Contents
Google Still Supports Cross-Domain Canonical Links
In a statement, Google confirmed they still support canonical links in general, including across domains. But Google recommends against using them to avoid duplication from syndication partners due to content differences.
Updated Guidelines On The Canonical Hyperlink Reference
Here’s what the new updates in Google’s canonical tag say:
“Note: The canonical link tag is not advised if you wish to prevent replication by syndication collaborators because syndicated content might differ substantially from the initial pieces.
To stop your material from being indexed, you should use meta tags.
Know the canonical link element inside and out.
On your website, be sure to duplicate content.
You can use the rel= “canonical” hyperlink component if the identical item is on several pages of your website.
Discover how to define a canonical.
The suggestion also states avoiding using the canonical link element to stop syndication partners from duplicating your content. Specifically, syndicated publications have a different general range than original articles.
Consider This If You Are A News Content Publisher –
Google advises publishers who syndicate news material to use meta tags rather than canonicals to prevent duplicate articles from being indexed. In addition, Google now recommends removing content from Google News for publishers that republish articles in their entirety.
Why is that?
News content is typically time-sensitive, focusing on new, fresh, relevant, and valuable information to audiences at that moment as news ages. It generally becomes less useful and relevant.
News content spreads rapidly across the media landscape. Publishers syndicate, share, aggregate, and republish each other’s news articles. This widespread distribution is both a strength and challenge for SEO, as it can result in substantial amounts of duplicate or near-duplicate content.
It’s Important To Remember That This Is Only Advice And Not An Actual Update
Remember that the updated guidance pages represent advice – not official policy. Therefore, they contain wording like “consider” rather than mandates.
In its statement, Google aimed to clarify that while they support cross-domain canonicals broadly, they do not recommend them for specific use cases involving syndicated or republished content.
Conclusion
Even though Google continues to promote cross-domain canonicals in general, they claim that canonical links are not the most excellent way to prevent duplication brought on by syndicating or republishing content that drastically differs from the original.
The new guidance recommends that partners use meta tags – not canonical links – to block the indexing of duplicate content.