Google: JavaScript Redirects Not A Good Idea

Jul 10, 2020 - 7:21 am 1 by

Wind Rose Google

Gary Illyes from Google said on Twitter it is probably not a good idea to use JavaScript redirects. This was specific to redirecting users based on their location to a country specific version of the page. But Google has said before that server side redirects are the best.

Here is Gary's tweet:

In 2016, John Mueller said on Google+ (trust me, there was a Google+) "JavaScript redirects: If you can’t do a server-side redirect, using JavaScript is a good fall-back. If you’re using a JavaScript framework for your site, this might also be the only option. Caching depends on the server settings, and search engines have to guess at what you’re trying to do (index under R or S?)."

In 2010, John also told people to shy away from using meta refresh-type or JavaScript redirects.

Go server side when it comes to implementing redirects.

Forum discussion at Twitter.

 

Popular Categories

The Pulse of the search community

Search Video Recaps

 
Video Details More Videos Subscribe to Videos

Most Recent Articles

Search Forum Recap

Daily Search Forum Recap: February 17, 2026

Feb 17, 2026 - 10:00 am
Google Search Engine Optimization

Google: Allowing Opting Out Of AI Overviews Is A Huge Engineering Project

Feb 17, 2026 - 7:51 am
Google Ads

Google Ads Recommendations Doc About The Results Tab

Feb 17, 2026 - 7:41 am
Google

Google AI Mode Ask About Feature Now Triggers On Overlay

Feb 17, 2026 - 7:31 am
Google

Google Tests Links In Recipe AI Overviews

Feb 17, 2026 - 7:21 am
Google

Google AI Overviews Have Blue Links Before Click & Gray After Click

Feb 17, 2026 - 7:11 am
 
Previous Story: Google Tests Bold & Large Ad Titles In Snippets