Google's GOTO link changes dramatically increase scraping difficulty
A study published on Growtika claims that Google has made web scraping 10 times harder in less than a year through changes to its GOTO link structure.
Briefing
- Hacker News: A study published on Growtika claims that Google has made web scraping 10 times harder in less than a year through changes to its GOTO link structure.
Why it matters
If accurate, this represents a significant escalation in Google's anti-scraping measures, directly impacting the cost and feasibility of extracting search results data. Practitioners relying on Google SERP data will need to adapt their tooling and proxies, potentially increasing operational overhead. The claim underscores the ongoing arms race between data extractors and major platforms.
Sources
- Reported · Hacker News · 2026-08-31 — In less than a year, Google made scraping 10× harder
Watch next
Will other major search engines follow Google's lead in making scraping more difficult?