Google Blog: Updates on Dynamic Versus Static URL Discussion

Google recently annouced that, they prefer you feed them dynamic URL's over static url's (mod_rewrite, vbseo etc etc) due to their spiders, alogrithims and other factors.

This doesn't just apply to vBulletin boards but all websites that use mod_rewrite. If you're having issues, this could be why.

Breaking News: Google Settles The Score Of To Mod_Rewrite Or Not!

Has anyone from the vBSEO team had a chance to review thier post (Official Google Webmaster Central Blog: Dynamic URLs vs. static URLs) and confirm if vBSEO is still safe to use?

oh man I was just posting this lol ....

This isn't a good news, what say

From what I can tell it only really affect poorly rewritten URL's

For example:

Bad rewrites of:

Code:

www.example.com/article/bin/answer.foo?language=en&answer=3&sid=98971298178906&query=URL

Would be:

Code:

www.example.com/article/bin/answer.foo/en/3/98971298178906/URL

Code:

www.example.com/article/bin/answer.foo/language=en/answer=3/sid=98971298178906/query=URL

Code:

www.example.com/article/bin/answer.foo/language/en/answer/3/sid/98971298178906/query/URL

Code:

www.example.com/article/bin/answer.foo/en,3,98971298178906,URL

And would have no benefits at all (and could cause duplicate contents or spidering problems).


However solid URL's, E.G:

Code:

www.example.com/article/answer-3.html

Will still be fine.

Thank you woostar, that was my assumption, but we all know what happens when we assume and figured i'd let the professionals toss out an answer as well rather then let it go unanswered

yes you are correct... BUT according to Google:-

1. "However, if you're using URL rewriting to produce static-looking URLs from a dynamic site, you could be doing harm rather than good. Feel free to serve us your standard dynamic URL and we will automatically find the parameters which are unnecessary"

2. If you have a dynamic URL which is in the standard format like foo?key1=value&key2=value2 we recommend that you leave the url unchanged, and Google will determine which parameters can be removed;

2. If you have a dynamic URL which is in the standard format like foo?key1=value&key2=value2 we recommend that you leave the url unchanged, and Google will determine which parameters can be removed;

That sounds scary. No thanks.

URL rewriting is just one small part of vBSEO, however. Cutting out duplicate content is another big feature it offers.

Another worry to my daily life...
Yup I want to hear the Official comment...

Thanks for replying sir....

Please suggest me:-

Its just 1 week since I had installed vbseo, so should I disable CRR's (static url's) completely ?

I will trust Muriente and his great Staff to assert the importance of the issue and take steps to reestablish the confidence on vBSEO's user base... we have come a long way, we can sort this out too

Google is NOT the only search engine.

They can't just change their mind and expect everyone to follow.


IMO, do nothing differently then you have before.

Does that mean I should avoid rewriting dynamic URLs at all?
That's our recommendation, unless your rewrites are limited to removing unnecessary parameters, or you are very diligent in removing all parameters that could cause problems

vbseo does just this.

We are in a very competitive business, so let's analyze this correctly...

Originally Posted by briansol

Google is NOT the only search engine.

They can't just change their mind and expect everyone to follow.


IMO, do nothing differently then you have before.

You're right they're not but when any where from 50-60% of all searches are carried out via Google (or engines that use google results) it should be of the main concern.

see my comment left on that post (currently, the last one)
Official Google Webmaster Central Blog: Dynamic URLs vs. static URLs

Passionate post indeed, but is too early to figure out the right outcome, lets cool our heads and work toward a solution...