Google Indexing issue with Translate & Adapt language

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Topic summary

Main issue: Google continues to index thousands of deleted Greek-language URLs (with “/el/”) from a Shopify store, leading to 404 errors.

Context: The store previously used Shopify’s Translate & Adapt to create Greek versions of pages (e.g., /el/collections, /el/collections/aeolis). The Greek language was later removed, and the merchant no longer wants these translated pages indexed.

Recent update: Even after nearly 4 months since deletion, Google is still attempting to index the /el/ pages.

Response provided: One participant notes Google re-indexing can be slow and recommends contacting Google Merchant Support to investigate from Google’s side.

Key terms: Translate & Adapt is Shopify’s translation tool; “el” denotes the Greek locale prefix in URLs.

Decisions/Actions: Suggested action is to reach out to Google Merchant Support.

Status: Unresolved. Timelines for de-indexing remain unclear.

Open questions: Is a 4-month delay typical? How to permanently stop Google from indexing the removed /el/ URLs?

Summarized with AI on December 26. AI used: gpt-5.
1

We are experiencing an issues with thousands of pages not being indexed by Google due to 404 issues. Our website is:

https://greciancollective.com/

We had a Greek language translation done through the Translate & Adapt page which created a copy of all our pages with the “el” bit added to the url like this: https://greciancollective.com/el/collections & https://greciancollective.com/el/collections/aeolis for example.

This language has since been removed/deleted form our Shopify store and we don’t wish to have the translation, why is Google still trying to index these pages and how do we permanently remove them?

2

Hi @CostaEffie !

Google re-indexing will take a lot of time that is why they might not catch the updates on your store. I highly suggest that you reach out to Google Merchant Support so, they can further check this one on their end.

3

Thanks for replying, the secondary language was deleted almost 4 months ago, is that how long it takes?