Google is starting to require JavaScript for Google Search

Google says it has started requiring users to enable JavaScript, a programming language widely used to make web pages interactive, to use Google Search.

In an email to TechCrunch, a company spokesperson claimed that the change is intended to “better protect” Google Search from malicious activities such as bots and spam, and to improve the overall Google Search experience for users. A spokesperson noted that without JavaScript, many Google Search features would not work properly and the quality of search results would tend to decrease.

“Enabling JavaScript allows us to better protect our services and our users from bots and emerging forms of abuse and spam, and to provide the most up-to-date and up-to-date information,” he said.

Many large websites are based on JavaScript. according to According to a 2020 GitHub survey, 95% of sites on the web use this language in some form. But like users on social media to celebrateGoogle’s decision to require this could add friction for those who rely on accessibility tools struggle with certain JavaScript implementations.

JavaScript is also prone to this security vulnerabilities. In its 2024 annual security survey, technology company Datadog found that nearly 70% of JavaScript services are vulnerable to one or more “critical” or “high severity” vulnerabilities provided by third-party software libraries.

A Google spokesperson told TechCrunch that on average, “less than 1%” of Google searches are made by people with JavaScript turned off. That’s not a small number on Google’s scale. Google processes about 8.5 billion searches per day, so it’s safe to assume that millions of people searching through Google aren’t using JavaScript.

One of Google’s motivations here is to prevent third-party tools that provide information about Google Search trends and traffic. according to According to a post on Search Engine Roundtable on Friday, a number of “rank checker” tools — tools that show how websites are performing on search engines — began experiencing problems with Google Search around the time Google’s JavaScript requirement went into effect.

A Google spokesperson declined to comment on the Search Engine Roundtable report.