"Unusual traffic from your computer network": why Google shows it and how to fix it

Google shows "Our systems have detected unusual traffic from your computer network" when requests from your public IP address look automated. Every device behind that address shares the verdict. The person who sees the page may not be the one who caused it. Google's help page lists the possible sources: a VPN, a shared school or work network, other customers of your internet provider, and malware. Solve the CAPTCHA to keep searching; the block ends shortly after the automated requests stop.

#What does the unusual traffic message mean?

The block page reads, word for word: "Our systems have detected unusual traffic from your computer network. Please try your request again later" (Google, October 23, 2026). Under the line "Why did this happen?" Google gives its reason. The page appears when requests from your network "appear to be in violation of the Terms of Service" in Google's view. The block "will expire shortly after those requests stop," the page adds.

The same page names three kinds of sender: "malicious software, a browser plug-in, or a script that sends automated requests" (Google). It warns that a different computer "using the same IP address may be responsible" when you share a connection. Searching very fast, or with "advanced terms that robots are known to use," can also bring the page up.

The verdict belongs to the address, the public IP that your whole network uses on the internet. RFC 6269, the IETF's document on shared addresses, describes the method. A server that sees too many requests from one address may refuse it for a while or ask for a CAPTCHA. On a shared address, one person's behavior can lock out the others.

#Why does Google think my network sends automated traffic?

Each cause below puts someone else's traffic, or a program's, on your address. They run in the order you can test them, quickest first, because Google does not say how often each one occurs.

A VPN, a proxy or Tor

A VPN gives you an exit address that its other customers use too. Google says the page can appear when "others that use the same Virtual Private Network (VPN) you use are sending automated searches" (Google Search Help). Some VPNs and IPv6 tunnel services get all of their traffic blocked, because Google cannot tell the abusive requests from the normal ones.

Tor users see the same kind of page. The Tor Project says thousands of users may share one exit relay's address at the same time. We checked 25 Tor exits from the Tor Project's own list in FFraud's free API on October 23, 2026. All 25 scored 100 out of 100, and 24 carried abuse confirmed within the last 30 days.

A shared network at school, at work or in public

Schools, offices, hotels and coffee shops usually send everyone's traffic out through one public address (RFC 3022). Google names this case: you can get the message "if others that use the same network you use, like at a school or business, are sending automated searches to Google" (Google Search Help). One infected laptop or one busy script on that network can be enough.

Your provider's shared address

Some providers put many customers behind one public address, with a system called carrier-grade NAT. In 2012 the IETF set aside 100.64.0.0/10 for the links inside these systems (RFC 6598). Google covers this case too: the message can appear when "others that use the same internet provider you use" send automated searches.

Apple's iCloud Private Relay

Private Relay swaps your address for one from Apple's relay range. Apple says that address "may be shared among more than one Private Relay user in the same area" (Apple developer guidance). Its support page warns that some websites "may require extra steps to sign in or access content" for relay users. In our test, 25 relay addresses averaged 13.2 out of 100 in FFraud, a low score, and every one was flagged as a relay.

A device or add-on on your network

Malware can send searches without your knowledge, and Google's help lists it first. A browser add-on can do the same: Google's block page names "a browser plug-in" as one sender. The device does not have to be a computer.

In June 2025 the FBI warned that infected TV streaming boxes, projectors and digital picture frames pull home networks into a botnet. Criminals then sell access to those home networks as proxies. A generic streaming box sold as "unlocked or capable of accessing free content" is one of the FBI's warning signs.

Your own scripts and tools

Google counts searches from robots, computer programs, automated services and search scrapers as automated traffic. Software that checks where a website ranks on Google is on the same list. A tool like that, or a script that searches for you, can trigger the page for your whole network.

#How can I tell which cause it is?

Five checks narrow it down. The first two need nothing but your own devices.

1. Note where it happens. If every device on one network sees the page, the cause sits on that network. If one device sees it on every network, look at that device.
2. Change networks on one device. Switch your phone or laptop from Wi-Fi to mobile data, or the reverse, and search again. The switch puts you on an address from another provider.
3. Look up your address. Open what is my IP. It shows the address websites see, a 0 to 100 risk score, and any VPN, proxy, Tor or data center flag.
4. Name the exit. If a flag shows, run the address through proxy and VPN detection. It names VPN endpoints, open proxies, Tor exits, residential proxies, data centers and private relays.
5. Read your router's internet address. Open the router's status page and find its WAN address. An address from 100.64.0.0 to 100.127.255.255 means your provider uses carrier-grade NAT (RFC 6598).

Our checkers show FFraud's evidence about the address. Google keeps its own data, and its block page shows only your address and the time. A clean result here points away from VPN and Tor exits, but it cannot show what Google saw.

What our test of 100 shared addresses found

To see how shared exits compare, we ran 100 addresses through FFraud's free API on October 23, 2026. Each group of 25 came from the list its operator publishes: the Tor Project, Apple, Amazon Web Services and Google Cloud.

All 100 addresses carried a data center, relay or Tor flag. Confirmed abuse sat on 24 of the 25 Tor exits and on 1 of the other 75 addresses. A flag says what kind of exit an address is; the score adds what came out of it. Google runs its own systems, so its verdict on the same address can differ.

#How do I fix it?

Work down this list and search again after each step. Stop at the first step that clears the page.

1. Solve the CAPTCHA. Google says the message then goes away and you can use Google again. If no CAPTCHA appears, turn on JavaScript or use a browser that reCAPTCHA supports.
2. Turn off the VPN, proxy or Private Relay. On Tor, choose New Circuit for this Site to get another exit relay and another address.
3. Test another network. If mobile data works and the Wi-Fi does not, the cause sits on the Wi-Fi's network.
4. Remove add-ons you do not recognize. Google's Chrome help lists unwanted extensions that keep coming back as a sign of unwanted software.
5. Scan for malware. In Windows Security, a full scan checks every file and program. Microsoft's offline scan runs after a restart without loading Windows, so persistent malware has a harder time hiding. On a Mac, Google's Chrome help shows how to move unknown apps to the Trash.
6. Check the other devices. Unplug any generic streaming box sold as "unlocked or capable of accessing free content," then search again.
7. Pause your own tools. Stop rank checkers, scrapers and scripts that send searches to Google.
8. Ask the network's owner. At school or work, the IT staff can find the device that sends the traffic. Google asks network administrators and providers to locate the sources and block them.

#Is it the real Google page or a fake CAPTCHA?

Google's real page sits on Google's own domain, at an address such as google.com/sorry/index, and usually shows a reCAPTCHA. Criminals copy it. In August 2025 Microsoft reported that fake pages now imitate Google's reCAPTCHA and Cloudflare's Turnstile. They tell visitors to paste a command into the Windows Run dialog (Win + R) or a terminal as a check.

#What if nothing works?

If every device on every day still gets the page, the address may carry traffic you cannot see. Contact your internet provider, as Google's help advises, and ask whether you share a public address. Google asks providers to find the sources of automated traffic and block them.

FFraud's listings are separate from Google's systems. If our checker lists your address and you think the listing is wrong, ask for a review. A person checks it against our evidence. A false positive drops out of the next open data build within a day or two. That changes FFraud's verdict only; Google decides with its own data.

If other sites block you as well, read why is my IP blocked. For listings on spam and abuse blocklists, read why is my IP blacklisted.

#Questions people ask