Google is rolling out a change to the links shown in its search results.
Traditionally, when a user clicks a link in Google’s search results, it takes them directly to the website.
In this recent update, some links will now pass through a Google URL before sending the visitor to the page they clicked.
These links will use a gooogle.com/goto address, which will act as a ‘middleman’ between Google’s search results and the destination website.
The change will be unnoticeable for the average person using Google. Users will still click on a search result and arrive on the correct page. The additional google.com/goto step will just happen in between. The main difference is that Google is adding an extra step before the visitor reaches the site.
Why has Google changed its search links?
Google says it regularly introduces measures “against evolving forms of abuse” and takes steps to “protect [its] services and users.”
The change is thought to make it harder for other companies, including AI tools, to scrape its search results.
This means that tools that collect large amounts of search data may now need to follow each redirect before they can see where a result actually leads.
With this new system, Google is effectively putting an extra step between the search result and the website.
What does this mean for website owners?
At the moment, website owners do not need to make any changes.
It is important to keep in mind that some SEO tools may be affected by this update and, therefore, may temporarily show unusual results while they adjust.
For example, if a tool says that your rankings have dropped in Google, this may not necessarily mean that your website has fallen in search results. The tool may simply be finding it harder to collect the data in the way it did before.
For now, this change appears to affect how some tools collect Google search data, rather than how websites rank or how people reach them through search.
Need help understanding your SEO data? Get in touch with the team at Engage Web today for extra support from our search specialists.
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