![Barry Pollard](https://web.dev/images/authors/tunetheweb.jpg) Barry Pollard [X](https://twitter.com/tunetheweb) [GitHub](https://github.com/tunetheweb) [Mastodon](https://mastodon.social/@tunetheweb) [Bluesky](https://bsky.app/profile/tunetheweb.com) [Homepage](https://www.tunetheweb.com) ![Oleksiy Busaryev](https://web.dev/images/authors/busaryev.jpg) Oleksiy Busaryev [LinkedIn](https://www.linkedin.com/in/oleksiy-busaryev-31695b4/)

<br />


Published: Feb 12, 2025

<br />

Google Search is [one of the most popular sites on the web](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_most-visited_websites), and also one of the fastest. The Search team is continually investing in making the search experience faster. On a page as popular as Google Search, even milliseconds of improvement quickly add up! That interest in speed includes the well-known Google home page, the Search Engine Results Page (SERP), and clicks to other sites from those search results.

Google Search has been making use of the [Speculation Rules API](https://developer.mozilla.org/docs/Web/API/Speculation_Rules_API) to improve navigation speed from the search results page to the result links and they've been using a few features of the API that may be of interest to other site owners.

## Prefetch the first two results

One of the first uses of speculation rules was to prefetch the first two search results. Searching for "test" for example includes the following speculation rule in the page:

    {
        "prefetch": [{
            "source": "list",
            "requires": [
                "anonymous-client-ip-when-cross-origin"
            ],
            "referrer_policy": "strict-origin",
            "urls": [
                "https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/test",
                "https://dictionary.cambridge.org/dictionary/english/test"
            ]
        }]
    }

The two URLs at the bottom are the first two search results, and they are immediately prefetched. If the user clicks on those, then they will have gotten a head start as the HTML document should already be available to the browser.

The rule and the prefetch attempts can be seen in DevTools Application -\> Speculation tab [as documented previously](https://developer.chrome.com/docs/devtools/application/debugging-speculation-rules):
![DevTools Speculation panel showing listing two dictionary definitions of the word text, both successfully prefetched](https://developer.chrome.com/static/blog/search-speculation-rules/image/speculations-panel-with-two-successful-prefetches.png) Speculations panel with two successful prefetches.

### Privacy-preserving prefetches

Because these links are for content on another sites, there are some additional privacy considerations for prefetching since the user has not yet visited those sites.

Thankfully the API was designed with this in mind, and Google Search is making use of two features to preserve user privacy.

The first is the in using the [`requires` configuration](https://developer.mozilla.org/docs/Web/HTML/Element/script/type/speculationrules#requires), to ensure prefetches use the [private prefetch proxy in Chrome](https://developer.chrome.com/blog/private-prefetch-proxy):

    "requires": [
        "anonymous-client-ip-when-cross-origin"
    ],

This uses a proxy to make sure the connection anonymizes the IP address so we don't leak the user's IP to the site before the user clicks on the link to navigate to it from the search results page.

> [!NOTE]
> **Note:** There are additional considerations for sites wanting to use this proxy, covered in [the Try it section](https://developer.chrome.com/blog/search-speculation-rules#try-it) later in this post. Speculation rules can prefetch cross-origin without the use of the private prefetch proxy, but for sites already using Google service, the proxy offers a way of preventing the IP address being sent outside of Google.

Secondly, Google Search uses the [`referrer_policy` setting](https://developer.mozilla.org/docs/Web/HTML/Element/script/type/speculationrules#referrer_policy) to ensure no details encoded in the search page's URL are sent to the site in the [`referer` HTTP header](https://developer.mozilla.org//docs/Web/HTTP/Headers/Referer):

    "referrer_policy": "strict-origin",

Most browsers now [default to `strict-origin-when-cross-origin`](https://developer.mozilla.org/docs/Web/HTTP/Headers/Referrer-Policy#strict-origin-when-cross-origin_2) but this setting uses a stricter setting to use `strict-origin` referrer policy even for same-origin prefetches.

A third protection automatically happens if the user has cookies for the site. In this case, they may receive different results based on those cookies, and Chrome won't use the prefetched HTML:
![DevTools Speculation panel two URLs, but one has failed to prefetch with an error saying it was not eligible as the user had cookies for that origin](https://developer.chrome.com/static/blog/search-speculation-rules/image/speculations-panel-with-one-failed-prefetch.png) Speculations panel with one failed prefetch due to cookies.

This does mean that users with cookies won't benefit from the improved performance prefetching provides when clicking on that site, but privacy protection and accurate page loads are prioritized. Additionally, if a user has already visited a site and has cookies for it, then they are more likely to have some assets from that site cached and will likely experience a faster page load even without prefetching.

> [!NOTE]
> **Note:** Chrome will still send the anonymous prefetch request (without cookies) so the site (Google Search in this case) is unable to know the user has cookies for a third-party site, but the prefetch response will be discarded.

### Impact to users of prefetching the first two results

As with most changes, Google Search rolled prefetching out in an A/B test experiment, and measured the impact. They saw significant improvements in [Largest Contentful Paint (LCP)](https://web.dev/articles/lcp). On Chrome for Android, LCP for clicks from Google Search were reduced by 67 milliseconds. A followup launch for desktop Chrome resulted in a similar improvement in LCP of 58.6 milliseconds. These are improvements to the site being navigated to, not to the Google Search site itself---but it benefits Google Search users.

These improvements in LCP may seem insignificant, but for a hyper-optimized site like Google Search, we celebrate even millisecond improvements for our users, so improvements in the range of tens of milliseconds are unusual! Your site may see a significantly larger benefit---you should [try it](https://developer.chrome.com/blog/search-speculation-rules#try-it) to find out!

Prefetching using Speculation Rules has been enabled by default on Search on Android since October 2022 and was rolled out to desktop by September 2024.

## Beyond the first two results

Since the Speculation Rules API's initial launch, it was [enhanced with an eagerness property](https://developer.chrome.com/blog/speculation-rules-improvements#eagerness) that allows speculations to only happen when the user hovers on, or starts to click a link.

Google Search decided to move beyond the first two search results and also prefetch remaining search results---but only when the user hovers over the link, by using the `moderate` eagerness setting. This prevents the unnecessary waste of resources for links that are less likely to be clicked.

Again, the rule can be seen in DevTools when you search in Chrome, and it's identical to the previous rule, but this time with the `"eagerness": "moderate"` option set:
![DevTools Rules panel showing a list rule using anonymouse-client-ip-when-cross-origin, a strict-origin referrer policy, moderate eagerness and seven URLs](https://developer.chrome.com/static/blog/search-speculation-rules/image/rules-panel.png) The speculation rule used by Google Search.

Hovering over these links will trigger the prefetch. Note that Google Search explicitly lists the URLs rather than using the [document rules](https://developer.chrome.com/blog/speculation-rules-improvements#document_rules) feature of the Speculation Rules API, since they don't want to prefetch other URLs like ads.

### Impact to users of prefetching the beyond the first two results

Desktop Chrome reduced [First Contentful Paint (FCP)](https://web.dev/articles/fcp) for navigations from Google Search by 7.6 milliseconds and LCP by 9.5 milliseconds (as shown by A/B testing). These represent smaller gains compared to [the 58.6 milliseconds improvements seen in the first two results](https://developer.chrome.com/blog/search-speculation-rules#impact-first-two), but that's not surprising given the smaller lead time as they are not prefetched as eagerly. However, these are still good gains for the same reasons given earlier.

Prefetching of the remaining search results on desktop was rolled out by default in December 2024.

For mobile---where hover is usually not available---there was no real improvement seen and so, while there were also no regressions, these additional prefetches were not enabled on mobile.

## Further use of speculations for Google Search

Google is not finished experimenting with this exciting new API, and our hope is to make browsing the web as fast as possible. We have a few other tricks up our sleeve that we're working on.

As just one example, Chrome is rolling out prerendered search results pages---for users with preload enabled---when users type search queries in the Chrome address bar, and in other places like the search box on Android. This is also [open to other search engines to implement too](https://www.chromium.org/developers/design-documents/omnibox-prefetch-for-default-search-engines/)---not just Google Search---though we're unaware of any implementations for other search engines at this time.

Google Search is not looking to go further and implement prerender for the result links themselves, since this is not available for cross-sites navigation (and must even be [opted in for same-site, cross-origin prerenders](https://developer.chrome.com/docs/web-platform/prerender-pages#future-enhanements)).

## A note on browser support


Browser Support

- ![Chrome: 109.](data:image/svg+xml,%3Csvg xmlns='http://www.w3.org/2000/svg' width='24' height='24' viewBox='-10 -10 276 276'%3E%3ClinearGradient id='a' x1='145' x2='34' y1='253' y2='61' gradientUnits='userSpaceOnUse'%3E%3Cstop offset='0' stop-color='%231e8e3e'/%3E%3Cstop offset='1' stop-color='%2334a853'/%3E%3C/linearGradient%3E%3ClinearGradient id='b' x1='111' x2='222' y1='254' y2='62' gradientUnits='userSpaceOnUse'%3E%3Cstop offset='0' stop-color='%23fcc934'/%3E%3Cstop offset='1' stop-color='%23fbbc04'/%3E%3C/linearGradient%3E%3ClinearGradient id='c' x1='17' x2='239' y1='80' y2='80' gradientUnits='userSpaceOnUse'%3E%3Cstop offset='0' stop-color='%23d93025'/%3E%3Cstop offset='1' stop-color='%23ea4335'/%3E%3C/linearGradient%3E%3Ccircle cx='128' cy='128' r='64' fill='%23fff'/%3E%3Cpath fill='url(%23a)' d='M96 183a64 64 0 0 1-23-23L17 64a128 128 0 0 0 111 192l55-96a64 64 0 0 1-87 23Z'/%3E%3Cpath fill='url(%23b)' d='M192 128a64 64 0 0 1-9 32l-55 96A128 128 0 0 0 239 64H128a64 64 0 0 1 64 64Z'/%3E%3Ccircle cx='128' cy='128' r='52' fill='%231a73e8'/%3E%3Cpath fill='url(%23c)' d='M96 73a64 64 0 0 1 32-9h111a128 128 0 0 0-222 0l56 96a64 64 0 0 1 23-87Z'/%3E%3C/svg%3E)
- ![Edge: 109.](data:image/svg+xml,%3Csvg xmlns='http://www.w3.org/2000/svg' xmlns:xlink='http://www.w3.org/1999/xlink' width='24' height='24' viewBox='0 0 27600 27600'%3E%3ClinearGradient id='A' gradientUnits='userSpaceOnUse'/%3E%3ClinearGradient id='B' x1='6870' x2='24704' y1='18705' y2='18705' xlink:href='%23A'%3E%3Cstop offset='0' stop-color='%230c59a4'/%3E%3Cstop offset='1' stop-color='%23114a8b'/%3E%3C/linearGradient%3E%3ClinearGradient id='C' x1='16272' x2='5133' y1='10968' y2='23102' xlink:href='%23A'%3E%3Cstop offset='0' stop-color='%231b9de2'/%3E%3Cstop offset='.16' stop-color='%231595df'/%3E%3Cstop offset='.67' stop-color='%230680d7'/%3E%3Cstop offset='1' stop-color='%230078d4'/%3E%3C/linearGradient%3E%3CradialGradient id='D' cx='16720' cy='18747' r='9538' xlink:href='%23A'%3E%3Cstop offset='.72' stop-opacity='0'/%3E%3Cstop offset='.95' stop-opacity='.53'/%3E%3Cstop offset='1'/%3E%3C/radialGradient%3E%3CradialGradient id='E' cx='7130' cy='19866' r='14324' gradientTransform='matrix(.14843 -.98892 .79688 .1196 -8759 25542)' xlink:href='%23A'%3E%3Cstop offset='.76' stop-opacity='0'/%3E%3Cstop offset='.95' stop-opacity='.5'/%3E%3Cstop offset='1'/%3E%3C/radialGradient%3E%3CradialGradient id='F' cx='2523' cy='4680' r='20243' gradientTransform='matrix(-.03715 .99931 -2.12836 -.07913 13579 3530)' xlink:href='%23A'%3E%3Cstop offset='0' stop-color='%2335c1f1'/%3E%3Cstop offset='.11' stop-color='%2334c1ed'/%3E%3Cstop offset='.23' stop-color='%232fc2df'/%3E%3Cstop offset='.31' stop-color='%232bc3d2'/%3E%3Cstop offset='.67' stop-color='%2336c752'/%3E%3C/radialGradient%3E%3CradialGradient id='G' cx='24247' cy='7758' r='9734' gradientTransform='matrix(.28109 .95968 -.78353 .22949 24510 -16292)' xlink:href='%23A'%3E%3Cstop offset='0' stop-color='%2366eb6e'/%3E%3Cstop offset='1' stop-color='%2366eb6e' stop-opacity='0'/%3E%3C/radialGradient%3E%3Cpath id='H' d='M24105 20053a9345 9345 0 01-1053 472 10202 10202 0 01-3590 646c-4732 0-8855-3255-8855-7432 0-1175 680-2193 1643-2729-4280 180-5380 4640-5380 7253 0 7387 6810 8137 8276 8137 791 0 1984-230 2704-456l130-44a12834 12834 0 006660-5282c220-350-168-757-535-565z'/%3E%3Cpath id='I' d='M11571 25141a7913 7913 0 01-2273-2137 8145 8145 0 01-1514-4740 8093 8093 0 013093-6395 8082 8082 0 011373-859c312-148 846-414 1554-404a3236 3236 0 012569 1297 3184 3184 0 01636 1866c0-21 2446-7960-8005-7960-4390 0-8004 4166-8004 7820 0 2319 538 4170 1212 5604a12833 12833 0 007684 6757 12795 12795 0 003908 610c1414 0 2774-233 4045-656a7575 7575 0 01-6278-803z'/%3E%3Cpath id='J' d='M16231 15886c-80 105-330 250-330 566 0 260 170 512 472 723 1438 1003 4149 868 4156 868a5954 5954 0 003027-839 6147 6147 0 001133-850 6180 6180 0 001910-4437c26-2242-796-3732-1133-4392-2120-4141-6694-6525-11668-6525-7011 0-12703 5635-12798 12620 47-3654 3679-6605 7996-6605 350 0 2346 34 4200 1007 1634 858 2490 1894 3086 2921 618 1067 728 2415 728 2952s-271 1333-780 1990z'/%3E%3Cuse fill='url(%23B)' xlink:href='%23H'/%3E%3Cuse fill='url(%23D)' opacity='.35' xlink:href='%23H'/%3E%3Cuse fill='url(%23C)' xlink:href='%23I'/%3E%3Cuse fill='url(%23E)' opacity='.4' xlink:href='%23I'/%3E%3Cuse fill='url(%23F)' xlink:href='%23J'/%3E%3Cuse fill='url(%23G)' xlink:href='%23J'/%3E%3C/svg%3E)
- ![Firefox Technology Preview: supported.](data:image/svg+xml,%3Csvg xmlns='http://www.w3.org/2000/svg' width='24' height='24' viewBox='0 0 512 512'%3E%3Cdefs%3E%3CradialGradient id='ff-b' cx='428.5' cy='55.1' r='501' gradientUnits='userSpaceOnUse'%3E%3Cstop offset='.1' stop-color='%23ffbd4f'/%3E%3Cstop offset='.2' stop-color='%23ffac31'/%3E%3Cstop offset='.3' stop-color='%23ff9d17'/%3E%3Cstop offset='.3' stop-color='%23ff980e'/%3E%3Cstop offset='.4' stop-color='%23ff563b'/%3E%3Cstop offset='.5' stop-color='%23ff3750'/%3E%3Cstop offset='.7' stop-color='%23f5156c'/%3E%3Cstop offset='.8' stop-color='%23eb0878'/%3E%3Cstop offset='.9' stop-color='%23e50080'/%3E%3C/radialGradient%3E%3CradialGradient id='ff-c' cx='245.4' cy='259.9' r='501' gradientUnits='userSpaceOnUse'%3E%3Cstop offset='.3' stop-color='%23960e18'/%3E%3Cstop offset='.3' stop-color='%23b11927' stop-opacity='.7'/%3E%3Cstop offset='.4' stop-color='%23db293d' stop-opacity='.3'/%3E%3Cstop offset='.5' stop-color='%23f5334b' stop-opacity='.1'/%3E%3Cstop offset='.5' stop-color='%23ff3750' stop-opacity='0'/%3E%3C/radialGradient%3E%3CradialGradient id='ff-d' cx='305.8' cy='-58.6' r='363' gradientUnits='userSpaceOnUse'%3E%3Cstop offset='.1' stop-color='%23fff44f'/%3E%3Cstop offset='.3' stop-color='%23ffdc3e'/%3E%3Cstop offset='.5' stop-color='%23ff9d12'/%3E%3Cstop offset='.5' stop-color='%23ff980e'/%3E%3C/radialGradient%3E%3CradialGradient id='ff-e' cx='190' cy='390.8' r='238.6' gradientUnits='userSpaceOnUse'%3E%3Cstop offset='.3' stop-color='%233a8ee6'/%3E%3Cstop offset='.5' stop-color='%235c79f0'/%3E%3Cstop offset='.7' stop-color='%239059ff'/%3E%3Cstop offset='1' stop-color='%23c139e6'/%3E%3C/radialGradient%3E%3CradialGradient id='ff-f' cx='252.2' cy='201.3' r='126.5' gradientTransform='matrix(1 0 0 1 -48 31)' gradientUnits='userSpaceOnUse'%3E%3Cstop offset='.2' stop-color='%239059ff' stop-opacity='0'/%3E%3Cstop offset='.3' stop-color='%238c4ff3' stop-opacity='.1'/%3E%3Cstop offset='.8' stop-color='%237716a8' stop-opacity='.5'/%3E%3Cstop offset='1' stop-color='%236e008b' stop-opacity='.6'/%3E%3C/radialGradient%3E%3CradialGradient id='ff-g' cx='239.1' cy='34.6' r='171.6' gradientUnits='userSpaceOnUse'%3E%3Cstop offset='0' stop-color='%23ffe226'/%3E%3Cstop offset='.1' stop-color='%23ffdb27'/%3E%3Cstop offset='.3' stop-color='%23ffc82a'/%3E%3Cstop offset='.5' stop-color='%23ffa930'/%3E%3Cstop offset='.7' stop-color='%23ff7e37'/%3E%3Cstop offset='.8' stop-color='%23ff7139'/%3E%3C/radialGradient%3E%3CradialGradient id='ff-h' cx='374' cy='-74.3' r='732.2' gradientUnits='userSpaceOnUse'%3E%3Cstop offset='.1' stop-color='%23fff44f'/%3E%3Cstop offset='.5' stop-color='%23ff980e'/%3E%3Cstop offset='.6' stop-color='%23ff5634'/%3E%3Cstop offset='.7' stop-color='%23ff3647'/%3E%3Cstop offset='.9' stop-color='%23e31587'/%3E%3C/radialGradient%3E%3CradialGradient id='ff-i' cx='304.6' cy='7.1' r='536.4' gradientTransform='rotate(84 303 4)' gradientUnits='userSpaceOnUse'%3E%3Cstop offset='0' stop-color='%23fff44f'/%3E%3Cstop offset='.1' stop-color='%23ffe847'/%3E%3Cstop offset='.2' stop-color='%23ffc830'/%3E%3Cstop offset='.3' stop-color='%23ff980e'/%3E%3Cstop offset='.4' stop-color='%23ff8b16'/%3E%3Cstop offset='.5' stop-color='%23ff672a'/%3E%3Cstop offset='.6' stop-color='%23ff3647'/%3E%3Cstop offset='.7' stop-color='%23e31587'/%3E%3C/radialGradient%3E%3CradialGradient id='ff-j' cx='235' cy='98.1' r='457.1' gradientUnits='userSpaceOnUse'%3E%3Cstop offset='.1' stop-color='%23fff44f'/%3E%3Cstop offset='.5' stop-color='%23ff980e'/%3E%3Cstop offset='.6' stop-color='%23ff5634'/%3E%3Cstop offset='.7' stop-color='%23ff3647'/%3E%3Cstop offset='.9' stop-color='%23e31587'/%3E%3C/radialGradient%3E%3CradialGradient id='ff-k' cx='355.7' cy='124.9' r='500.3' gradientUnits='userSpaceOnUse'%3E%3Cstop offset='.1' stop-color='%23fff44f'/%3E%3Cstop offset='.2' stop-color='%23ffe141'/%3E%3Cstop offset='.5' stop-color='%23ffaf1e'/%3E%3Cstop offset='.6' stop-color='%23ff980e'/%3E%3C/radialGradient%3E%3ClinearGradient id='ff-a' x1='446.9' y1='76.8' x2='47.9' y2='461.8' gradientUnits='userSpaceOnUse'%3E%3Cstop offset='.1' stop-color='%23fff44f'/%3E%3Cstop offset='.1' stop-color='%23ffe847'/%3E%3Cstop offset='.2' stop-color='%23ffc830'/%3E%3Cstop offset='.4' stop-color='%23ff980e'/%3E%3Cstop offset='.4' stop-color='%23ff8b16'/%3E%3Cstop offset='.5' stop-color='%23ff672a'/%3E%3Cstop offset='.5' stop-color='%23ff3647'/%3E%3Cstop offset='.7' stop-color='%23e31587'/%3E%3C/linearGradient%3E%3ClinearGradient id='ff-l' x1='442.1' y1='74.8' x2='102.6' y2='414.3' gradientUnits='userSpaceOnUse'%3E%3Cstop offset='.2' stop-color='%23fff44f' stop-opacity='.8'/%3E%3Cstop offset='.3' stop-color='%23fff44f' stop-opacity='.6'/%3E%3Cstop offset='.5' stop-color='%23fff44f' stop-opacity='.2'/%3E%3Cstop offset='.6' stop-color='%23fff44f' stop-opacity='0'/%3E%3C/linearGradient%3E%3C/defs%3E%3Cpath d='M479 166c-11-25-32-52-49-60a249 249 0 0 1 25 73c-27-68-73-95-111-155a255 255 0 0 1-8-14 44 44 0 0 1-4-9 1 1 0 0 0 0-1 1 1 0 0 0-1 0c-60 35-81 101-83 134a120 120 0 0 0-66 25 71 71 0 0 0-6-5 111 111 0 0 1-1-58c-25 11-44 29-58 44-9-12-9-52-8-60l-8 4a175 175 0 0 0-24 21 210 210 0 0 0-22 26 203 203 0 0 0-32 73l-1 2-2 15a229 229 0 0 0-4 34v1a240 240 0 0 0 477 40l1-9c5-41 0-84-15-121zM202 355l3 1-3-1zm55-145zm198-31z' fill='url(%23ff-a)'/%3E%3Cpath d='M479 166c-11-25-32-52-49-60 14 26 22 53 25 72v1a207 207 0 0 1-206 279c-113-3-212-87-231-197-3-17 0-26 2-40-2 11-3 14-4 34v1a240 240 0 0 0 477 40l1-9c5-41 0-84-15-121z' fill='url(%23ff-b)'/%3E%3Cpath d='M479 166c-11-25-32-52-49-60 14 26 22 53 25 72v1a207 207 0 0 1-206 279c-113-3-212-87-231-197-3-17 0-26 2-40-2 11-3 14-4 34v1a240 240 0 0 0 477 40l1-9c5-41 0-84-15-121z' fill='url(%23ff-c)'/%3E%3Cpath d='m362 195 1 1a130 130 0 0 0-22-29C266 92 322 5 331 0c-60 35-81 101-83 134l9-1c45 0 84 25 105 62z' fill='url(%23ff-d)'/%3E%3Cpath d='M257 210c-1 6-22 26-29 26-68 0-80 41-80 41 3 35 28 64 57 79l4 2 7 3a107 107 0 0 0 31 6c120 6 143-143 57-186 22-4 45 5 58 14-21-37-60-62-105-62l-9 1a120 120 0 0 0-66 25l17 16c16 16 58 33 58 35z' fill='url(%23ff-e)'/%3E%3Cpath d='M257 210c-1 6-22 26-29 26-68 0-80 41-80 41 3 35 28 64 57 79l4 2 7 3a107 107 0 0 0 31 6c120 6 143-143 57-186 22-4 45 5 58 14-21-37-60-62-105-62l-9 1a120 120 0 0 0-66 25l17 16c16 16 58 33 58 35z' fill='url(%23ff-f)'/%3E%3Cpath d='m171 151 5 3a111 111 0 0 1-1-58c-25 11-44 29-58 44 1 0 36 0 54 11z' fill='url(%23ff-g)'/%3E%3Cpath d='M18 261a242 242 0 0 0 231 197 207 207 0 0 0 206-279c8 56-20 110-64 146-86 71-169 43-186 31l-3-1c-50-24-71-70-67-110-42 0-57-35-57-35s38-28 89-4c46 22 90 4 90 4 0-2-42-19-58-35l-17-16a71 71 0 0 0-6-5l-5-3c-18-11-52-11-54-11-9-12-9-51-8-60l-8 4a175 175 0 0 0-24 21 210 210 0 0 0-22 26 203 203 0 0 0-32 73c0 1-9 38-5 57z' fill='url(%23ff-h)'/%3E%3Cpath d='M341 167a130 130 0 0 1 22 29 46 46 0 0 1 4 3c55 50 26 121 24 126 44-36 72-90 64-146-27-68-73-95-111-155a255 255 0 0 1-8-14 44 44 0 0 1-4-9 1 1 0 0 0 0-1 1 1 0 0 0-1 0c-9 5-65 92 10 167z' fill='url(%23ff-i)'/%3E%3Cpath d='M367 199a46 46 0 0 0-4-3l-1-1c-13-9-36-18-58-15 86 44 63 193-57 187a107 107 0 0 1-31-6 131 131 0 0 1-11-5c17 12 99 39 186-31 2-5 31-76-24-126z' fill='url(%23ff-j)'/%3E%3Cpath d='M148 277s12-41 80-41c7 0 28-20 29-26s-44 18-90-4c-51-24-89 4-89 4s15 35 57 35c-4 40 16 85 67 110l3 1c-29-15-54-44-57-79z' fill='url(%23ff-k)'/%3E%3Cpath d='M479 166c-11-25-32-52-49-60a249 249 0 0 1 25 73c-27-68-73-95-111-155a255 255 0 0 1-8-14 44 44 0 0 1-4-9 1 1 0 0 0 0-1 1 1 0 0 0-1 0c-60 35-81 101-83 134l9-1c45 0 84 25 105 62-13-9-36-18-58-14 86 43 63 192-57 186a107 107 0 0 1-31-6 131 131 0 0 1-11-5l-3-1 3 1c-29-15-54-44-57-79 0 0 12-41 80-41 7 0 28-20 29-26 0-2-42-19-58-35l-17-16a71 71 0 0 0-6-5 111 111 0 0 1-1-58c-25 11-44 29-58 44-9-12-9-52-8-60l-8 4a175 175 0 0 0-24 21 210 210 0 0 0-22 26 203 203 0 0 0-32 73l-1 2-2 15a279 279 0 0 0-4 34v1a240 240 0 0 0 477 40l1-9c5-41 0-84-15-121zm-24 13z' fill='url(%23ff-l)'/%3E%3C/svg%3E)
- ![Safari: behind a flag.](data:image/svg+xml,%3Csvg xmlns='http://www.w3.org/2000/svg' xmlns:xlink='http://www.w3.org/1999/xlink' width='24' height='24' viewBox='195 190 135 135'%3E%3Cdefs%3E%3ClinearGradient id='s-a' x1='132.6' x2='134.4' y1='111.7' y2='-105.3' xlink:href='%23s-b'%3E%3Cstop offset='0' stop-color='%23d2d2d2' /%3E%3Cstop offset='.5' stop-color='%23f2f2f2' /%3E%3Cstop offset='1' stop-color='%23fff' /%3E%3C/linearGradient%3E%3ClinearGradient id='s-b' gradientUnits='userSpaceOnUse' /%3E%3ClinearGradient id='s-c' x1='65.4' x2='67.4' y1='115.7' y2='17.1' xlink:href='%23s-b'%3E%3Cstop offset='0' stop-color='%23005ad5' /%3E%3Cstop offset='.2' stop-color='%230875f0' /%3E%3Cstop offset='.3' stop-color='%23218cee' /%3E%3Cstop offset='.6' stop-color='%2327a5f3' /%3E%3Cstop offset='.8' stop-color='%2325aaf2' /%3E%3Cstop offset='1' stop-color='%2321aaef' /%3E%3C/linearGradient%3E%3ClinearGradient id='s-d' x1='158.7' x2='176.3' y1='96.7' y2='79.5' xlink:href='%23s-b'%3E%3Cstop offset='0' stop-color='%23c72e24' /%3E%3Cstop offset='1' stop-color='%23fd3b2f' /%3E%3C/linearGradient%3E%3CradialGradient id='s-i' cx='-69.9' cy='69.3' r='54' gradientTransform='matrix(.9 -.01 .04 2.72 -9 -120)' xlink:href='%23s-b'%3E%3Cstop offset='0' stop-color='%2324a5f3' stop-opacity='0' /%3E%3Cstop offset='1' stop-color='%231e8ceb' /%3E%3C/radialGradient%3E%3CradialGradient id='s-j' cx='109.3' cy='13.8' r='93.1' gradientTransform='matrix(-.02 1.1 -1.04 -.02 137 -115)' xlink:href='%23s-b'%3E%3Cstop offset='0' stop-opacity='0' /%3E%3Cstop offset='1' stop-color='%235488d6' stop-opacity='0' /%3E%3Cstop offset='1' stop-color='%235d96eb' /%3E%3C/radialGradient%3E%3C/defs%3E%3Crect width='220' height='220' x='22' y='-107' fill='url(%23s-a)' ry='49' transform='matrix(.57 0 0 .57 187 256)' /%3E%3Cg transform='translate(194 190)'%3E%3Ccircle cx='67.8' cy='67.7' fill='url(%23s-c)' paint-order='stroke fill markers' r='54' /%3E%3Ccircle cx='-69.9' cy='69.3' fill='url(%23s-i)' transform='translate(138 -2)' r='54' /%3E%3C/g%3E%3Cellipse cx='120' cy='14.2' fill='url(%23s-j)' rx='93.1' ry='93.7' transform='matrix(.58 0 0 .58 192 250)' /%3E%3Cg transform='matrix(.58 0 0 .57 197 182)'%3E%3Cpath fill='%23cac7c8' d='M46 192h1l72-48-7-9-66 57Z' /%3E%3Cpath fill='%23fbfffc' d='M46 191v1l66-57-7-9-59 65Z' /%3E%3Cpath fill='url(%23s-d)' d='m119 144-7-9 66-57-59 66Z' /%3E%3Cpath fill='%23fb645c' d='m105 126 7 9 66-57-1-1-72 49Z' /%3E%3C/g%3E%3Cpath stroke='%23fff' stroke-linecap='round' stroke-miterlimit='1' stroke-width='1.3' d='m287 278 3-2m-12-17 8-2m-8-3h4m-4-13 8 2m-8 3h4m-1-13 7 3m-4-11 7 4m-2-11 6 6m0-12 6 7m1-11 4 6m4-10 3 7m5-9 2 7m15-7-1 7m10-5-3 7m11-4-4 7m11-2-5 6m16 7-7 4m10 4-7 3m10 6-8 1m8 16-8-2m5 10-7-3m4 11-7-4m2 11-6-5m0 11-5-6m-2 11-4-7m-4 11-3-8m-6 10-1-8m-16 8 2-8m-10 5 3-7m-11 4 4-7m-11 2 5-6m-8 3 3-3m4 8 2-3m5 8 2-4m6 7 1-4m8 5v-4m8 4v-4m9 3-1-4m9 1-2-4m9 0-2-4m9-2-3-3m8-4-3-2m8-5-4-2m7-6-4-1m5-8h-4m4-8h-4m3-9-4 1m1-9-4 2m-1-9-3 2m-2-9-3 3m-4-8-2 3m-5-8-2 4m-6-6-1 3m-8-5v4m-8-4v4m-9-2 1 3m-9 0 2 3m-9 1 2 3m-9 2 3 3m-8 4 3 2m-8 5 4 2m-7 6 4 1m-4 25 4-1m-2 5 7-3m-6 7 4-2m-2 6 7-4m-13-21h8m41-41v-8m0 99v-8m49-42h-8' transform='translate(-65 8)' /%3E%3C/svg%3E)

[Source](https://developer.mozilla.org/docs/Web/HTML/Reference/Elements/script/type/speculationrules)

<br />

The Speculation Rules API is implemented in Chromium-based browsers at this time, but [Chrome is publishing the API specification through the W3C standards process](https://wicg.github.io/nav-speculation/speculation-rules.html) and are keen for other browsers to implement this API.

The private prefetch proxy is currently only implemented in Chrome and not other Chromium-based browsers, but if other browsers implement their own private prefetch proxy, Google Search may look to implement these improvements there too.

Due to the privacy implications of prefetching without a private prefetch proxy, Google Search doesn't prefetch on browsers which don't support this technology, and so have not implemented a fallback using other technologies for other browsers. However, as a progressive enhancement, this just means users on those browsers don't benefit from this small speed increase.

## Try it on your site!

The Speculation Rules API is available for all sites to use, not just Google Search. Beyond the prefetching capabilities discussed here, [prerendering](https://developer.chrome.com/docs/web-platform/prerender-pages) offers further benefits when and where it can be used. With large sites like Google Search showing clear benefits of this API for the user experience, we encourage all site owners to look into how they can use and potentially benefit from the API.

Additionally, the [privacy protections](https://developer.chrome.com/blog/search-speculation-rules#privacy-preserving-prefetches) detailed in this post are also available to other sites---with the caveat that users must have [Extended Preload support enabled in their settings](https://developer.chrome.com/blog/private-prefetch-proxy#referrers) to allow non-Google sites to route traffic using Google's private prefetch proxy. This is because this introduces Google as an extra party between the user and the site whereas this is not necessary on Google sites---since they are already one of the involved parties.