Google: GoogleBot Doesn't Make Up URLs To Crawl & Index

Jan 3, 2018 - 7:32 am 13 by

Google Web Flows

There is this long run theory in the SEO world that Google will sometimes make up URLs with the attempt to try and discover, crawl and index pages they can't find otherwise. If you think of that theory, it kind of seems inefficient and un-Google like - but hey, that is why we have theories.

Well, John Mueller from Google pretty much said that Google does not do that. He said in a Google Webmaster Help thread "in general, Googlebot doesn't make up URLs." In general, of course, he said in general. But again, if you think about it, why would Google go through the effort?

John said:

In general, Googlebot doesn't make up URLs, so if they were found (and not in your sitemap file), it's likely that they were linked from somewhere within your website (it's also possible that these links have since been removed).

I would assume, most of these cases are people linking to you weird or broken links that Google follows from other sites or your own internal site.

Either way, do you think Google tries to crawl URLs that they make up out of the blue?

Forum discussion at Google Webmaster Help.

 

Popular Categories

The Pulse of the search community

Search Video Recaps

 
- YouTube
Video Details More Videos Subscribe to Videos

Most Recent Articles

Search Forum Recap

Daily Search Forum Recap: April 29, 2025

Apr 29, 2025 - 10:00 am
Other Search Engines

ChatGPT Search Gains Shopping Search Features (Not Ads) & More

Apr 29, 2025 - 7:51 am
Google Search Engine Optimization

Google: Changing Lastmod Date In Sitemap Isn't An SEO Hack

Apr 29, 2025 - 7:41 am
Bing Search

Bing Tests New AI Answer Summary

Apr 29, 2025 - 7:31 am
Google Ads

Google Tests New Shopping Ads Design

Apr 29, 2025 - 7:21 am
Bing Search

Bing Search Without Microsoft Name By Logo

Apr 29, 2025 - 7:11 am
Previous Story: Pamela Lund - The Search Community Honors You