Mueller on near-duplicate vertical/location pages: fold them into one stronger page unless each has something unique
Quote (John Mueller, SEO Office Hours, via Lumar archive):
"If there's something unique about the offerings in each city, it's generally fine to have separate URLs. If the information on both is the same, it's recommended to consider folding these into one 'stronger' page."
Source: https://www.lumar.io/office-hours/duplicate-content/
Confidence: Verified.
Implication for multi-vertical IA: A vertical page that swaps only the vertical name (header reads "Lubricants for Agriculture" → "Lubricants for Construction" with the body unchanged) will be folded by Google. Each vertical page must carry vertical-specific case studies, regulations, vocabulary, or SKU lists — or it loses its own URL signal. See RULE: Every vertical page carries substantively vertical-specific content (case studies, regulations, vocabulary). Generic content gets folded..
Referenced by (6)
- reference John Mueller: Google does NOT penalize duplicate content for localized websites — it consolidates relates-to
- reference Google Search Central: faceted navigation creates combinatorial duplicate URLs; not search-friendly by default relates-to
- reference Reference: 5 URL structure patterns for multi-vertical IA (A through E), with field-observed usage depends-on
- rule RULE: Every vertical page carries substantively vertical-specific content (case studies, regulations, vocabulary). Generic content gets folded. depends-on
- rule RULE: 4-15-person service businesses use hub-and-spoke IA, not enterprise matrix. Don't pretend to be Dentons. depends-on
- reference Research brief: Information architecture for service businesses with multiple verticals (piece 6 of 15) relates-to