The Search Protocol Reference at http://code.google.com/apis/searchappliance/documentation/52/xml_reference.html doesn't mention anything about fp param. Yet, it seems to show up sometimes. Does anyone know what it does?
A:
No, what they do is they add a unique ID to the url so you are protected from the exploit of checking if a page is visited in the past. This way a spy website can not see if you have searched for a certain keyword combination in the past using the javascript exploit.
Another reason why Google is doing this, is because they can spy on you even more. If you send a result page to someone and they then visit the same link with the same id... Google knows you are connected to that person. They will screw you over and break every part of your privacy, and they they can do that by just saying they have a "dont be evil" policy.
Jochem
2010-08-30 14:29:23