The Shark Tank

Google recently announced that the URL search parameters tool will be leaving and that no more access to the tool will be available as of April 26, 2022. Initially launched in 2009, the tool allowed for communication with Google to know if specific URLs should be ignored or communicate other parameters. In essence, the URL parameter tool allowed a user to block Google from being able to index URLs on their website.

Why it Left

Google has adapted to learn what parameters are helpful on a website over recent years. With only about 1% of the parameter configurations used in the tool, it depreciated for both Google and its users. Thankfully for Google users, this should have no impact on website functionality.

What Google is Doing Now

The search platform said that there isn’t anything that needs to be done immediately after the URL search parameter tool leaves. In addition, for specific URL functions moving forward, Google’s crawlers are learning to face the parameters independently. Google also notes that content management systems (CMS) and social platforms are some of the best ways to build quality links and URLs.

What’s Next

If your website utilized the URL parameter tool, it was updated on April 26, 2022. To best determine the changes that have been made, your company can see how rankings and indexing were affected to see any potential gaps. In addition, other URL parameter tools, such as robots.txt rules or hreflang, can look at language variations within the content.

Contact Our Team

A digital media team is a great way to ensure that all of Google’s parameters are observed and optimized. Other tools can also be used for parameters, and Google’s update should not impact your website. Reach out to our team to learn more about how your business may be affected and other ways to optimize your website.