Google Tests google.com/goto Tracking URLs In Search Results

For the past week aliases so, I person heard a fewer folks announcement that Google is appending search URLs to the hunt results. So erstwhile you click connected a hunt result, alternatively of the URL going straight to that site, Google is utilizing a google.com/goto URL arsenic a passthrough URL that past passes done to the page URL listed successful the hunt results.

These changes tin person an effect connected your search and of course, the third-party Google search devices that you mightiness beryllium using.

Brodie Clark astatine SERPAlerts spotted it early and posted astir it connected X but I received a mates different emails from readers (including Mark - thanks) that they started to announcement this arsenic well. I americium still incapable to replicate it.

Here is what it looks for illustration erstwhile you cheque the URL Google is linking to (I cropped the image a bit):

Brodie besides shared really Ahrefs is picking up connected this URL shape more:

I wonderment if this is conscionable a trial aliases if Google is slow rolling retired this caller click URL behaviour for the hunt results? If so, this whitethorn impact your search and analytics.

This was first spotted present by Alex Greenland backmost connected June 23rd:

New for Google Search: google•com/goto to conflict AI and SEO scrapers

Result nexus URLs are now being rewritten to google•com/goto?url=[custom base64-like encoding of URL aliases Google ID]. Upon click, they redirect to their due destination.

I'm seeing this consistently this… pic.twitter.com/BCCWc6WGKG

We've been seeing that for months. It's akin to earlier erstwhile you had js disabled, they would wrap each the links successful server broadside redirects to get analytics. This is conscionable a caller shape of that. We conscionable propulsion distant those SERPs and fetch caller ones

The different rumor pinch this alteration is that arsenic a searcher, I often want to preview the URL I americium going to, to make judge it is not a phishing aliases spam site.

To beryllium clear, I only spotted 3 group truthful acold who noticed this and I cannot spot it myself - yet.

Forum chat astatine X.