Changelog
Google SERP changelog
Every Google change that broke, re-priced or reshaped search-result collection, with what it means and what we do about it. Each entry has a permanent anchor you can link to.
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Official APIs Scheduled
Custom Search JSON API shuts down
The Google Custom Search JSON API stops serving requests. It has been closed to new customers since January 20, 2026.
Impact: Every app calling googleapis.com/customsearch/v1 breaks.
SerpKite: GET /customsearch/v1 accepts the same parameters and returns the same items[] shape.
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Layout
Result links become encoded /goto redirects
Google result links are confirmed to be served as encoded /goto redirect URLs instead of the destination URL.
Impact: Parsers that read href directly record Google URLs. Rank trackers stop matching domains, silently.
SerpKite: results[].link is always the resolved destination, with a canonical domain and meta.resolved_urls.
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Legal
Google files an amended complaint against SerpApi
After the July dismissal, Google's amended complaint narrows to licensed content such as Knowledge Panel images and content licensed from Reddit.
Impact: Risk for SERP APIs concentrates on redistributing licensed content.
SerpKite: We return image URLs rather than re-hosted images and don't re-host Knowledge Panel images.
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Official APIs
Partner-only Web Search Service API docs appear, then are pulled
Documentation for a partner-only Google "Web Search Service API" surfaces in August/September 2026 and is taken down.
Impact: No self-serve official Google web search API is expected after the CSE shutdown.
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Legal
Reddit v. SerpApi, Oxylabs, AWMProxy and Perplexity proceeds
In S.D.N.Y., motions to dismiss are mostly denied; DMCA §1201 and civil-conspiracy claims go to discovery. Proxy providers are among the defendants.
Impact: Extracting Reddit content via Google results is a live legal risk.
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Legal
Court dismisses Google's DMCA claims against SerpApi
In N.D. Cal., claims over non-copyrighted results are dismissed with prejudice; the rest may be amended. The court finds Google has standing and plausibly alleged circumvention.
Impact: Plain SERP facts (titles, links, snippets) are not protected by the DMCA in this district.
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Official APIs
Custom Search JSON API closed to new customers
Google stops onboarding new Custom Search JSON API customers and sets a shutdown date of January 1, 2027.
Impact: Existing users have under a year to migrate.
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Ecosystem
Google and the FBI take down the IPIDEA proxy network
IPIDEA is taken down in January 2026, followed by NetNut in July.
Impact: Cheap residential proxy supply shrinks, and proxy sourcing becomes a compliance question.
SerpKite: We use only reputable, consented proxy vendors, at least two of them.
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Legal
Google sues SerpApi under DMCA §1201
Google alleges circumvention of its SearchGuard anti-bot system.
Impact: A legal cloud over the whole SERP API category.
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Anti-bot
Google blocks a num=100 workaround within five days
A workaround DataForSEO found after the num=100 removal is blocked within about five days.
Impact: Google iterates quickly; depth workarounds are not durable.
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Parameters
&num=100 stops working
Google stops honoring num=100. Results come ten per page.
Impact: The top 100 now takes ten requests, so top-100 checks cost about ten times more to collect.
SerpKite: num=100 is a 7-credit bundle (30% off ten pages); the batch lane halves it again.
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Ecosystem
Microsoft retires the Bing Search API
The Bing Search APIs are retired. The suggested replacement, Grounding with Bing, is tied to Azure AI agents at about $14 per 1,000.
Impact: No cheap raw Bing JSON API remains.
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AI features
AI Mode launches in the US
Google launches AI Mode, a conversational answer surface with cited sources, separate from the main results page.
Impact: AI-visibility (GEO) tools need to track AI Mode citations in addition to AI Overviews.
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Anti-bot
JavaScript becomes required; SearchGuard
Google requires JavaScript to load results and rolls out its SearchGuard anti-bot system.
Impact: Plain HTTP scrapers fail. Collection needs a real browser for challenges, which raises cost and favors specialists.
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AI features
AI Overviews roll out in US results
Google's AI-generated summaries (previously Search Generative Experience) appear at the top of US results for many queries, with linked references.
Impact: The first thing a user reads is no longer a blue link. SERP parsers need to capture AI Overview text and references.
Dates are the day a change was confirmed or announced; month-level dates mean we could only pin down the month. Seen a change we missed? Email [email protected]. For SerpKite's own releases, see the product changelog.
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