remember exactly, but I don’t think Google will allow webmasters to monetize their 404 pages, and now they are doing it? Thanks for the heads up, I’ll have to dig this one a little deeper…
I’m not surprised that people are flipping out about this intrusion. If you have your own domain and hosting, you can customize your error pages — programs like Affiliate Landmine are based on the technique of monetizing error pages with your own products or affiliate promotions. I sure wouldn’t slap up Adsense on an error page, because you’re not going to be getting thousands of page views, so it would be back to being wasted marketing space.
I’ve not got promotions up on Reward Rebel blog’s error pages, but have on those of niche websites I own. So I too am not happy with this latest development in Google’s attempt to dominate cyberspace;-D
I am pretty proud of my 404 page and don’t appreciate anybody trying to hijack users from seeing it. I have a number of people that attempt to get to it on purpose.
I seriously doubt that Google is going after the missing pages on existing websites, at least I hope they aren’t.
What I have seen though, is agreements made with some ISP’s to display a custom search page when a user types in a non-existing domain (these are technically not 404’s). Verizon has contracted with Yahoo to do this to their customers. Verizon makes a cut of anything Yahoo makes from ads on the search pages.
Maybe this is what Google is trying to do. Why should only Yahoo be allowed to make money this way?
This is also not related to any toolbar the user has installed on their pc. This is at the ISP’s dns server level. You would have to use some other dns service other than your ISP’s in order to get around it and avoid being redirected to a search page.
I am not particularly fond of this redirection stuff, but if ISP’s are going to do it any way, they at least should give you the best search engine, and there is no denying that would be Google.