Google Adds Pass-Through URLs to Search Results to Block AI Scraping
The rollout shows Google tightening control over who can programmatically read search results, timed with an amended lawsuit against SerpApi for illegal scraping.
Reporting from 1 source: GIGAZINE.
Google has begun rolling out google.com/goto pass-through URLs that redirect users through its own servers before reaching a clicked website. The measure appears aimed at stopping third-party tools and AI companies from scraping search results. A Google spokesperson confirmed the company regularly takes technical measures against evolving abuse, without naming scraping directly.
Google Search has been quietly routing outbound clicks through google.com/goto since July, with detection volumes climbing sharply in August. The pass-through URLs intercept the request before redirecting to the original page, so the destination link never appears directly in the results markup.
Derek Perkins, CEO of search analysis tool Nozzle, says deployment is now near 100% on some residential IP providers after a first major test in early August. The change comes alongside a separate legal push: Google filed an amended complaint in August against SerpApi, a service that sells scraped search results, after an earlier version of the case was dismissed.
For regular users the only visible difference is the google.com/goto address shown when hovering over a link. People running third-party tracking tools may see broken data and should check with the provider for a workaround.
Synthesized by Yomimono from the 1 cited source below, including Japanese-language reporting where cited, then editorially reviewed before publishing.