In a nutshell: Google recently confirmed that JavaScript is now required for users to submit queries to its web search service. According to a company spokesperson, the new requirement will improve the overall security of Google Search against potentially malicious activities, including bots, spam, and attempts to exploit SEO algorithms.
Despite being one of the most universal programming languages currently in use for web-based applications, JavaScript remains shunned by a tiny minority of netizens. But Google is now forcing this increasingly sparse group of users to use the ECMAScript-compliant language for searching the internet.
JavaScript's origins date back to the foundational years of the modern web, when Netscape cooperated with Sun Microsystems to add a proper programming language to its Navigator web browser. The "JavaScript" trademark is currently part of a legal quarrel between Oracle and the JS community, but the language is essential for modern, interactive websites and browsers to work the way they do.
According to Google, the user experience should improve with this change and Search will barely work without enabling JavaScript first. Bots, spam, and other forms of algorithmic abuse are constantly evolving, the tech giant says, which is why Search needs the full power of the JavaScript language to better protect and serve users.
Some users still avoid using JavaScript for privacy-related reasons, or to improve security online in extremely sensitive environments. JavaScript can definitely increase the attack surface for cybercriminals and adversarial countries, with major browser developers fixing high-severity or critical security vulnerabilities every month.
Google says that the number of average search queries currently served without JavaScript is fewer than 0.1 percent. Google Search processes around 8.5 billion queries every single day, so this tiny minority still amounts to millions of users looking for information online without enabling JS first.
Aside from being a potential security issue for a non-trivial number of users, the new JavaScript requirement could also have detrimental effects on third-party tools designed to check website rankings on Google Search.
A recent report by Search Engine Roundtable stated that some of these tools stopped working after Google decided to enforce the use of JavaScript. The company declined to comment on this report, though a less SEO-oriented search service could be considered a highly desired improvement for those surfing the web.
