[Tickets #10751] Automatically strip utm_* (urchin/google analytics) parameters from bookmarked URLs

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Ticket URL: http://bugs.horde.org/ticket/10751
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  Ticket             | 10751
  Created By         | Chuck Hagenbuch <chuck at horde.org>
  Summary            | Automatically strip utm_* (urchin/google analytics)
                     | parameters from bookmarked URLs
  Queue              | Trean
  Type               | Enhancement
  State              | New
  Priority           | 1. Low
  Milestone          |
  Patch              |
  Owners             |
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Chuck Hagenbuch <chuck at horde.org> (2011-11-12 23:37) wrote:

Same as http://blog.pinboard.in/2011/06/war_on_urchin/

War on Urchin!

If you've ever clicked an article in your RSS reader or Twitter  
stream, you may have noticed an unsightly query string clinging to the  
end of your URL like shit to a sneaker:

http://www.example.com/chromebook-series-5-review/?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+weblogsinc%2Fengadget+%28Engadget%29
These parameters are used for tracking by a Google product called  
Urchin. There are five of them (term, campaign, media, source and  
content) and they are just another one of the malicious effects of URL  
shortening. When everyone is passing around shortened links, it's  
easier to add this kind of cruft to the fully-expanded URLs without  
anyone caring much.

Today I finally started stripping utm_* query parameters from all URLs  
arriving in Pinboard. They create needless URL bloat, erode user  
privacy, make it more difficult to identify duplicate content, and  
benefit ad publishers at the expense of everyone else. Out they go!

It will take me a little while to make this change retroactive, so  
some users may see what appear to be duplicate bookmarks show up in  
their account. Please rest assured that these will disappear as I work  
my way backwards through the database.

Soon: death to URL shorteners!