Alternate Page with Proper Canonical Tag (JunkURLs)

Technical Q&A
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Topic summary

Spike in “Alternate page with proper canonical tag” detections tied to parameterized URLs generated by a search/discovery app (e.g., ?pr_prod_strat=…, pr_rec_id, pr_rec_pid, pr_ref_pid, pr_seq). Store has <100 products but ~650+ such pages indexed; impressions have dropped.

Context: In Google Search Console, this status means Google found a page but is indexing a different URL as canonical, often due to parameters creating duplicates.

Actions proposed and status:

  • Review all canonical tags to ensure they point to the preferred URL.
  • Block crawling of parameterized URLs via robots.txt (example: Disallow: /*?pr_prod_strat=). Allow time for recrawl.
  • Ensure XML/HTML sitemaps include only canonical, clean URLs.
  • Verify the search/discovery app’s settings to enforce proper canonicalization.
  • Monitor Search Console for changes.

Important update: The “URL Parameters” tool in Search Console was removed in April; do not rely on that approach.

New input: Another participant reports 12K affected pages and requests details on which apps were used for sitemaps and canonicalization.

Outcome: No confirmed resolution yet; discussion remains open with focus on robots.txt rules, sitemap hygiene, and app configuration.

Summarized with AI on January 4. AI used: gpt-5.
1

I have been experiencing a drastic increase in Alternate Pages with Proper Canonical Tags, Which I believe is leading to a drastic decrease in Google Impressions, and feel the need to fix this issue.

Our shop is fairly small and under 100 products so I am searching for a reason why there are over 650 pages Google is picking up with proper canonical tags.

We have created and uploaded our HTML and XML site maps, and have installed an app to assist in the canonicalization of our pages and products, so all live pages should be properly tagged.

However, Google is still flagging pages with:

?pr_prod_strat=use_description&pr_rec_id=2994fb0d5&pr_rec_pid=8397666844959&pr_ref_pid=8397666648351&pr_seq=uniform"

Which I believe has something to do with our search and discovery application.

is there a way to block google from crawling pages that are generated by the search and discovery application? or is there an other possible solution?

2

okay, well, since this seems like a common problem, I will share all of the actions I have taken to resolve this issue.

It seems like you’re facing some issues with the canonical tags and Google indexing. Here are some steps you can take to address this problem:

  1. Review Canonical Tags: Double-check that all your canonical tags are correctly implemented on your pages. Ensure that they point to the preferred version of the page. Sometimes, errors in the tag placement or URL can cause indexing issues.

  2. Parameter Handling: The URL you mentioned with parameters like “?pr_prod_strat=use_description&pr_rec_id=2994fb0d5&pr_rec_pid=8397666844959&pr_ref_pid=8397666648351&pr_seq=uniform” indicates that these are likely dynamic parameters generated by your search and discovery application. You can instruct Google not to crawl these pages using the “robots.txt” file.

  • In your “robots.txt” file, you can add a line like this:
Disallow: /*?pr_prod_strat=

This will block Google from crawling any URLs that contain “?pr_prod_strat=”.

  • After updating your “robots.txt” file, it may take some time for Google to re-crawl and update its index.

  1. URL Parameters in Google Search Console: You can also use Google Search Console to specify which URL parameters you want Google to ignore. Go to the “URL Parameters” section in your Google Search Console account and configure the parameters accordingly.

  2. XML Sitemap: Ensure that your XML sitemap only includes the URLs you want Google to index. If your search and discovery application generates a large number of dynamic URLs, make sure they are not included in your sitemap.

  3. Canonicalization in the Application: If the above steps don’t resolve the issue, you might want to check the configuration of your search and discovery application. Ensure that it is correctly setting canonical tags for its generated pages.

  4. Regular Monitoring: Continuously monitor your Google Search Console for any crawl errors or indexing issues. This will help you stay on top of any problems that arise.

It might take some time for changes to reflect in Google’s index.

1 Like
3

**Update- URL Parameters was removed from google in April, Please disregard that suggestion.

4

I’ve just discovered over 12K affected pages for the Alternate page with proper canonical tag. When you talk about creating and uploading the HTML and XML site maps, did you do that through an app? Also, what app did you install to assist in canonicalisation of your pages and products so all live pages should be properly tagged?

5

Following…