What Google is Changing: New Domain Structure

Recent announcements (April 2025) from Google reveal that they are phasing out their country-specific top-level domains (ccTLDs) — e.g. google.fr, google.ca, google.co.jp, etc. — redirecting all traffic from those domains to google.com.

Key details:

• Google says this is possible because their systems have improved to deliver local / country-relevant search results no matter which domain a user is on.

• The change is gradual, giving users, regions, and systems time to adjust.

• Google assures that this does not change how Search works from the perspective of international SEO or how they comply with national laws. 

What Google Has Said About Hreflang & International SEO

Because this domain change is significant, many in the SEO world have speculated: does this mean hreflang may become less important, or change? Google has made some clarifying comments:

• John Mueller (Google) has explicitly stated that “nothing has changed with regards to international SEO”, including hreflang usage.

• Yet there’s been earlier discussion from Google’s team (e.g., Gary Illyes) about possibly relying less on manual annotations like hreflang in future, instead using more automatic / learned signals for language / locale detection.

• Another important reminder from Google: hreflang is a hint, not a directive. It guides Google but does not guarantee indexing or region-specific serving. If pages are very similar, Google might choose one canonical version and prioritize it.

What It Probably Does Not Imply

Given the official statements, here are things that are not changing (at least per what Google says so far):

• You are not required to remove hreflang tags. They still serve their purpose.

• ccTLD usage for your own site isn’t going away automatically. Google is doing this for its own domains; this is not (yet) a mandatory SEO prescription for others.

• Localized results per country / language are still delivered. What changes is mainly the domain structure of Google itself.

What Might Change or Evolve for Hreflang

While Google says nothing has changed officially for now, the domain structure change has potential downstream effects (some already being speculated) on how hreflang and international targeting work:

1. More reliance on automatic detection
   Google might increasingly use language signals, geolocation, user behavior rather than manual hreflang tags. That could shift the risk of mis-serving pages if your site’s signals (language markup, content localization) are weak.  

2. Hreflang tags remain important — but their role might shift slightly
   As Google becomes more capable of detecting language & locale automatically, hreflang may be somewhat less critical in some simple cases; but for complex multilingual / multiregional sites (many variants, overlapping languages), hreflang still adds precision and clarity.

3. Canonical vs version selection may get more aggressive
   If versions are very similar (e.g. same language, slight regional tweaks), Google may choose one canonical version and consolidate signals into it, possibly reducing visibility of regional variants. This already happens in many cases.

4. Analytics & referral data shifts
   As Google ccTLDs redirect, historical data showing traffic from local Google domains may change / disappear. This could impact monitoring and attribution of regional SEO performance. You may see more traffic seemingly originating from google.com regardless of country. 

5. Stronger emphasis on location-signals outside domain
   Signals such as:

   • HTML lang attributes

   • Clear content localized for language / region

   • Local contact / address info

   • Country settings in Search Console

   • Use of geo-targeting options where available

   will likely gain importance.

What You Should Do Now — SEO Best Practices & Strategy Adjustments

To adapt and stay safe / ahead, SEO teams should take proactive steps. Here’s a list of actionable recommendations:

Example Scenarios & What To Watch

• Case: multilingual site with many locales (e.g. English, French (Canada/Belgium), Spanish (Spain / Latin America))
  → Ensure you continue to use hreflang for region + language variants, ensure those pages are distinct, canonical correctly, and monitor which ones Google is indexing & surfacing.

• Case: site using ccTLDs for each country (e.g. example.fr, example.de)
  → It might still be fine; but check whether subdirectories or subdomains could offer better shared authority. Also ensure https, consistent site structure, and hreflang between them.

• Case: content mostly identical across regions with minor differences
  → Consider whether maintaining many similar page variants is worth the overhead; if Google canonicalizes one, usage of hreflang may be less effective.

How to Measure if Changes Are Happening (Signals to Monitor)

Here are metrics & signals you should monitor to see if Google’s changes are affecting you:

• Indexation status per localized page (Search Console)

• Country / regional impressions & clicks over time

• Changes in referral sources (e.g., from google.co.xx to google.com)

• Any traffic drops for regionally targeted pages

• Whether Google is selecting canonical versions different from your setup

• Errors/warnings in Search Console around hreflang misuse / conflicting tags

• Feedback from real users (if some region sees wrong language version)

Remaining Unknowns / Things To Watch

• Will Google eventually deprecate or reduce reliance on hreflang altogether, giving more weight to automatic detection? Google has indicated interest in that, but no official change yet. searchenginecodex.com

• How Google will handle countries with strong legal / regulatory demands (e.g. content that must remain on local ccTLDs, or laws requiring country-specific TLDs or data localization).

• If redirecting ccTLDs to google.com causes any SEO penalties or trust issues for sites that heavily rely on ccTLDs or domain country signals.

• Whether Search Console or Webmaster Tools will change behavior / reporting for international target settings.

Conclusion: What’s Next for Hreflang

• Short term: Little changes in how you should implement hreflang — continue best practices. Google’s domain shift for its own properties doesn’t yet force new requirements for webmasters.

• Medium term (next 6-18 months): Expect gradual evolution — more auto detection, more importance placed on quality of localized content and signals beyond domain structure. Hreflang may become more of a “precision tool” for complex setups rather than mandatory for simpler cases.

• Long term: SEO may lean more toward semantic, AI / ML-driven signals of locale and language, meaning less manual annotation and perhaps more reliance on user behavior, language attributes, content signals, structural cues. But even then, hreflang is unlikely to disappear—rather its role may narrow or change.