Understanding and Managing the Removal of Percent-Encoded Hebrew URLs from Google’s Index
If you’ve recently submitted a removal request for a URL containing Hebrew characters—specifically, percent-encoded URLs such as https://tbt4u.com/product-category/%D7%A0%D7%A7%D7%90%D7%95%D7%9F-%D7%A0%D7%90%D7%99%D7%95%D7%A7/—you might be wondering why the page remains visible in Google’s search results even after waiting more than 24 hours. This is a common concern for webmasters managing multilingual or non-Latin character URLs. In this article, we’ll explore how Google handles such URLs and offer best practices to ensure your removal requests are effective.
Understanding Percent-Encoding in URLs
Percent-encoding, also known as URL encoding, is a mechanism used to encode characters outside the standard ASCII set, such as Hebrew characters. For example, the Hebrew word “נכון-Naiuk” becomes %D7%A0%D7%A7%D7%90%D7%95%D7%9F-%D7%A0%D7%90%D7%99%D7%95%D7%A7 in the URL. While browsers and servers interpret both the encoded and decoded forms seamlessly, Google indexes the encoded version for URLs containing non-ASCII characters.
Key Considerations for URL Removal Requests
- Matching the Correct URL Format
Ensure that the URL submitted in your removal request precisely matches the URL indexed by Google. This includes the percent-encoded form if the URL in search results appears encoded.
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Type of Removal Request
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Temporary Removal (Outdated Content): Used when you want to block the URL from appearing in search results temporarily, often while the page is being deleted or updated.
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Permanent Removal (Site Removal): Requires proper configuration on your server and might involve removing or redirecting pages definitively.
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Indexing Status and Existing Links
Since you mentioned the page still exists and shows in Google search, it indicates that Google has indexed the URL, possibly in its encoded form. Also, if many deleted pages appear during searches, it could imply lingering backlinks or cached data.
- Handling Non-ASCII URLs
Google treats URLs with non-Latin characters differently in some cases. While it generally processes percent-encoded URLs correctly, there are nuances concerning how removal requests are processed