Google May Be Limiting Search Result Redirect Resolution

Several search data providers say Google is limiting how quickly search result redirect links can be followed from a single results page. According to Search Engine Journal, this can cause some rank tracking and URL-level reports to show google.com/goto links instead of the actual page URL.

The issue was reported by DataForSEO, Serper, and SerpApi through their own status pages and articles. Search Engine Journal said there was no linked Google announcement in those reports, so the current details come from the providers’ observations.

What changed

Google search results have used www.google.com/goto links since late August, according to DataForSEO. Those links cannot be decoded directly, so tools have to follow each redirect to discover the final destination page.

DataForSEO said Google now slows that redirect-following process when many links from the same results page are opened in rapid succession. The restriction is tied to the results page itself, not the IP address or the search query. In some cases, providers said only part of the destination URLs could be resolved, while the rest remained as Google redirect links.

What it means for your website

If your business relies on rank tracking, landing page reports, or URL-level SEO dashboards, recent data may be less reliable at the page level. A report could show a ranking position but list a Google redirect instead of the real URL, or make it look like a specific page dropped out when the destination link was simply not fully resolved.

This matters most for reports covering the last few days of October through early November. Search Engine Journal noted that providers have responded in different ways, and some fixes may be temporary or intermittent. That means the same keyword report can vary depending on which provider collected the data and how it handled these redirects.

What to do now

• Review URL-level ranking and landing page reports from approximately October 30 onward, especially if a page appears missing.
• Check whether the stored URL in your report is a google.com/goto link rather than your actual page URL.
• Ask your rank tracking or search data provider how it collected the data and whether unresolved goto links may appear in reports.
• Be cautious about declaring a page-level ranking loss until the provider confirms how it handled Google redirect resolution.
• Plan to recheck reports from late October through early November after your provider updates its handling of goto links.