Google Now Treats 404 & 410 Status Codes The Same

May 31, 2012 - 8:49 am 7 by

Google 404 SimpsonBack in the day, there was a difference between how Google responded to a 404 vs a 410 server header response code. 410s were faster and more permanent.

It seems as if that may have recently changed.

A Google Webmaster Help thread has Googler John Mueller giving us an update on the differences, or lack there of, between the 404 and 410.

He said, "even back when we differentiated between the two, the practical difference was just a very short time-difference, the overall process was the same."

To be honest, it isn't 100% clear if Google stopped differentiating between the two but it seems they have.

Why have they? I assume because most sites probably don't bother 410ing and just 404, at best.

Forum discussion at Google Webmaster Help.

Update: John Mueller got back to me to say he was wrong about this, he told me:

It's good to double-check these things, and it appears I was wrong there -- we do treat 410s slightly differently than 404s. In particular, we'll sometimes want to confirm a 404 before removing a URL from the index, and we tend to do that faster with a 410 HTTP result code. In practice, the difference is very small, and it's not critical to use a 410 if a URL is permanently removed. If you want to speed up the removal (and don't want to use a noindex meta tag or the urgent URL removal tools), then a 410 might have a small time-advantage over a 404.

 

Popular Categories

The Pulse of the search community

Follow

Search Video Recaps

 
Video Details More Videos Subscribe to Videos

Most Recent Articles

Search Forum Recap

Daily Search Forum Recap: March 28, 2024

Mar 28, 2024 - 4:00 pm
Google Ads

Google Ads Suspended 90% More Advertisers This Year & Removed 5.5 Billion Ads

Mar 28, 2024 - 7:51 am
Google Ads

Google Updates Its Definition Of Top Ads; They May Not Be At The Top

Mar 28, 2024 - 7:41 am
Google Ads

Google Ads Adds Share Ad Preview For Performance Max

Mar 28, 2024 - 7:31 am
Google

Google Can Search For Your Blockchain Wallet Addresses (Bitcoin & More)

Mar 28, 2024 - 7:21 am
Google Maps

New Google Shopping & Maps Search Features

Mar 28, 2024 - 7:11 am
Previous Story: Google AdWords MCC Analytics Linkage Bug