Weird url adding in google search console

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Topic summary

Shopify store owners are encountering URLs with parameters like pr_prod_strat=collection_fallback and pr_seq=uniform being indexed by Google Search Console, creating thousands of unwanted pages. These URLs are generated by Shopify’s product recommendation system, which appends tracking parameters to product links.

Root Cause:
The parameters appear in product card links within theme files (commonly product-card.liquid or card-product.liquid), allowing crawlers to index each variation as a separate page—harmful for SEO.

Proposed Solutions:

  • Prevent URL Generation: Modify theme files by changing {{ product.url }} to {{ product.url | split: "?" | first }} to strip parameters from links
  • Block Indexing: Add noindex meta tags in theme.liquid using conditions like {% if handle contains 'seq=uniform' %}
  • Robots.txt Rules: Disallow crawling with Disallow: /products/*?pr=*

Ongoing Challenges:

Some users report solutions don’t fully work or continue seeing indexed URLs. One concern: removing parameters may disable Shopify’s recommendation optimization. A related mobile-specific cart crash issue involving similar URL parameters remains unresolved. The discussion remains active with users testing various code implementations and awaiting long-term results from Google Search Console.

Summarized with AI on November 3. AI used: claude-sonnet-4-5-20250929.
1

Hi all,

I noticed some weird url starting with “pr_prod_strat=collection_fallback” and ending with “&pr_seq=uniform” appearing on my google search consol to be indexed.

I searched on google and found out other stores had similar pages.

Can someone explain to me what is going on??

This creates more than 1k pages for google to crawl while my website only has 100+ pages…

I am very curious about what is causing this and would like to get more information about it!

Any hint is welcomed,

Cheers

2

Hi @Bigjjjim ,

As far as I know this is the url for the product recommendation. The url are added as a code parameters.

2 Likes
3

Is it automatically added in some theme (like venture for example)?

I am curious because I have not implemented any recommendation system on my site yet.

Thank you for your response!

4

It usually appears below the product page. It depends on the theme

1 Like
5

Hello, there

I have had the same problem as you recently. I have read the solution you marked but it didn’t help me. Could you please elaborate on how to fix this issue? Because these massive new URLs appear as a problem for me.

Thank you so much!

3 Likes
6

Hi @Chawww ,

Nothing to fix since it is a normal behavior. The links are passing parameters for recommendation

1 Like
7

Hi

It can be a normal behavior but it is a very bad behavior for SEO. The templetes developers shoud think in it before to develop a theme.

Any idea how to fix it?

Thanks

3 Likes
8

Hi Made4Uo, our store has the same problem.

But I’m thinking about adding a section of codes in the robots.txt file to tell search engines not to crawl these URLs that contain “pr_prod_strat=collection_fallback” and “&pr_seq=uniform”.

If this is feasible, then what exactly the codes should be? - Is it “Disallow: /products/ *?pr_prod_strat=*pr_seq=uniform”?

9

Hi @fanwer

I think you need first to do noindex that URLs in theme.liquid with code like;

{% if handle contains ‘seq=uniform’ %}

{% endif %}

10

Hi @frankymartin ,

I’ve added the said code snippets in theme.liquid file.

However, this problem continues. Really don’t know how to solve this problem.

Check the screenshot here as an example.

rubbish URL.png
rubbish URL.png907×543 31.7 KB

11

Hi @fanwer

After do NOINDEX you can block that URLs in robots.txt and you can ask to delete that URLs in Google Search Console.

12

Hello frankymartin,

I have the same problem. I add the code with noindex on theme.liquid. How can i block that url in robots.txt? i gess the code should start with {{- 'Disallow: … but dont know wich code to add ex

actly. can you help me?

13

Hi, should be something like;

{%- if group.user_agent.value == ‘’ -%}
{{ 'Disallow: /products/?pr=*’ }}
{%- endif -%}

14

Thant you franky martin but Sorry i guess i was not clear. i i wanted the code to add in robots.txt not in the shopify theme !

concerning the code you ask me to add, i arleay add the code you suggested to @fanwer

{% if handle contains ‘seq=uniform’ %}

{% endif %}

So do we have to add both code? and other instructions on robots.txt?

15

I come here to update the piece of code here, and it turned out that it worked. See the screenshot from GSC.

screenshot from GSC.png
screenshot from GSC.png1235×842 84 KB

The code that I inserted into the end of theme.liquid file is -

{%- if canonical_url=“*seq=uniform” -%}

{%- endif -%}

5 Likes
16

Great!! So, the codes to insert are:

In theme.liquid (to do noindex):

{%- if canonical_url=“*seq=uniform” -%}

{%- endif -%}

{% if handle contains ‘seq=uniform’ %}

{% endif %}

In robots.txt (to block crawler):

{%- if group.user_agent.value == ‘’ -%}
{{ 'Disallow: /products/?pr=*’ }}
{%- endif -%}

4 Likes
17

@frankymartin Solution with noindex will not work because you can’t get url params with liquid

1 Like
18

Hey Franky,

Thanks for all the info, just to be clear, all 3 of these codes are to be added to themes.liquid, right?

and not in Robots.txt file.

19

[email removed]Frankymartin

I add 6 months ago the advice of frankymartin. But i still have this url in 404. did you find a solution that works to eleminate that url from search console finally?

20

Hello :slightly_smiling_face: How about to put all this links in “nofollow” ? I have already blocked these url’s but are still detected by GSC so that the internal links are in dofollow. How can I fix this? Thankyou!