Serp - GoKawiil

Google replaces plain result links with opaque goto redirects

Google Search has begun rewriting organic result links from readable URLs into a new google.com/goto?url= format that hides the actual destination inside an encoded, Google-specific parameter. Unlike the older google.com/url redirect wrapper, which kept the target link visible in plaintext, the new format requires a request back to Google's servers to retrieve the real URL from the Location header. As of late August 2026 this behavior appears consistently for logged-out and private browsing sessions, suggesting a wider rollout rather than a small test.

autom.dev · 2026-09-12

AI answer engines reshape how brands measure online visibility

A sponsored analysis argues that traditional SEO metrics like rankings and click-through rates no longer capture how consumers actually find brands, since AI tools now generate synthesized answers directly on screen instead of sending users to websites. The piece introduces 'pixel depth' as a way to measure how prominently a brand appears within an AI-generated answer, rather than its position on a search results page. It also notes that large language models extract and recombine facts from multiple sources rather than indexing whole pages, meaning a company's website is just one input among many.

venturebeat.com · 2026-09-03