Should you still use rel=next and rel=prev for pagination?

What does Google's announcement really mean?

Google has dropped support for the rel=next and rel=prev tags, which were recommended for years for managing pagination. These attributes theoretically allowed the engine to signal that a series of pages formed a coherent set, such as pages 1, 2, 3... of a list of products or articles.

The issue — and Mueller states it plainly — is that Google has been completely ignoring them for some time now. The announcement simply formalizes an internal practice that already existed. In other words, if you're still using them, you're wasting your time. The engine now treats each paginated page as an independent entity.

Why has Google abandoned these tags?

The reason given relates to the complexity of implementation and the low rate of correct adoption. On the ground, few sites implemented these tags without errors — wrong sequences, missing pages, infinite loops. Google probably decided that the maintenance cost of this feature was not worth the benefit.

Another factor: the evolution of UX practices. Infinite scrolling and dynamic loading have gradually replaced traditional pagination on many sites. The rel=next/prev tags have become less relevant for an increasing portion of the web.

What concrete alternatives does Google propose?

Mueller directs towards the management of URL parameters in Search Console. Specifically, it involves ensuring that parameters like ?page=2 or &p=3 are correctly identified and handled by Google. This means configuring URL parameters in GSC (even though the tool has evolved) and, above all, having a clear structure.

The idea: each paginated page must be crawlable and indexable individually, with its own unique content and its own meta tags. Gone is the fantasy of 'magical consolidation' via rel=next/prev — each URL counts for itself.

• Google has completely ignored rel=next and rel=prev for quite some time now, the announcement merely formalizes the situation
• Each paginated page is now treated as an independent entity by the engine
• Managing URL parameters in Search Console becomes the main tool for controlling indexing
• Ensure that each paginated page has unique content and distinct meta tags
• Modern UX practices (infinite scroll, dynamic loading) have made these tags less relevant for a portion of the web

Is this statement consistent with what we observe on the ground?

Absolutely. The most attentive SEOs had already noted that rel=next/prev had no measurable impact on indexing or ranking for several years. Repeated tests showed that Google indexed or did not index paginated pages based on other criteria — content quality, crawl budget, internal links — regardless of these tags.

What's interesting is the timing of the announcement. Google could have said this sooner. The fact that Mueller is formalizing it now suggests that enough questions were still coming up for it to be useful to clarify the situation. But how many sites are still wasting time implementing these useless tags? [To be verified] — no public stats on that.

What risks does this transition pose to sites?

The primary risk concerns sites with heavy pagination — online stores with thousands of products, forums, directories. If you were relying on rel=next/prev to 'consolidate' PageRank or avoid duplicate content, you may be at risk.

Specifically: without these tags, Google can index all your paginated pages chaotically, dilute your crawl budget across low-value URLs (page 47 of a list), or on the contrary, ignore pages with relevant content. The key is that you must now actively manage what should be indexed or not via robots.txt, noindex, or parameter management.

What nuance should be added to this recommendation?

Mueller says 'make sure URL parameters are properly managed,' but he doesn't detail the 'how.' It's vague. On a site with complex pagination — multiple filters, sorting, variants — managing parameters can quickly become a technical nightmare.

Another point: some sites benefit from having their paginated pages indexed (each page = unique and relevant content), while others do not (duplication of identical listings). Google does not provide a universal rule. It’s essential to analyze on a case-by-case basis according to the content strategy and site architecture.

What should you do concretely on your site?

First step: audit existing tags. If you’re still using rel=next/prev, remove them — they bring nothing and clutter your code unnecessarily. Take the opportunity to clean up implementation errors (incorrect sequences, loops) that often linger in these tags.

Next, revisit your indexing strategy for paginated pages. Ask yourself: do I want Google to index page 2, 3, 4... of my listings? If so, ensure that each page has unique title/meta description tags and sufficiently distinct content. If not, use noindex or block pagination parameters via robots.txt.

How to correctly configure URL parameters?

In Search Console, ensure that the pagination parameters (page, p, offset, etc.) are correctly recognized. The URL Parameters tool has evolved, but you can still monitor in the Coverage report which parameterized URLs are indexed. If you see thousands of paginated pages indexed when you do not want them, that signals a problem.

Use canonical tags consistently. If all your paginated pages point canonically to page 1, Google will understand that only the first page should be indexed. If each page points to itself canonically, Google will treat them as distinct entities. Be explicit in your choice.

What mistakes should be absolutely avoided?

Don’t block pagination in robots.txt if you want Google to index it — that seems obvious, but it's a frequent mistake on large sites. Also ensure that your internal links to paginated pages are not all nofollow, otherwise Google will never pass PageRank to those pages.

Avoid architectures where pagination generates unpredictable dynamic URLs — for example, session IDs in the URL. Google will struggle to crawl effectively. Favor a clean and predictable structure: /products?page=2, not /products?sid=abc123&p=2.

• Remove the rel=next and rel=prev tags from the HTML code — they have become unnecessary
• Explicitly decide which paginated pages should be indexed (via canonical, noindex, or robots.txt)
• Check in Search Console that the pagination URL parameters are correctly recognized
• Ensure that each indexable paginated page has unique title/meta description tags
• Control the crawl budget by limiting the indexing of low-value pages (page 20+)
• Test the internal navigation so that important paginated pages receive PageRank