I’ve noticed for the past few weeks that Google has been using a redirect for the search results pages. To the average user, you may not even catch it and it will look as though you go directly to the site.

I wouldn’t have caught it for myself, however, I use a Firefox extension which opens all new URLs in a new tab. When I used to click on a Google search result, it would open in a new background tab which is a lot better than continually clicking the back button or manually opening them in a new tab.

Well, one day I clicked on a result and it didn’t open in a new tab, so I clicked the back button and took a closer look – sure enough, Google was using a redirect…and it hasn’t changed in over a week. It’s mildly annoying because I have to manually right click and open the results in a new tab now – grrr…

You can’t even tell if you hover over the link, but the moment you click or right click on the link, the true URL is revealed (see screenshot below)

Notice the URL appears to point directly to the website

Notice that the URL now points to a Google redirect – this only appears after I’ve right clicked on the link

The other change I happened to notice was the actual page layout. It only happens a few times in a hundred, but, yes, the layout definitely changes – I even snapped some proof

The main differences appear to be the color blue used, the navigation bar across the top, and the Pay Per Click results.

For the average user, this would mean nothing really, however, for the internet marketer it seems that Google is doing some studying of what links get clicked and why and that can ultimately be used to tweak their algorithm yet again and throw the internet into an uproar (at least for those of us who make money based on organic SEO)

I’ll definitely be keeping a watchful eye on my websites and how they continue to do in Google – right now, it seems to be in my favor b/c I’m receiving a bunch of traffic from the big G and I’m hoping it stays that way.