Google has begun rolling out 'google.com/goto' as a pass-through URL to prevent AI bots from scraping search results.



It has been revealed that Google has started adding a pass-through URL, 'google.com/goto,' to prevent its Google search results pages from being scraped.

Google Search Rolling Out google.com/goto Tracking Parameters

https://www.seroundtable.com/google-search-goto-tracking-41957.html



Google confirms deploying goto URL redirects to search results links
https://searchengineland.com/google-confirms-deploying-goto-url-redirects-to-search-results-links-485926

Since July 2026, Google has been adding a pass-through URL , 'google.com/goto,' to the links displayed on Google Search results pages. When a user clicks on a link on the search results page, they are not directly redirected to the website, but instead are forwarded to the original webpage via the 'google.com/goto' pass-through URL provided by Google.



Search Engine Roundtable , a media outlet specializing in search engines, reports that this pass-through URL appears to be Google's attempt to prevent third-party tools and AI companies from scraping search results.

When Search Engine Roundtable inquired with Google about this pass-through URL, a company spokesperson stated, 'Google has a long history of taking technical measures against evolving malicious activities. We regularly take measures to protect our services and users,' suggesting that google.com/goto is a measure to prevent bot scraping.

Derek Perkins, CEO of Nozzle, a company that provides tools for analyzing search results in Google Search, said, 'Google has been testing an anti-bot measure that replaces all client-side links with server-side redirects to google.com/goto. The first major tests were reported in the first week of August, and as of this morning, we are seeing nearly 100% deployment with several residential IP providers.'




The graph below shows the percentage of google.com/goto links appearing on SERP (search results pages) over the past four months. From around mid-June, small amounts of google.com/goto links began to be detected regularly, and then the amount increased dramatically in August. There were two instances where the percentage of google.com/goto links temporarily reached 100%.



Google likely added the pass-through URL google.com/goto to make it more difficult for third-party tools, services, scrapers, and AI engines to scrape Google search results. In fact, Google sued SerpApi for illegally scraping search results, and although the lawsuit was initially dismissed, an amended complaint was filed in August 2026.

Google sues SerpApi for illegally scraping search results - GIGAZINE



The addition of pass-through URLs has no impact on general users other than the fact that pass-through URLs will be displayed when you mouse over a link. However, Search Engine Land points out that if you are using third-party tracking tools, those tools may be affected in some way. Therefore, they warn users of such tools to 'contact the tool provider to see if there are any solutions if you notice anything unusual in the next few days.'

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in AI,   Web Service, Posted by logu_ii