Click-tracking blocker: Privacy preservation by disabling search engines´ click-tracking

On a search engine result page, if a user clicks on any one of those contained URL links, whether it is a search result website (called organic link), or a search related advertisement link (called sponsored link), the user´s click action will be tracked by returning back to the search engine first and then redirecting to the corresponding target website. This click-tracking is conducted by all three major search engines: Google, Bing, and Yahoo (although Bing does not track clicks on organic links). Many people are not aware that their clicks are tracked by search companies; and this click-tracking imposes a big privacy threat for privacy-concerned users. After discovering that all organic and sponsored links in a search engine result page actually encode the real URLs of target websites with simple encoding techniques, we have developed a browser plug-in program called Click-Tracking Blocker that modifies all URLs on search result pages once they are retrieved by users´ computers, such that search engines will no longer be able to track users´ clicking behaviors on both organic links and sponsored links. Click-Tracking Blocker can be readily and easily installed by end users to protect their privacy, works for all three major search engines, and does not affect users´ search experience.