SEARCHENGINES

Google’s John Mueller On 404ing or Using Rel Canonical On URL Parameters

Published

2 years ago

September 18, 2022

Google Search Testing Double Site Name & URL In Snippets

There is an interesting response from John Mueller of Google on what to do with URLs that may appear duplicated because of URL parameters, like UTMs, at the end of the URLs. John said definitely don’t 404 those URLs, which I think no one would argue with. But he also said you can use the rel=canonical because that was what it was made for. The kicker is he said it probably doesn’t matter either way for SEO.

Now, I had to read John’s response a couple of times on Reddit and maybe I am interpreting the last part incorrectly, so help me out here.

Here is the question:

Hello! New to the community but have been in SEO for ~5 years. Started a new job as the sole SEO manager and am thinking about crawl budget. There are ~20k crawled not indexed URLs compared to the 2k that are crawled and indexed – this is not due to error, but due to the high number of UTM/campaign specific URLs and (intentionally) 404’d pages.

I was hoping to balance out this crawl budget a bit and removing the UTM/campaign URLs from being crawled via robots.txt and by turning some of the 404s into 410s (would also help with overall site health).

Can someone help me figure out if this could be a good idea/could potentially cause harm?

John’s 404 response:

Pages that don’t exist should return 404. You don’t gain anything SEO-wise for making them 410. The only reason I’ve heard that I can follow is that it makes it easier to recognize accidental 404s vs known removed pages as 410s. (IMO if your important pages accidentally become 404s, you’d probably notice that quickly regardless of the result code)

John’s canonical response:

For UTM parameters I’d just set the rel-canonical and leave them alone. The rel canonical won’t make them all disappear (nor would robots.txt), but it’s the cleaner approach than blocking (it’s what the rel canonical was made for, essentially).

Okay, so far, do not use 404s in this situation but do use rel=canonical – got it.

John then explained SEO wise, it probably doesn’t matter?

For both of these, I suspect you wouldn’t see any visible change on your site in search (sorry, tech-SEO aficionados). The rel-canonical on UTM URLs is certainly a cleaner solution than letting them accumulate & bubble out on their own. Fixing that early means you won’t get 10 generations of SEOs who inform you of the “duplicate content problem” (which isn’t an issue there anyway if they’re not getting indexed; and when they do get indexed, they get dropped as duplicates anyway), so I guess it’s a good investment in your future use of time 🙂

So Google will likely handle the duplicate URLs, the UTM parameters anyway, even if they do index them. But to make SEO consultants happy, use the rel=canonical? Is that what he is saying here? I do like that response, if that is his message – but maybe I got it wrong?

Forum discussion at Reddit.

Source: www.seroundtable.com

Related Topics:404ing Canonical Googles John Mueller Parameters Rel URL

Up Next

Google Adds Health & Safety And Sustainability To Hotel Knowledge Panels

Don't Miss

Daily Search Forum Recap: September 16, 2022

Click to comment

You must be logged in to post a comment Login

SEARCHENGINES

Daily Search Forum Recap: October 10, 2024

Published

18 hours ago

October 10, 2024

Entireweb News Bot

Here is a recap of what happened in the search forums today, through the eyes of the Search Engine Roundtable and other search forums on the web.

Google Local Service Ads will require advertisers to have a Google Business Profile next month. Google is testing a Quick view button in search that gives searchers no reason to look at your site. Google may have 9,000 ad campaigns created every second. Google is testing verified labels for retailers in the product search results. Google is expanding store ratings to more countries.

Search Engine Roundtable Stories:

Google Tests Quick View Button For Recipes That Keep You On Google

Google is testing placing a “quick view” button overlayed on the images on recipes within Google Search. The crazy part is that clicking on “Quick view” keeps you on Google while giving you a snapshot of the content from the publisher, without sending that traffic to the publisher.

Google Local Service Ads To Soon Require Google Business Profile

Google will soon require businesses who want to advertise using Google Local Service Ads to also have a Google Business Profile. Google posted a notice that reads, “By Thursday, November 21, 2024, your Local Services ad will need a matching Google Business Profile to continue appearing in search results and to display your customer reviews.”

9,000 Google Ads Campaigns Created Every Second???

Thomas Eccel posted a guess, trying to figure out how many Google Ads campaigns are created in a timeframe. He said if the ad campaigns are issued in sequential order, based on his calculations, 9,000 ad campaigns are created on Google Ads every second.

Google Search Tests Verified Labels For Product Results

Back in August we reported that Google was testing showing verified badges, verification labels, in the organic search results. Well, now Google is testing the verified label on the detailed product results overlay, on retailer listings.

Google Store Ratings Now Available In India, Australia, Canada & UK

Google is rolling out the Store ratings feature beyond US Search. It is rolling out to searchers in Australia, Canada, India and the United Kingdom. Although, we’ve seen examples of Google showing them in Australia and other countries over the years, I guess as a test.

Google Noogler Bison Again

We have a photo of this Google Bison from 2018. It looks to be in the same condition but moved from its previous location. It also looks angry…

Other Great Search Threads:

We’re now seeing AI Overviews appearing for non signed-in users in the UK, ZA, NZ, SG, KE – well countries where English is commonly spoken., Authoritas on X

I’m sure it’ll be a great event! Unfortunately, I’m only able to make it virtually this time :-/. Martin’s there though, he’s pretty cool too!, John Mueller on LinkedIn

That’s a fantastic question and right upfront: I don’t have an answer, but I have an idea., Martin Splitt on LinkedIn

You know how sometimes you’re certain you had a good reason to do something, later on forget why, but continue doing it just in case there’s still a good reason? That’s why. 🙂, John Mueller on Mastodon

Search Engine Land Stories:

Feedback:

Have feedback on this daily recap; let me know on Twitter @rustybrick or @seroundtable, on Threads, Mastodon and Bluesky and you can follow us on Facebook and on Google News and make sure to subscribe to the YouTube channel, Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Google Podcasts or just contact us the old fashion way.

Source link

SEARCHENGINES

Daily Search Forum Recap: October 9, 2024

Published

2 days ago

October 9, 2024

Entireweb News Bot

Here is a recap of what happened in the search forums today, through the eyes of the Search Engine Roundtable and other search forums on the web.

DOJ may breakup Google and worse, but the ruling won’t happen officially until next year. Google is testing what people are saying short videos. Google is testing card style knowledge panels on desktop. Google is testing most mentioned places. Google Ads cleaned up its side bar navigation. Google Business Profiles lets you reorder your menu items for your restaurant.

Search Engine Roundtable Stories:

DOJ May Breakup Google As Remedy To Monopoly Ruling

Late last night, the Department of Justice indicated that it was considering a possible breakup of Google as an antitrust remedy to its monopoly ruling. Of course, Google will appeal this decision, which will have this stuck in courts for years. A breakup is probably the most strict outcomes of this ruling that anyone expected.

Google Tests What People Are Saying Short Video Search Results

Google had this feature titled “What people are saying” that led to forums, in a list and text format. Now, Google is testing this same thing but it leads to short videos on TikTok and other platforms.

Google Tests Card Style Knowledge Panel Desktop Design

Google is testing its mobile design for knowledge panels on desktop. You can see the card formatted design for these knowledge panels on the desktop interface.

Google Search Tests Most Mentioned Places Carousel

Google is testing a new local search carousel named “Most Mentioned Places.” It seems to bring up local retail stores that have the product you are searching for. It shows local Google Business Profile listings, with the photo, and review summaries.

Google Drag & Drop Reorder Your Restaurant Menu Items

Google Business Profiles now lets you quickly reorder your menu items on your restaurant’s menu with drag-and-drop menus. This allows you to move menu items from section to section much faster and easier.

Google Ads Improved Console Sidebar Navigation

Google has made a small but useful change to the Google Ads sidebar navigation. It made the background white on sub-navigational elements, which helps differentiate between main menu options and sub-menu options.

Google Bike Window Stickup Sign

Here is a large window stick up sign or decal I found on Instagram. It looks a bit over the top but hey, that is why I am sharing it with you.

Other Great Search Threads:

Search Engine Land Stories:

Feedback:

Source link

SEARCHENGINES

Google Showing Competitor Ads Above Local Reviews

Published

3 days ago

October 8, 2024

Entireweb News Bot

Google has done it again, it has shown ads from competitors directly above the reviews section of a Google local listing. We’ve seen Google do this before with LSA listings numerous times, with Google local listings and branded knowledge panels and LSA messaging.

Anthony Higman spotted this and posted screenshots and a video of this in action on X – I will say, I tried to replicate it and it did not come up for me. But here is what Anthony saw:

This is a screenshot from his videocast:

This is what I see – no ads:

Here is his video:

pic.twitter.com/iNAczCTt7U

— Anthony Higman (@AnthonyHigman) October 7, 2024

There is also this:

Recently, many clients have had a sudden influx of calls or hangup calls from paid search ads. When reviewing the calls, the consumer thinks they are calling the competitor (not bidding on them). It’s been a nightmare to navigate and negate. Plus, several brand’s name cpc went up

— Nate Louis (@N8Louis) October 8, 2024