- Since late May 2026, a request sent from a foreign IP with gl no longer returns the local SERP: results are unstable from page 1.
- Typical symptoms: YouTube and Facebook videos creeping into the results, expected sites missing or showing the wrong URL.
- We deployed a fix on May 26, 2026: positions are stable again on Semscraper, Monitorank, Meteorank and Agence SEO.
What changed
To get Google France results from a server located elsewhere, SEO tools traditionally passed a parameter in the search URL: gl, which sets the target country. For years, that was enough to get a SERP close to what a French searcher sees.
In late May 2026, that stopped being true. When the request's IP address is foreign, Google no longer trusts the gl parameter the same way, and the SERP it returns drifts from the one seen locally.
The symptoms
- Unstable results from page 1: the order and presence of sites vary from one collection to the next.
- Stray videos: YouTube and Facebook results creep into the SERP, down to page 5, while a local searcher doesn't see them.
- Missing or misplaced sites: a site that ranks well locally disappears, or shows up with a URL that isn't its own.
- “Ghost” competitors: on the query “agence seo” (SEO agency), a foreign directory page ranked without the fix, and disappeared with it.
| Query | Without fix (May 22) | With fix (May 26) |
|---|---|---|
| comparateur assurance auto | An expected site missing or with the wrong URL, YouTube and Facebook videos in the SERP | The right URL, no more stray videos |
| agence seo | A foreign directory page ranking, YouTube and Facebook videos | SERP matching the one seen in France, no more stray videos |
Test it yourself
You can reproduce it in a few minutes:
- Turn on a VPN with a foreign IP address and open a browser with no cookies.
- Search Google targeting France, for example “comparateur assurance auto”.
- Note the results, and check the following pages: YouTube or Facebook videos, missing sites.
- Turn the VPN off and run the same search again: the expected sites come back and deep pages look normal again.
If your rank tracker collects its SERPs from abroad relying on gl, its data since late May is probably skewed.
Local SERPs too
At the same time, Google changed how it localizes searches at city level. Simulating a search made from a given city has become less reliable. On “agence seo” geolocated in Toulouse, a well-established local agency was missing from the results without the fix; with it, it shows on page 1.
We explain how city-level localization works in geolocated SERPs.
What we did
Semscraper relied on this parameter; it no longer does. A fix has been in place since May 26, 2026, and positions are stable again across all our services: Semscraper, Monitorank, Meteorank and Agence SEO.
To be transparent: the day after the fix, a few collections were still poorly localized, and we kept working on them. Getting reliable data is getting harder, and adjustments can now take several days when Google changes its rules. Absorbing those changes is our job, so you don't have to.
How to check your provider
- Compare a few SERPs from your tool with a search made locally, with no VPN or Google account.
- Look for the typical signs: unusual YouTube or Facebook videos, well-known sites missing, unexpected URLs.
- Run the test on a local query geolocated to a city: that is where gaps show the most.
To test Semscraper on your own keywords, the first 1,000 requests are free. Location parameters are detailed on the Google Search API page.
