title: Why do links in gmail redirect?
body: <p>I've noticed that some email services (like gmail or my school's webmail) will redirect links (or used to) in the email body. So when I put "www.google.com" in the body of my email, and I check that email in gmail or something, the link says something like "gmail.com/redirect?www.google.com". </p>
  
  <p>This was very confusing for me and the people I emailed (like my parents, who are not familiar with computers). I always clicked on the link anyway, but why is this service used? (I'm also worried that maybe my information was being sent somewhere... Do I have anything to worry about? Is something being stored before the redirect?)</p>
  
  <p>Sorry if this is unwarranted paranoia. I am just curious about why some things work the way they do.</p>