Jorlem Wrote:I've always wondered, how do the websites tell the difference?
Because your browser (unless set up to do otherwise) tells them.
Check out this site. It'll tell you what headers your browser is sending. If you click on the link, it'll show a referer header with the url of this page. If you c&p it, there shouldn't be a referer header at all. (And if you find the page from a google search, the server will be able to see in it what you searched for to find it.)
It's possible to set up a server to also forbid requests if there isn't a correct referrer header, but the average anti-hotlinking arrangement doesn't do that.
-Morgan.