lunch

What sort of design considerations might sites like YouTube use when deciding between path or query parameters for identifying resources?

For example, YouTube uses a query param 'v' to specify a video id:

  youtube.com/watch?v=<video_id>

Instead of sticking it in the path:

  youtube.com/watch/<video_id>

If you're a paying Github user you may now notice a badge on your profile, denoting your subscription level (Pro, etc).

I'd prefer this information not be made automatically public.