✔️ Updated October 2026.
A frequently asked question in the Blogger Help Community is: Why does the "Page Indexing" report show a "Redirect Error" on URLs without ?m=1, and how can it be fixed?
The short answer is: there is nothing to fix.
How does Blogger work?
Blogger uses the separate URLs method to provide mobile-friendly pages to users on mobile devices: Mobile site and mobile-first indexing best practices
When Blogger detects a mobile device, it automatically creates 302 redirects to the same URL by appending ?m=1 to the end. This applies to both custom domains and *.blogspot.com sites.
rel='canonical' for clarity to Google
Blogger ensures that the correct canonical tags are included in the themes it provides by implementing rel='canonical'. This lets Google know that the desktop URL (without ?m=1) is the content's representative version.
You can verify this by checking the Theme HTML Editor for this code snippet:
<b:include data='blog' name='all-head-content'/>If you are using a third-party theme, it is important to ensure it contains at least the following line of code:
<link expr:href='data:view.url.canonical' rel='canonical'/>Why are these errors displayed?
Google crawls Blogger predominantly through Googlebot Smartphone. When the bot requests your post's main URL, Blogger's server automatically answers with a 302 redirect toward the mobile version (?m=1). This behavior is built into Blogger and cannot be turned off.
Most of the time, this report is simply a false alarm tied to crawl budget. When Googlebot encounters the mobile redirect, it doesn't always fetch the final ?m=1 address in that same instant. If Google pauses the crawl to manage server resources, Search Console logs the unfinished request as a "Redirect Error" instead of a routine crawl delay.
This explains why only a handful of posts might show up in the report without any obvious reason. It is not an issue with those specific articles or their URLs; it simply reflects when Google decided to take a break while crawling. Google will return to those links on its own, so there is no manual fix needed.
What steps should be taken?
The short answer is: perhaps one.
Verify that your theme is correctly generating the rel='canonical' tag. If it is not, be sure to fix it.
If you confirm the canonical tag is present and accurate, keep in mind that under Mobile-First Indexing, Google respects that directive. It will index the clean representative URL (without ?m=1) based on the mobile crawl alone, even if Googlebot Desktop never crawls the page directly. In the meantime, having the ?m=1 version temporarily appear in search results does not hurt your rankings, provided the content is identical.
What actions should NOT be taken?
- Blocking URLs with
?m=1inrobots.txt: Prevents the crawling of the mobile version. - Removing
?m=1with scripts: Forces the load of desktop version, deteriorates the user experience, and creates redirect loops that block indexing. - Using
noindextags on?m=1: To manage duplicate content, use only therel='canonical'tag.
These actions can stop the mobile/desktop relationship from working and can ultimately negatively affect your site. Avoid them.
If the inspected URL ends in ?m=1
If you see a URL ending in ?m=1 in the Redirect Error report, it generally means that the bot (Googlebot Smartphone) could not complete the navigation process. This could be a temporary communication issue or a "false positive."
In this situation, the important thing is to verify that the URL in question is indeed available and loading properly for mobile devices. If it is, no further action is required.
"Similar" reports in Search Console
It may happen that you see two reports that are the reverse, i.e., the non-indexed URLs end in ?m=1:
- Page with redirect: This is triggered by an HTTP response code (a
302redirect). When the listed URL ends in?m=1, it typically means Googlebot Desktop requested it and Blogger redirected it back to the canonical version. - Alternative page with proper canonical tag: This is triggered by an instruction in the HTML. Google visited the mobile version (
?m=1), saw that it served anHTTP 200 OK, but identified therel='canonical'tag pointing to the clean URL. As intended, Google consolidates the signals into the canonical version and excludes the mobile parameter to prevent duplicate content.
It is important to understand that these reports are not indicating errors, but are informative statuses of how Google manages site variations and that the technical structure of the site works exactly as it should to avoid duplicate content problems.
For this reason, it is not necessary to click on "Validate Fix."
Technical note: Automatic ?m=1 redirection is standard Blogger behavior and does not affect your SEO. If you ever suspect a genuine issue on URLs ending in ?m=1, use "Test Live URL" to verify that the mobile version responds properly with HTTP 200 OK. Genuine issues like redirect loops usually stem from custom domain DNS misconfigurations or third-party redirection scripts.