Google-search – What does gws_rd=cr in the URL indicate

Non-standard protocols were disabled as a security precaution, to prevent the use of dangerous URIs (e.g. javascript:) from being rendered.

See https://github.com/evilstreak/markdown-js/pull/52 for a pull request with more details.

The redirection links are done as a way for Google and Yandex to correlate what search terms result in more clicks to certain websites for certain localities/demographics as well as camouflage the referrer. These parameters are likely proprietary to each of the search engines and not a part of public information, since it would help people 'game' the search ranking/keyword ranking system.

This page has some speculation and deconstruction of the parameters for Google, but most of it is a mystery and is ultimately for providing Google with more data for their Analytics.