how does Google append search parameters to url without reloading page?

Question

How does Google append search parameters to url without reloading page?

Does anyone know how they do it? I know about the HASH trick and the webkit pushState function. I don't think they are using either.

Their solution is cross browser compatible, do they use a combination of different methods for each browser?

Answer 1

Google uses the hash-trick. Notice that all the parameters are after

http://www.google.com/#

Edit: If you entered the page with other parameters, the # may be further out in the link.

Answer 2

You can add parameters after the hash sign (#) without reloading the page using the window.location.hash property.