Is it still necessary to use rel=next/prev and noindex to manage pagination in e-commerce?

Why is this statement problematic today?

Google has officially stopped taking into account the rel=next and rel=prev tags. John Mueller himself has confirmed that these attributes are no longer processed by the search engine. Therefore, recommending them as a pagination solution is outdated information that can mislead SEO practitioners.

For an e-commerce site with hundreds or thousands of product pages spread across multiple pages, managing pagination indexing remains a major issue. Each page 2, 3, 4... can dilute crawl budget, create duplicate content, or cannibalize main pages.

What was the logic behind rel=next/prev?

These tags were used to indicate to Google that a series of pages formed a logical sequence. Page 1 pointed to page 2 with rel=next, page 2 pointed to page 1 with rel=prev, and so on. The idea was to tell the engine: "Treat this series as a coherent set".

In practice, Google consolidated ranking signals on the first page of the series, thus avoiding wasted resources on pages 15 or 20 that provided no value. Noindex on pages 2+ was a brutal alternative: preventing any indexing of subsequent pages.

What alternatives actually work for pagination?

The self-referencing canonical on each pagination page has become the norm. Each page points to itself with a canonical, allowing Google to decide whether to index based on its own criteria. Some sites use a canonical on all pagination pages directing to page 1, but this creates inconsistencies if a user lands directly on page 3.

Lazy loading with infinite scroll eliminates user-side pagination while allowing bots to crawl distinct paginated pages via sitemap links. Other sites implement URL exclusion parameters via Search Console to prevent excessive indexing. The right choice depends on architecture and technical constraints.

• rel=next/prev is outdated and should no longer be used as a primary solution
• noindex on pagination works but deprives Google of context regarding catalog depth
• self-referencing canonical lets Google decide what to index, a cautious yet effective approach
• infinite scroll + sitemap combines modern user experience and controlled crawling
• URL exclusion parameters via Search Console to avoid indexing of ?page=X

Is this recommendation still relevant in practice?

Let's be honest: no serious SEO practitioner still implements rel=next/prev as a primary pagination strategy. Tests conducted since the official abandonment of this tag show zero impact on indexing or ranking. Google simply ignores these attributes, even if they remain in the code.

The noindex on pagination still works, but it comes with risks. If your products only appear on page 5, and you noindex all pages except page 1, Google will never discover those products through category navigation. Some sites have lost entire ranges of their indexing by applying this logic too strictly.

What inconsistencies are observed in this statement?

The central issue is that Google recommends an abandoned technique without providing a clear alternative. [To be verified]: no recent official data confirms that rel=next/prev still has any effect on crawling or indexing. A/B tests conducted on medium-sized e-commerce sites show no difference at all between pages with and without these tags.

Furthermore, suggesting noindex as a generic solution for pagination completely ignores cases where pages 2+ contain unique products or important filtering facets. A fashion site with 200 products per category cannot afford to hide 80% of its catalog from Google.

In what cases could this approach still be justified?

Honestly? No modern case justifies implementing rel=next/prev today. If you come across an old site that still uses this method, you can leave it in place without harm, but it strictly offers nothing. It's dead code.

Noindex on pagination retains usefulness in very specific scenarios: sites with thousands of automatically generated pagination pages, with no real added value, and where crawl budget is a critical issue. But even then, better to use URL parameters rules in Search Console rather than manually tagging each page.

What should you do concretely for e-commerce pagination?

Start by auditing your current indexing. Use a site:yourwebsite.com inurl:page= or inurl:?p= command to identify how many pagination pages are indexed. Compare this number to the actual number of indexed product pages. If you have 5000 indexed pagination pages for 2000 products, you have a crawl budget problem.

Then, decide on a clear strategy: self-referencing canonical on each pagination page (a cautious approach), or canonical to page 1 (an aggressive approach that concentrates signals). The former lets Google decide, the latter forces the issue but can create inconsistencies if backlinks point to a specific page 3.

What mistakes should you absolutely avoid?

Never mix noindex + canonical to another page on the same URL. Google prioritizes the noindex and ignores the canonical, creating contradictory signals. If you want to prevent indexing, use noindex. If you want to consolidate, use canonical. Not both.

Also, avoid blocking pagination in robots.txt while hoping that Google crawls the products through these pages. If Googlebot cannot access pages 2, 3, 4, it will never discover the products found there. The robots.txt prevents crawling, not indexing, which creates absurd situations where uncrawled URLs remain indexed without content.

How to check if the configuration is correct?

Inspect several pagination URLs in Google Search Console using the URL inspection tool. Check that the canonical detected by Google matches what you have implemented. Also, see if the page is indexed or excluded, and for what reason.

Analyze your crawl budget in crawling statistics. If Googlebot spends 60% of its time on pagination pages instead of products, adjust your strategy: either via noindex, or via exclusion of parameters, or by reducing the number of pages per category. A well-optimized site concentrates crawling on high-value pages.

• Audit current indexing with site: and filter by pagination parameters
• Choose a strategy: self-referencing canonical or canonical to page 1
• Never use noindex + canonical on the same URL
• Check in Search Console that the detected canonical is compliant
• Monitor crawl budget to detect waste on pagination
• Test product accessibility from page 1 and the sitemap