Friday 22 February 2013

The Google+ Sharelink Endpoint: doing it right

If your site has a Google+ sharing feature that uses this URL: https://plusone.google.com/_/+1/confirm?url= then you're doing it wrong. You're using unsupported and undocumented functionality. Don't.

You should be using a sharing URL that looks like this: https://plus.google.com/share?url=

That's our official sharelink endpoint. It is supported, monitored and maintained. The URL you're using right now is an internal part of our +1 button's Javascript API so it's subject to change because we don't expect anyone else to be depending on it.

The documentation for the sharelink endpoint is here: https://developers.google.com/+/plugins/share/#sharelink-endpoint It even offers a set of standard graphics that you should be using for consistency with the rest of the web.

In short: don't be like the guy in the photo below.

Helvetica heretic