trailing slash on a URL

Is www.domain.com/page the same as www.domain.com/page/ to Google?

[dnbjason]

I went to that validator.w3.org website and did a test on my links and it told me to add an trailing slash. Does Google count the following as two different pages?

www.domain.com/page
www.domain.com/page/

[g1smd]

It does when using the link: command I discovered yesterday.

link:www.domain.com/folder returned no results but
link:www.domain.com/folder/ did return exactly the same results as
link:www.domain.com/folder/index.html did.

[quotations]

It also counts them as different pages for purposes of the Google Directory.

I consider this a massive bug in their code.

There is a prominent dmoz.org listing in a major category which does not include a trailing slash and for which the editors have refused to include a trailing slash for four-five months.

As a result, that listing does not show up as being included in the Google Directory and does not get credit for a backlink from dmoz.org or from the Google Directory.

[g1smd]

That is odd because Google can resolve and merge other differences in URLs.

I know of a .net site listed in the ODP, but which the Google search engine lists as .com instead. The Search Engine result does include the correct category attribution for the site.

[choster]

editors have refused

That's assuming quite a bit, don't you think?

But then, I don't deny that ODP editors are instructed to ignore Google and any other licensees' handling of the data.

If Google wants to enhance its search database with ODP data, it is their responsibility to select the best way to do so. ODP has no control over the way Google chooses to handle or display the data it provides.

[edited by: choster at 9:14 pm (utc) on July 18, 2003]

[quotations]

A search on Google.com which returns that site will always return it with a trailing slash because it has thousands of backlinks which include the trailing slash.

Those results never show the listing in the Google Directory below the site listing because in the ODP the slash is missing and that is "recognized" by the Google Directory as a different page.

It's just bad software Systems Engineering. Perhaps it would be a good topic for a paper at the next INCOSE Conference?

[quotations]

>>editors have refused

>That's assuming quite a bit, don't you think?

Not really. The request was made via the normal route, inside the ODP category,

From: [thatdomain.com...]

To: [thatdomain.com...]

then an inquiry was made directly to the editor of the category, I believe that an inquiry was made to a member of this forum who is a well known high ranking member of the editorial team.

The last response indicated that it would be fixed in mid-May.

It would not be necessary to fix it if Google routed around the damage.

[allanp73]

Actually the trailing '/' is causing problems for the Google toolbar.
I noticed that when a visit the index pages of sites from a Google search link, the toolbar shows the url with a trailing '/' and the toorbar displays as grayed out. However, if you remove the trailing '/' and refresh the toolbar shows the pr normally.
I thought this was an annoying bug. May be Googleguy should take a look.

[g1smd]

I can think of a good reason why Google might treat them differently.

www.domain.com/keyword/ is obviously a subdirectory.

www.domain.com/keyword might be a subdirectory, or it could be a simple extensionless HTML, text, or image file from a server that uses content negotiation [evolt.org].