Google: Don't Worry About Duplicate Content With Mobile Sites

Aug 20, 2014 - 8:34 am 10 by

Dr. Evil & Mini MeMobile sites are incredibly important these days but some SEOs and webmasters are concerned that it will cause duplicate content issues.

Going responsive or the same URL, for the most part, removes the duplicate content worries completely. But some use different URLs or domains, such as an M DOT approach.

Google's John Mueller said in a Google Webmaster Help thread, "you don't have to worry about duplicate content -- definitely not when it comes to mobile versions when they're annotated appropriately."

He said this in response to some concerns addressed in the thread around duplicate content issues and mobile sites. Here is John's response:

You don't have to worry about duplicate content -- definitely not when it comes to mobile versions when they're annotated appropriately. In your case, you're using the same URLs anyway, so that wouldn't be an issue anyway. Serving different HTML for smartphone users is fine (we call it "dynamic serving" in our docs). Our main recommendation in this case is to use the "Vary" HTTP header so that the pages don't get cached in one or the other format (so that desktop users accidentally end up with the smartphone version, or vice-versa).

This is why I am a big advocate of the same URL and same content approach. But it doesn't work for everyone.

Forum discussion at Google Webmaster Help.

 

Popular Categories

The Pulse of the search community

Search Video Recaps

 
Video Details More Videos Subscribe to Videos

Most Recent Articles

Search Forum Recap

Daily Search Forum Recap: March 31, 2025

Mar 31, 2025 - 10:00 am
Google Updates

Google March 2025 Core Update Impact Multiple Poll Results

Mar 31, 2025 - 7:51 am
Google News

Google To Pay $100 Million To Settle Old Ad Lawsuit On Clicks Outside Geo Target

Mar 31, 2025 - 7:41 am
Google Ads

Google To Allow Double Serving Ads In Different Ad Locations On Same Page

Mar 31, 2025 - 7:31 am
Google Search Engine Optimization

Google News Fully Transitioned To Automatically Generated Publication Pages

Mar 31, 2025 - 7:21 am
Google Maps

Google Business Profiles Bug Resurfacing Old Fake Removed Reviews

Mar 31, 2025 - 7:11 am
Previous Story: Google Now Alternative Flights When Your Flight Ain't Working Out