Infinite 302 redirects on a site using Angular JS

[KatherineWatierOng]

I'm not quite sure what I'm seeing here. It's a site that uses Angular JS (version 1) and the crawl is showing infinite 302 redirects, but the redirects are all to the same URL?

Here's an example: https://www.razoo.com/us/story/Armco-Park-Foundation

Has anyone seen this before? What causes it and how do I counsel the client on how to fix it?

[KatherineWatierOng]

I should clarify that I'm seeing the redirect chain in Deepcrawl and Screaming Frog, and via Google's fetch and render tool inside Google Search Console.

[BasKierkels]

Hi Katherine,

Hmm difficult to answer that question since we don't know the techniques you are using on this site. Apart from AngularJS.

This site show me a 200-header code. Which is an indication that everything is OK.

http://www.webconfs.com/http-header-check.php

What site gave you the 302-header code? One of MOZ's tools?

Bas

[MattRoney]

This post is deleted!

[MattRoney]

Sounds like Deepcrawl, Screaming Frog, and Google Fetch & Render.

[KatherineWatierOng]

Google Fetch & Render won't work as the site wasn't set up properly. And I got the data from Deepcrawl AND Screaming Frog, but that didn't help me with the why.

Nicolas Chimonas actually helped me figure it out and posted the answer on the Online Geniuses Slack group as well as the Tech SEO Google+ community, and here it is for all who are curious:

Nicholas ChimonasJun 7, 2016<a data-content="Figured%20I'd%20post%20my%20thoughts%20for%20the%20community%20here%20that%20I%20brought%20up%20in%20the%20Online%20Geniuses%20slack.%3Cbr%3E%3Cbr%3EAngular%20is%20throwing%20a%20wrench%20in%20the%20works%2C%20I'm%20not%20sure%20cloaking%20is%20really%20the%20intent%20here%20%3Cspan%20class%3D%22proflinkWrapper%22%3E%3Cspan%20class%3D%22proflinkPrefix%22%3E%2B%3C%2Fspan%3E%3Ca%20class%3D%22proflink%20aaTEdf%22%20href%3D%22%2F117530250543183103093%22%20oid%3D%22117530250543183103093%22%3ERick%20Bucich%3C%2Fa%3E%3C%2Fspan%3E%26nbsp%3Byou'll%20notice%20the%20differences%20in%20code%20when%20you%20view-source%20versus%20inspect%20element%20with%20chrome%20dev%20tools.%3Cbr%3E%3Cbr%3EExcerpt%20taken%20from%20%3Ca%20rel%3D%22nofollow%22%20target%3D%22_blank%22%20href%3D%22http%3A%2F%2Fipullrank.com%2F6-things-you-should-know-about-in-chrome-devtools%2F%22%20class%3D%22ot-anchor%20aaTEdf%22%20jslog%3D%2210929%3B%20track%3Aclick%22%20dir%3D%22ltr%22%3Ehttp%3A%2F%2Fipullrank.com%2F6-things-you-should-know-about-in-chrome-devtools%2F%3C%2Fa%3E%20%3A%3Cbr%3E%22First%20things%20first%2C%20View%20Source%2C%20we%E2%80%99ve%20had%20great%20times%20together%2C%20but%20it%E2%80%99s%20over.%20In%20the%20post-JavaScript%20age%2C%20there%20is%20little%20value%20in%20looking%20at%20the%20pure%20source%20code%20of%20a%20page%20before%20its%20JavaScript%20transformations.%20In%20fact%2C%20due%20to%20Google%E2%80%99s%20vast%20improvements%20in%20crawling%2C%20this%20is%20a%20fundamental%20flaw%20of%20all%20SEO%20crawling%20tools%20in%20that%20crawlers%20are%20not%20seeing%20the%20code%20as%20the%20user%20or%20Google%20sees%20it.%20Rather%2C%20SEO%20tools%20are%20seeing%20the%20code%20as%20it%E2%80%99s%20downloaded%20and%20not%20as%20it%E2%80%99s%20rendered.%20Granted%2C%20crawling%20with%20headless%20browsers%20is%20both%20slower%20and%20far%20more%20computationally%20expensive%2C%20but%20it%E2%80%99s%20also%20just%20a%20requirement%20at%20this%20point%20given%20the%20adoption%20rate%20of%20JavaScript%20frameworks.%20If%20you%E2%80%99re%20not%20using%20Inspect%20Element%20to%20review%20code%2C%20you%20are%20likely%20missing%20a%20big%20part%20of%20the%20picture.%22%3Cbr%3E%3Cbr%3ESo..%20with%20that%20in%20mind%2C%20I%20also%20went%20the%20route%20of%20investigating%20the%20page%20with%20different%20user-agents.%20By%20the%20way%2C%20Katherine%20fetched%20the%20URL%20as%20Googlebot%20and%20was%20served%20a%20302%20redirect%20in%20WMT.%3Cbr%3E%3Cbr%3EThis%20is%20the%20URL%20as%20Googlebot%20sees%20it%2C%20as%20mentioned%20totally%20different%20outline%2C%20and%20text%2C%20and%20links%20on%20the%20page.%3Cbr%3E%3Cbr%3E%3Ca%20rel%3D%22nofollow%22%20target%3D%22_blank%22%20href%3D%22http%3A%2F%2Fi.imgur.com%2FqQ4kwm2.png%22%20class%3D%22ot-anchor%20aaTEdf%22%20jslog%3D%2210929%3B%20track%3Aclick%22%20dir%3D%22ltr%22%3Ehttp%3A%2F%2Fi.imgur.com%2FqQ4kwm2.png%3C%2Fa%3E%3Cbr%3E%3Cbr%3EBoth%20of%20these%20red%20boxes%20in%20this%20image%20are%20links%20to%20%3Ca%20rel%3D%22nofollow%22%20target%3D%22_blank%22%20href%3D%22https%3A%2F%2Fwww.razoo.com%2Fstory%2FArmco-Park-Foundation%22%20class%3D%22ot-anchor%20aaTEdf%22%20jslog%3D%2210929%3B%20track%3Aclick%22%20dir%3D%22ltr%22%3Ehttps%3A%2F%2Fwww.razoo.com%2Fstory%2FArmco-Park-Foundation%3C%2Fa%3E%3Cbr%3E%3Cbr%3EWhich%20resolves%20when%20browsing%20as%20Googlebot.%20Notice%20the%20lack%20of%20%2Fus%2F%20prior%20to%20%2Fstory%2F%2C%20navigate%20to%20the%20above%20URL%20and%20you'll%20be%20302%20redirected%20to%20the%20%2Fus%2F%20URL.%3Cbr%3E%3Cbr%3EVersus%20when%20I'm%20in%20chrome%2C%20%3Ca%20rel%3D%22nofollow%22%20target%3D%22_blank%22%20href%3D%22https%3A%2F%2Fwww.razoo.com%2Fstory%2FArmco-Park-Foundation%22%20class%3D%22ot-anchor%20aaTEdf%22%20jslog%3D%2210929%3B%20track%3Aclick%22%20dir%3D%22ltr%22%3Ehttps%3A%2F%2Fwww.razoo.com%2Fstory%2FArmco-Park-Foundation%3C%2Fa%3E%20is%20a%20302%20redirect%20to%20%3Ca%20rel%3D%22nofollow%22%20target%3D%22_blank%22%20href%3D%22https%3A%2F%2Fwww.razoo.com%2Fus%2Fstory%2FArmco-Park-Foundation%22%20class%3D%22ot-anchor%20aaTEdf%22%20jslog%3D%2210929%3B%20track%3Aclick%22%20dir%3D%22ltr%22%3Ehttps%3A%2F%2Fwww.razoo.com%2Fus%2Fstory%2FArmco-Park-Foundation%3C%2Fa%3E%3Cbr%3E%3Cbr%3E%3Ca%20rel%3D%22nofollow%22%20target%3D%22_blank%22%20href%3D%22http%3A%2F%2Fi.imgur.com%2Flw9ta0R.png%22%20class%3D%22ot-anchor%20aaTEdf%22%20jslog%3D%2210929%3B%20track%3Aclick%22%20dir%3D%22ltr%22%3Ehttp%3A%2F%2Fi.imgur.com%2Flw9ta0R.png%3C%2Fa%3E%3Cbr%3E%3Cbr%3ESo%20that's%20where%20your%20redirect%20loop%20is%20coming%20from.%3Cbr%3E%3Cbr%3EThose%20links%20to%20%3Ca%20rel%3D%22nofollow%22%20target%3D%22_blank%22%20href%3D%22https%3A%2F%2Fwww.razoo.com%2Fstory%2FArmco-Park-Foundation%22%20class%3D%22ot-anchor%20aaTEdf%22%20jslog%3D%2210929%3B%20track%3Aclick%22%20dir%3D%22ltr%22%3Ehttps%3A%2F%2Fwww.razoo.com%2Fstory%2FArmco-Park-Foundation%3C%2Fa%3E%20which%20are%20highlighted%20in%20red%20boxes%20only%20appear%20for%20Googlebot%2C%20they%20don't%20appear%20on%20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data-profiledetails="%7B%22profileId%22%3A%22104133087852424173047%22%2C%22realName%22%3A%22Nicholas%20Chimonas%22%7D">Share</a>Figured I'd post my thoughts for the community here that I brought up in the Online Geniuses slack.

Angular is throwing a wrench in the works, I'm not sure cloaking is really the intent here +Rick Bucich you'll notice the differences in code when you view-source versus inspect element with chrome dev tools.

Excerpt taken from http://ipullrank.com/6-things-you-should-know-about-in-chrome-devtools/ :
"First things first, View Source, we’ve had great times together, but it’s over. In the post-JavaScript age, there is little value in looking at the pure source code of a page before its JavaScript transformations. In fact, due to Google’s vast improvements in crawling, this is a fundamental flaw of all SEO crawling tools in that crawlers are not seeing the code as the user or Google sees it. Rather, SEO tools are seeing the code as it’s downloaded and not as it’s rendered. Granted, crawling with headless browsers is both slower and far more computationally expensive, but it’s also just a requirement at this point given the adoption rate of JavaScript frameworks. If you’re not using Inspect Element to review code, you are likely missing a big part of the picture."

So.. with that in mind, I also went the route of investigating the page with different user-agents. By the way, Katherine fetched the URL as Googlebot and was served a 302 redirect in WMT.

This is the URL as Googlebot sees it, as mentioned totally different outline, and text, and links on the page.

http://i.imgur.com/qQ4kwm2.png

Both of these red boxes in this image are links to https://www.razoo.com/story/Armco-Park-Foundation

Which resolves when browsing as Googlebot. Notice the lack of /us/ prior to /story/, navigate to the above URL and you'll be 302 redirected to the /us/ URL.

Versus when I'm in chrome, https://www.razoo.com/story/Armco-Park-Foundation is a 302 redirect tohttps://www.razoo.com/us/story/Armco-Park-Foundation

http://i.imgur.com/lw9ta0R.png

So that's where your redirect loop is coming from.

Those links to https://www.razoo.com/story/Armco-Park-Foundation which are highlighted in red boxes only appear for Googlebot, they don't appear on the human browser, or the screaming frog without being headless and spoofed as Googlebot

So when Googlebot is served up a version of the page which 302 redirects them fromhttps://www.razoo.com/story/Armco-Park-Foundation to https://www.razoo.com/us/story/Armco-Park-Foundation they instead are once again served https://www.razoo.com/story/Armco-Park-Foundation because the user-agent is Googlebot, which once again 302 redirects them to https://www.razoo.com/us/story/Armco-Park-Foundation etc. ad infinitum

[KatherineWatierOng]

The pages are definitely 302 redirecting 10+ times - shown in both the Deepcrawl and Screaming Frog data, but not in the tools l like redirect checker. The redirects showed up in Screaming Frog and Deepcrawl.

I got my answer from Nicholas Chimonas who is on the Online Geniuses slack group and I've posted his response below.

[MattRoney]

Thank you so much for following up, Katherine! We really appreciate it.

[BasKierkels]

Indeed: thanks for the update. AngularJS is a great technique but relatively new and so much different from the techniques we've gotten used to working with in the past couple of years that this is an interesting case.

Good luck with the project and cool to see more people using AngularJS!