Official statement
When Google sees large-scale redirects from subcategories to parent categories, it treats this as soft 404s. There's little SEO difference between redirecting or returning a true 404. The choice between 301 and 302 doesn't matter in this case.
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Official statement from
(5 years ago)
⚠ A more recent statement exists on this topic
Is returning HTTP 200 on a 404 page really cloaking or just a soft 404?
View statement →
TL;DR
Google views massive redirects from subcategories to parent categories as soft 404s. This minimizes SEO impact. In this case, the type of redirect (301 or 302) is irrelevant.
❓ Frequently Asked Questions
Les redirections 301 et 302 sont-elles toujours sans importance ?
Dans le cas précis de redirections massives vers des catégories parentes, oui. Google considère déjà cela comme un soft 404.
Pourquoi est-ce un problème pour l'échelle ?
Les impacts sont amplifiés sur les grands sites, affectant plus le crawl et la distribution du link juice.
Devrais-je désactiver toutes les redirections ?
Non, assurez-vous simplement qu'elles ajoutent de la valeur. La suppression totale n'est pas recommandée.
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