Google Rolls Out Redirect Mechanism for Search Result Links
Google is expanding a new search result redirect system that routes clicks through google. com/goto links. The mechanism, first tested in July 2026, now covers nearly 100% of search results in some residential IP environments. By replacing direct URLs with server-side redirects, Google aims to hinder automated scraping, though it has not disclosed technical details.
Google is gradually rolling out a new redirect mechanism for search results, a change the company has confirmed to the media.
The mechanism was first spotted in testing in July 2026. Now, an increasing number of users hovering over links on search results pages will see the address replaced with a redirect link containing a "goto" parameter. Clicking such a link sends the user through Google's servers before landing on the target website, replacing the previously direct client-accessible URL.
Google has not disclosed specific technical details about the purpose of this change. By replacing client-accessible links with server-side redirects, Google can make it harder for automated tools to parse and scrape search results in bulk. A Google spokesperson said the company has long deployed technical measures to counter evolving abuse and regularly takes action to protect its services and users.
Monitoring data shows that during the roughly four-month testing period, the share of search results pages using "goto" redirect links rose significantly. In several residential IP provider environments, coverage of the change has approached 100%. Because these "goto" links cannot be directly decoded, providers must actually follow the redirect chain to identify the final landing page, which substantially increases the difficulty and cost of data acquisition in large-scale scraping scenarios.