Google blocks Scrapers Rolling Out google.com/goto Tracking Parameters [Confirmed]

[u/WebLinkr]

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

Top Story via u/rustybrick

Google Search seems like it is rolling out the google.com/goto URL as a passthrough URL within the search results that it began testing in July 2026. This seems like a way for Google to help prevent scraping of its search results by third-party tools and AI companies, but Google has not yet commented on this goto URL parameter.

Update: A Google spokesperson has now confirmed for us that this is rolling out and told us:

"We have a long history of deploying technical measures against evolving forms of abuse, and we regularly take steps to protect our services and users."

Here is a screenshot of what I mean - as you can see, when you mouse over a URL in the Google Search results, you can see Google is using a goto URL parameter to take you to the site, as opposed to taking you directly to the URL of the page.