Google has started hiding the destination links in its results behind its own redirects, and the tools that track your visibility are the ones feeling it.
Google now sends its result links through a redirect
On 26 August 2026, Google confirmed to Search Engine Roundtable that it has replaced the direct destination links in its search results with server-side redirect URLs on a google.com/goto path. A results page used to expose each destination address in its page source. Now it exposes a Google redirect link instead, and the real destination is only revealed by following that redirect on Google's own servers.
This had been building for a while. Trackers first saw the goto links appear in testing around July 2026, roughly four months of quiet trials before the confirmation. Google frames the move as a routine technical measure against abuse and scraping. Its only on-record comment described a long history of deploying such measures against evolving abuse, and said it regularly takes steps to protect its services and users. It did not name any specific target.
Worth noting on sourcing: Google confirmed this to trade press on the record, but published no formal blog post or changelog, so the confirmation rests on that statement rather than an official announcement page. Independent analysts documented the passthrough URLs and how widely they had spread, with Nozzle's Derek Perkins reporting "nearly 100% rollout across several residential IP providers." Search Engine Land, which is owned by Semrush, also reported the confirmation. Google has given no completion date.
Your standing hasn't changed, only the readout
The reassuring part comes first. People searching for you are unaffected. They click a result and land on the same page as always, because the redirect resolves invisibly on Google's side. Your rankings do not move, and neither does whether a searcher can find and reach you.
What changes is how being found gets measured, not whether you are being found. Rank-tracking platforms, SERP data providers, competitive-intelligence tools and in-house scrapers used to read destination links straight from the results page. Now they have to follow a redirect for every one of them, and a single results page can carry hundreds of links. That turns one page fetch into hundreds of extra requests, which is slower and more expensive, so the third-party visibility data those tools produce becomes noisier and pricier to collect.
For a partner reading a monthly SEO report, the practical takeaway is small but useful. If your rank-tracking dashboard looks choppier than usual, or your provider mentions gaps or lag in the numbers, this change is a likely cause rather than a drop in your actual position. The calm response is to avoid over-reading short-term wobble in tracking tools, and to cross-check anything that looks alarming against Google Search Console, which reports your own performance directly and is not affected by this.
Frequently asked questions
Does Google's goto redirect URLs change your search rankings?
No. Searchers still land on the same pages, and your position in results is unaffected. The change alters how visibility tools collect their data, not where your firm actually ranks.
Why do rank-tracking reports look noisier since Google's goto redirects?
Because trackers used to read destination links straight from the results page. Now they have to follow a Google redirect for each of the hundreds of links on a page, which is slower and costlier, so the data can gap or lag. That is a measurement effect, not a sign your visibility has fallen.
Do Google's goto redirect URLs require any action from your firm?
Nothing on your website. Treat short-term swings in third-party rank dashboards with a little caution, and cross-check against Google Search Console, which reports your own data directly and is unaffected by this change.
When did Google roll out the goto redirect URLs?
Google confirmed the rollout on the record to Search Engine Roundtable on 26 August 2026, after roughly four months of testing. It published no formal blog post or changelog, so this rests on that statement to trade press.
Do Google's goto redirect URLs change what searchers see?
No. People searching still click through to the same destination pages as before. The redirect resolves on Google's side and stays invisible to them.
