“We’ve observed a decrease (approximately 2 percentage points) in AIO detection rates through Ziptie’s tracking system. It seems Google is blocking AIO checkers in a smart way, far beyond traditional captchas. We are looking for ways to improve the AIO detection rate.”
Why we care. You likely rely on some of these tools to understand whether your SEO efforts are successful – whether your goal are helping to drive visibility, conversions, revenue for your brands and websites. Without data, we are blind. So check your tools to see if you are impacted. Hopefully it will just be temporary if you are.
Some tools unaffected. Some SEO tools seem to be unaffected by Google’s change, such as Semrush (disclosure: Search Engine Land is owned by Semrush), Sistrix, Monitorank, and Ahrefs.
Story developing. We are reaching out to SEO tool providers and will update this story with any more news and reactions as we get them.
First spotted. Eric Mercier published appears to be the first to have spotted this issue and published this article (in Spanish) Google bloqueó las herramientas SEO: el drama del 2025. I discovered his article via Natalia Witczyk’s LinkedIn post.
JavaScript change. Meanwhile, Google today told TechCrunch it is now forcing users to turn on JavaScript to use Search. Google said “fewer than .1%” of searches on Google are done by people who disable JavaScript. Also:
“Enabling JavaScript allows us to better protect our services and users from bots and evolving forms of abuse and spam, and to provide the most relevant and up-to-date information.”
Is it just coincidental timing that this statement came out following the news that many SEO tools went dark?
Editor’s note. Originally, Semrush was listed as a company that was impacted by this data outage, based on social media posts. However, a Semrush spokesperson told me:
“On any given day, some users may encounter bugs as part of the normal course of business, but nothing unusual has been identified. Our product team has verified this, and we aren’t seeing any widespread issues.”