Google’s John Mueller debunks the “Index Bloat” theory, stating that there is no limit to the number of indexed pages per site.
In a recent episode of the “Search Off The Record” podcast, the Google Search Relations team addresses questions about indexing web pages.
A key point of discussion was the concept of “Index Bloat”, a theory that has caught the attention of the SEO community.
Google search attorney John Mueller refutes the idea of index inflation, which posits that over-indexing unnecessary pages can negatively affect search engine rankings.
This article covers the details of the index inflation theory, Google’s response, and the broader implications for SEO practices.
The theory behind the inflated index
The term “index bloat” describes a situation where search crawlers index pages that are not ideal for search results.
This includes various pages, such as filtered product pages, internal search results, printable versions of pages, and more.
Proponents of the index inflation theory argue that these pages make it harder for search engines to understand websites, negatively affecting search rankings.
The theory relates to the concept of crawl budget, the number of URLs a search engine will crawl during each visit.
The theory suggests that index inflation can lead to inefficient use of this crawl budget, as search bots spend time and resources gathering unnecessary information.
Google’s response to the theory of index inflation
Mueller debunks the index inflation theory, stating:
“I am not aware of any concept of index bloat at Google. Our systems do not artificially limit the number of pages indexed per site. I would just make sure that the pages you provide for indexing are actually useful, but that is independent of number of pages your site has.”
This claim challenges the fundamental premise of index inflation.
According to Mueller, Google does not impose an artificial limit on indexed pages per site.
Instead of worrying about missing pages from Google’s index, Mueller believes your time is better spent publishing useful content.
The “causes” of index inflation
Those who support the index inflation theory often cite causes such as accidental page duplication, incorrect robots.txt files, and poor or underperforming content.
However, Google suggests that these are not causes of non-existent “index bloat”, but general SEO practices that webmasters and SEO professionals should pay attention to.
Inflated index “detection”.
Proponents of the index inflation theory have suggested using tools like Google Search Console to detect index inflation by comparing the number of indexed pages to what is expected.
Google’s point of view, however, implies that this comparison does not indicate a problem. It is part of the regular management and monitoring of the website.
The Final Word
Despite the talk around index inflation, Google’s official position is clear: the notion is debunked.
Instead, the focus should be on making sure the pages you provide for indexing are valuable and relevant.
source: Google search off the record
Featured image generated by the author via Midjourney.
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