What's happening
Google has recently made changes that affect how SEO tools across the industry collect search results. As a result, Google ranking updates for desktop and mobile are taking longer than usual. Some keywords also show fewer results than normal. Getting ranking data back to full speed and depth is our highest priority.
Separately, Google rankings themselves are more volatile than usual right now, so some of the position changes you see are real movement in the search results.
What Google has changed
- Search result links now pass through Google. Since July 2026, Google has been changing the links in its search results so that each one redirects through a google.com/goto address instead of pointing straight to the website. Google confirmed the rollout in late August, saying: "We have a long history of deploying technical measures against evolving forms of abuse, and we regularly take steps to protect our services and users." Industry coverage notes that the change makes it harder for third-party tools to collect search results at scale.
- Fewer results per page. In September 2025, Google stopped allowing 100 results to be loaded on a single page. Tools that report positions beyond the first page now have to collect results page by page. That's why deeper positions are the first to be affected when Google makes changes like these.
- Ongoing ranking volatility. Google released a spam update on August 18, 2026, which finished rolling out on August 21. Rankings have been unusually volatile since then.
What you may notice
- Keywords that normally rank beyond the first page or two show as "not found" or have no position, even though your site still ranks for them.
- Ranking updates finish later in the day than usual.
Google desktop and Google mobile.
Other search engines and AI search engine checks are working normally.
How to tell a real ranking change from this issue
Open the saved copy of the search results for the keyword in your Rankings report:
- If your site appears at the reported position, the change is real ranking movement.
- If the saved results are unusually short and your site is missing, the keyword is likely affected by this issue.
- If the saved copy isn't available, contact Support.
Small position differences between checks are often normal Google behavior. Learn more in Why your rankings may differ between checks: Google SERP volatility.
What we're doing
Our team is adapting to Google's changes, starting with how quickly rankings update. We expect this may also help restore full result depth. In the meantime, we're working to keep your data as stable as possible.
Timeline
We don't have an estimated resolution date yet. When Google makes significant changes to how its search results are delivered, adapting takes time we can't reliably predict. We'll update this page every day until the issue is resolved.
What you can do
- Launch a manual position re-check for any affected keywords to get updated data.
- If a keyword looks wrong, contact Support with the project, keyword and location so we can look into it.