Google begins requiring JavaScript for Google Search

Google said it has begun enabling users to use JavaScript, the 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 against malicious activity like bots and spam, and to improve the overall Google search experience for users. The spokesperson noted that, without JavaScript, many Google search features would not function properly and the quality of search results would be degraded.

“Enabling JavaScript allows us to better protect our services and users from bots and growing forms of abuse and spam,” the spokesperson told TechCrunch, “and to provide the most relevant and up-to-date information.”

Many large websites rely on JavaScript. According to In a 2020 GitHub survey, 95% of sites around the web use the language in some form. But as a user on social media to indicateGoogle’s decision to require it could add friction for those who rely on accessibility tools, which can Struggle with specific JavaScript implementations.

JavaScript is also prone 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 introduced by third-party software libraries.

A Google spokesperson told TechCrunch that, on average, “less than .1%” of searches on Google have JavaScript disabled. That’s no small number on the Google scale. Google processes around 8.5 billion searches per day, so one can assume that millions of people searching through Google are not using JavaScript.

One of Google’s motivations here is to block third-party tools that provide insight into Google search trends and traffic. According to In a post on Search Engine Roundtable on Friday, many “rank-checking” tools — tools that indicate how websites are performing in search engines — began experiencing problems with Google Search since Google’s JavaScript requirements went into effect.

A Google spokesperson declined to comment on the search engine roundtable reporting.