Google is exploring new solutions to tackle a persistent problem in SEO strategies involving website crawling: URL parameters.
During the “Search Off The Record” podcast , Google analyst Gary Illyes discussed how these parameters can create significant difficulties, especially on e-commerce sites and large portals, where URL management is a complex task.
Below, we will show you the challenges and possible solutions to this issue that has worried experts and companies.
The Google URL Parameters Challenge
URL parameters are additional elements that appear at the end of web page addresses, often used for purposes such as user tracking, content filtering, and personalizing results.
While useful for many functions, these parameters can generate part time data millions of different URLs for a single page, creating problems for both website administrators and search engines.
Gary Illyes pointed out that these parameters can lead to the creation of “infinite URLs,” overwhelming Google’s crawling capabilities. This is because technically, it’s possible to add a nearly infinite number of parameters to a URL without changing the actual content of the page.
For Google, this means it has to crawl all of these variations to identify which ones are actually relevant, which can result in wasted resources and failure to index important pages.
Impact on e-commerce sites
E-commerce sites are particularly affected by this problem due to their heavy use of faceted navigation, which allows users to filter products by characteristics such as color, size or price.
Each filter combination can generate a new URL, and with the addition of parameters for campaign tracking or user preferences, the number of unique URLs can multiply exponentially.
Illyes mentioned that this complexity makes the crawling process much more difficult. Even if the URL variations point to the same content, Google has to visit each one to confirm this, which takes up time and resources that could be better allocated.
URL Parameters Tool History and Deprecation
The issue of URL parameters is not new to Google. The company previously offered a tool in Search Console that allowed site administrators to indicate which parameters were irrelevant and could be ignored.
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However, this tool was discontinued in 2022, leaving many SEO professionals worried about how to manage this crucial aspect of their websites.
With the tool removed, the challenge now falls to Google to find alternative solutions that can help sites better manage their URL parameters, avoiding overloading crawl resources and ensuring more effective indexing.