Google's Goto Redirect Broke Rank Tracking. Moz Explains What Happens Now.
E1151: Google has started routing search-result links through new google.com/goto redirects, masking the final destination URL for logged-out users. That sounds like a small technical change. For rank trackers, SERP scrapers, SEO tools, and marketers who depend on Google search data, it creates a much bigger problem. I'm joined by Jonathan Berthold from Moz to break down what Google changed, why rank tracking is being affected, how SEO platforms are responding, and what marketers should expect next. We also get into the larger fight happening behind the scenes. Google has been making it harder to collect search results at scale, from the removal of the num=100 parameter to these new Goto redirects. One possible explanation discussed in the episode is that Google is making it more difficult and expensive for AI companies and other automated systems to collect its search data. The problem is that SEO tools rely on some of the same underlying access. We cover: - What Google's new google.com/goto redirects actually do - Why the destination URL is now hidden in Google search results - Why this creates problems for rank tracking software - How Moz is handling the change - Why other SEO platforms have had to adjust their systems - Whether simply following each redirect solves the problem - How additional requests could increase the cost and complexity of collecting SERP data - Why agencies and consultants may see temporary changes in ranking reports - What SEOs should tell clients if their reporting starts looking different - How this could affect competitive analysis and other workflows that rely on SERP data - Why AI workflows that analyze Google results could also be affected - How this compares with Google's removal of the num=100 search parameter - Whether Google Search Console could see downstream effects - Why Jonathan expects SEO tools to adapt rather than rank tracking disappearing - The possibility that Google extends these redirects beyond logged-out searches - What this means for the continuing competition between Google, OpenAI, and other AI companies - Why AI companies have an incentive to develop their own indexes and alternative data sources - Why rankings are ultimately a directional metric rather than the final measure of SEO success - Why revenue, leads, and sales from organic search still matter more than individual ranking positions Jonathan's main advice for SEOs is simple: be adaptable. Google can change not only its ranking algorithms, but also the infrastructure that SEO tools use to collect and interpret search results. Rank trackers adapted after the num=100 change, and Jonathan expects the industry to find ways to deal with Goto redirects as well. The immediate question isn't whether SEO is dead. It's how much these changes affect the reliability, complexity, and cost of measuring search performance. And the longer-term question is bigger: as Google protects access to its search data and AI companies build their own sources of information, what does SEO measurement look like next? ⭐️ Jonathan Berthold on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/jonathanberthold/ ⭐️ Jonathan Berthold on 𝕏: https://x.com/j_bertho ⭐️ Moz (my affiliate link): https://edwardsturm.com/refer/moz/ 💎 Compact Keywords - My SEO Course - Get paying customers through SEO - Clear step-by-step video breakdowns - SEO templates to be copied and adapted for your products and services: https://compactkeywords.com/ 00:00 Goto Redirect Panic 00:48 What Changed In SERPs 02:47 Why Google Did It 05:15 Costs And Workarounds 07:37 SEO Tool Fallout 10:10 Beyond Rank Tracking 12:08 Fix Timeline And Pricing 14:33 OpenAI Index And Yelp 16:31 Search Console Volatility 17:26 Adaptability Takeaways 19:33 Does SEO Still Work 21:26 Wrap Up And Thanks The Edward Show. Your daily search engine optimization podcast: https://edwardsturm.com/the-edward-show/ #searchengineoptimization #seo #digitalmarketing #seoagency
- Transcript