Google, having removed the age-old, comfortable-like-an-old-pair-of-socks http:// from the beginning of URLs in Chrome’s address bar, is now trialing an even more drastic move: Killing off the URL entirely. In a new version of Chrome, the full URL vanishes from the address bar, instead replaced by an always-present “Search Google” box. This is obviously a play to drive more search traffic — but, as much as it pains me to say it, it’s probably a very good way of helping most users avoid phishing attacks. 

Google Chrome may eventually hide long URLs from the address bar. That is, if a recent update to Google’s experimental browser is any indication. A recent update to Chrome’s publicly available Canary browser added a feature that hides long URLs. Instead, when users view webpages, the browser only reveals the website name and domain, not the entire URL. If this sounds familiar, this is similar to the mobile version of Safari, which already hides the full URL in iOS 7 by default. In the Safari app, the address bar only displays the website name and domain, e.g. yahoo.com, not the entire URL— regardless of where on the website you navigate to. To view or select the full URL, users must tap the address bar.