Google Web Accelerator Returns

Google's controversial Web Accelerator application that is designed to lessen the time it takes to load Web pages has returned after a four-month hiatus. But the second revision of the application, which is still in beta, does not address concerns with the first release, webmasters say.

In order to speed up Web surfing, the tool automatically downloads URLs linked from the page a user is visiting. The concept is called "pre-fetching," and was also added as an optional feature in recent builds of Mozilla Firefox.

Google Web Accelerator takes pre-fetching one step further and works like proxy server, caching content so users don't have to deal with potentially slow Web servers or network problems. Google has placed servers in North America and Europe to ensure low latency when browsing.

However, the approach was heavily criticized this summer when users reported Web Accelerator was loading administrative links for editing or deleting content. In addition, members of Internet forums using the tool found themselves loading pages previously cached by other users - meaning they can view that user's account information and private messages.

Webmasters were forced to utilize a special HTML tag that detects pre-fetching to block access to Google Web Accelerator altogether.

Google quickly took the Web Accelerator application download offline, saying it had reached its maximum capacity of users. The company also said it would take webmaster concerns into consideration, and reiterated that the program was only in beta.

Now, Google Web Accelerator has returned as version 0.2, but site owners are crying foul once again. "It was evil enough the first time around, but this time it's downright scary," wrote David Heinemeier Hansson from 37signals, maker of an online application called Backpack that experienced problems with the initial release.

"In version 1.0, web masters at least had a fighting chance as the GWA identified its requests with a 'X-moz: prefetch' header," Hansson said. "Not so for version 2.0 of this virus. It ships with a brand new mutation: The header is gone! There's now no way to identify a pre-fetch from a regular request, which means that it’s no longer possible to block the GWA."

In a FAQ on its Web site, however, Google says it supports the prefetch header and downplays any potential risk by stating it does not fetch secure Web sites or URLs with query parameters in them. "Google Web Accelerator only prefetches links that should have no side effects," the company says.

Google Web Accelerator product manager Othman Laraki chalked up the missing header to a bug, which he said would be corrected immediately. "We started rolling out a fix last night and should be visible to all users by end of today," Laraki said.

Still, Hansson is not dropping his "evil" moniker for the service. "Now this naturally doesn't exonerate the vanilla evilness of the GWA concept, but its definitely a step in the right direction."

Google Web Accelerator 0.2 is available for download from FileForum.

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