[Google Search API] shopping_results link field returns a Google URL instead of direct product link

[alexbarron]

A customer reported that the link field for shopping_results in normal Google Search is coming back as a Google URL instead of the direct link to the seller. The customer's queries as recently as Jan 16th, 2025 were all returning direct links.

For example: https://www.google.es/aclk?sa=...

Issue is intermittent. Some queries still return direct links.

Can we still scrape the direct link as we did previously? Or is it technically possible to do what we did with direct_link=true on the Google Shopping API?

Previous link example:

Current link example with Google URL:

Current link example with correct direct link:

Public links: Playground w/ Google link | Playground w/ direct link | Documentation

Internal links: Intercom | Search Inspect w/ direct link | Search Inspect w/ Google link