First, just a heads-up that if you don't analyze your own traffic logs, use Urchin web analytics software, or develop web analytics software, you probably don't need to read this post. We're writing this for the most geeky among us, because Google Analytics will not be affected by this information. On the other hand, we do want to let you know about some changes to Google search that are coming down the pike, before you start seeing (potentially) alarming headlines.http://www.google.com/search?hl=en&q=flowers&btnG=Google+Search http://www.google.com/url?sa=t&source=web&ct=res&cd=7&url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.example.com%2Fmypage.htm&ei=0SjdSa-1N5O8M_qW8dQN&rct=j&q=flowers&usg=AFQjCNHJXSUh7Vw7oubPaO3tZOzz-F-u_w&sig2=X8uCFh6IoPtnwmvGMULQfw /search? " the URL contains a "/url? ". If you run your own analyses, be sure that you do not depend on the "/search?" portion of the URL to determine if a visit started with an organic search click. Google Analytics does not depend on the "/search?" string in the referrer, so users of Google Analytics will not notice a difference in their reports, but other analytics packages may need to adapt to this change in our referrer string to maintain accurate reports.Posted by Brett Crosby, Google Analytics Team
