Google has put on hold an experimental browser feature that hid the full URL of a website behind a button in the Chrome omnibar.
The “Origin Chip” aims to make web browsing less garish by masking the lengthy sprawl of characters most website addresses end up as behind a ‘chip’ only showing the hostname (e.g., ‘omgubuntu.co.uk‘). Clicking on the chip would reveal the full URL (e.g., ‘omgubuntu.co.uk/articletitle‘).
The feature remains available to try behind a flag in most builds of Chrome, as in the gif below.
Similar to Safari
Safari on iOS 7 is the most famous example of website address cropping, where a website’s domain name is shown instead of the full web address. While there is a case to be made for hiding full URLs on mobile, where space is at a premium, introducing the feature on the desktop would likely prove controversial.
Word that Chrome has nixed plans to enable the chip by default comes via developer Peter Kasting, who recently nudged the feature to low priority status on the Chromium Issue Tracker, explaining that “the origin chip work is backburnered”.
It’s not clear why Google is nixing the work but one suggestion is that enabling users to see the full URL of a website at all times helps protect against phishing (attempts at which usually mimic the hostname of a popular website).
While Google is having a rethink other developers are pressing on. Apple’s OS X Yosemite brings hidden URLs to desktop Safari, while the latest releases of Linux web browser ‘GNOME Web’ has similar hiding behaviour enabled by default.