Google: Soft 404s Waste Crawl Budget

Google has confirmed that soft 404 pages still use up your crawl budget, even if they return a 200 OK status code. This means that although the server is saying the page is fine, Google may still treat it as a non-existent or unhelpful page.

These types of pages don’t get indexed and can take up valuable crawl resources that could be better spent on quality content. Over time, this could affect how efficiently your site is crawled and updated in Google Search.

Fortunately, tools like Google Search Console can help you identify which pages are being flagged as soft 404s. This gives site owners the chance to review and fix them before they become a bigger issue.

Fixing soft 404s can lead to better crawl efficiency, making it easier for Google to focus on your more important and useful pages. Addressing these issues also improves the overall quality of your website in the eyes of both users and search engines.

The Problem With Soft 404s

Soft 404 errors differ from regular 404 pages because they return a standard 200 OK status, even though the page may display messages such as “page not found” or “this product is no longer available.”

In other words, while the server indicates everything is working properly, the actual content of the page suggests it isn’t useful or even relevant.

According to Gary Illyes, Google uses content analysis to spot these mismatches. When the system detects signs that a page is missing or doesn’t provide much value, it flags it as a soft 404 — despite the server saying otherwise.

Unlike true 404 errors, soft 404 pages still use up your site’s crawl budget without offering anything worthwhile in return. On large websites, this can slow down the process of indexing important pages and waste resources that could be better used elsewhere.

How To Identify Soft 404s

Within Google Search Console, there’s a specific report in the Index Coverage section that highlights soft 404 issues on your site.

These typically arise from:

Product pages marked “out of stock” but still returning a 200 OK status
Search or category pages with no results
Event listings that are no longer active
Deleted user profiles

Although these pages return a technically correct status code, they often provide little to no useful content for search engines, making them easy to overlook in routine technical audits.

Preventing Crawl Waste

To prevent these types of pages from using up your crawl budget:

Serve a 404 or 410 status for pages that no longer exist
Apply 301 redirects for content that has been moved permanently
Use structured data to indicate out-of-stock items rather than leaving product pages empty
Create useful 404 pages that clearly inform users the content isn’t available and guide them elsewhere on your site