diff --git a/extractor/src/main/java/org/schabi/newpipe/extractor/StreamingService.java b/extractor/src/main/java/org/schabi/newpipe/extractor/StreamingService.java
index 3d09d509..dcde0aff 100644
--- a/extractor/src/main/java/org/schabi/newpipe/extractor/StreamingService.java
+++ b/extractor/src/main/java/org/schabi/newpipe/extractor/StreamingService.java
@@ -279,18 +279,18 @@ public abstract class StreamingService {
      * @param url the url on which it should be decided of which link type it is
      * @return the link type of url
      */
-    public final LinkType getLinkTypeByUrl(String url) throws ParsingException {
-        url = Utils.followGoogleRedirectIfNeeded(url);
+    public final LinkType getLinkTypeByUrl(final String url) throws ParsingException {
+        final String polishedUrl = Utils.followGoogleRedirectIfNeeded(url);
 
         final LinkHandlerFactory sH = getStreamLHFactory();
         final LinkHandlerFactory cH = getChannelLHFactory();
         final LinkHandlerFactory pH = getPlaylistLHFactory();
 
-        if (sH != null && sH.acceptUrl(url)) {
+        if (sH != null && sH.acceptUrl(polishedUrl)) {
             return LinkType.STREAM;
-        } else if (cH != null && cH.acceptUrl(url)) {
+        } else if (cH != null && cH.acceptUrl(polishedUrl)) {
             return LinkType.CHANNEL;
-        } else if (pH != null && pH.acceptUrl(url)) {
+        } else if (pH != null && pH.acceptUrl(polishedUrl)) {
             return LinkType.PLAYLIST;
         } else {
             return LinkType.NONE;
diff --git a/extractor/src/main/java/org/schabi/newpipe/extractor/linkhandler/LinkHandlerFactory.java b/extractor/src/main/java/org/schabi/newpipe/extractor/linkhandler/LinkHandlerFactory.java
index 7dcfe5f4..ca428b70 100644
--- a/extractor/src/main/java/org/schabi/newpipe/extractor/linkhandler/LinkHandlerFactory.java
+++ b/extractor/src/main/java/org/schabi/newpipe/extractor/linkhandler/LinkHandlerFactory.java
@@ -49,11 +49,10 @@ public abstract class LinkHandlerFactory {
      * @param url the url to extract path and id from
      * @return a {@link LinkHandler} complete with information
      */
-    public LinkHandler fromUrl(String url) throws ParsingException {
-        if (url == null) throw new IllegalArgumentException("url can not be null");
-        url = Utils.followGoogleRedirectIfNeeded(url);
-        final String baseUrl = Utils.getBaseUrl(url);
-        return fromUrl(url, baseUrl);
+    public LinkHandler fromUrl(final String url) throws ParsingException {
+        final String polishedUrl = Utils.followGoogleRedirectIfNeeded(url);
+        final String baseUrl = Utils.getBaseUrl(polishedUrl);
+        return fromUrl(polishedUrl, baseUrl);
     }
 
     /**
diff --git a/extractor/src/main/java/org/schabi/newpipe/extractor/linkhandler/ListLinkHandlerFactory.java b/extractor/src/main/java/org/schabi/newpipe/extractor/linkhandler/ListLinkHandlerFactory.java
index cdbbab4f..4980c319 100644
--- a/extractor/src/main/java/org/schabi/newpipe/extractor/linkhandler/ListLinkHandlerFactory.java
+++ b/extractor/src/main/java/org/schabi/newpipe/extractor/linkhandler/ListLinkHandlerFactory.java
@@ -31,10 +31,10 @@ public abstract class ListLinkHandlerFactory extends LinkHandlerFactory {
     ///////////////////////////////////
 
     @Override
-    public ListLinkHandler fromUrl(String url) throws ParsingException {
-        url = Utils.followGoogleRedirectIfNeeded(url);
-        final String baseUrl = Utils.getBaseUrl(url);
-        return fromUrl(url, baseUrl);
+    public ListLinkHandler fromUrl(final String url) throws ParsingException {
+        final String polishedUrl = Utils.followGoogleRedirectIfNeeded(url);
+        final String baseUrl = Utils.getBaseUrl(polishedUrl);
+        return fromUrl(polishedUrl, baseUrl);
     }
 
     @Override
diff --git a/extractor/src/main/java/org/schabi/newpipe/extractor/utils/Utils.java b/extractor/src/main/java/org/schabi/newpipe/extractor/utils/Utils.java
index e8823af8..95920270 100644
--- a/extractor/src/main/java/org/schabi/newpipe/extractor/utils/Utils.java
+++ b/extractor/src/main/java/org/schabi/newpipe/extractor/utils/Utils.java
@@ -181,15 +181,15 @@ public class Utils {
         return s;
     }
 
-    public static String getBaseUrl(String url) throws ParsingException {
+    public static String getBaseUrl(final String url) throws ParsingException {
         try {
             final URL uri = stringToURL(url);
             return uri.getProtocol() + "://" + uri.getAuthority();
-        } catch (MalformedURLException e) {
+        } catch (final MalformedURLException e) {
             final String message = e.getMessage();
             if (message.startsWith("unknown protocol: ")) {
-                System.out.println(message.substring(18));
-                return message.substring(18); // return just the protocol (e.g. vnd.youtube)
+                // return just the protocol (e.g. vnd.youtube)
+                return message.substring("unknown protocol: ".length());
             }
 
             throw new ParsingException("Malformed url: " + url, e);