Redirecting user to a second search is causing duplicate titles

[speedshopping]

Hi,

I have a website where users can search for a product - if the site finds zero results it automatically runs a second search in another product database and returns the results.

The problem I have is that in webmaster tools, I am now seeing duplicate content issues because Google is seeing search 1 as search 2 and is indexing both pages, causing duplicate title problems etc...

http://example.com/search1/
http://example.com/search2/

Is there any way around this? Your help is appreciated.

Cheers,
Wesiwyg

[edited by: coopster at 4:31 pm (utc) on Jan. 16, 2009]
[edit reason] please use example.com, thanks! [/edit]

[coopster]

It looks as if you truly do have two different pages there. Are you redirecting the user to another search page if the first search returns zero results?

[speedshopping]

yes thats right Coopster, the 2nd page is returned instantly without the user knowing, however Google is seeing the 2 pages and listing them both with the same content and meta data.

[jdMorgan]

If search1 fails, return a 301-Moved Permanently redirect to the client, and it will then request search2.

Only by informing the client with a 301 can you avoid the duplicate-content problem. However, returning a 301 will remove search1 from the search engine indexes and replace those listings with listings for search2.

If indeed search1 is intended here as a 'token URL' for a search that will *always* fail and need to be served by search2, then the 301 is the proper thing to do.

However, if you're leaving out some information in this thread, such as query strings appended to search1 or search2, then this needs to be discussed.

Jim

[speedshopping]

/search1/ may fail 1 week then return results the week after (it depends on the quality of the feeds that we receive) - so using a 301 would be detrimental i think.

To clarify the user punches in a search and is taken to example.com/search1/ where it conducts a primary search. If our engine finds zero results, it then runs a 2nd search and redirects to a second search and url example.com/search2/

[Robert Charlton]

...Google is seeing search 1 as search 2 and is indexing both pages, causing duplicate title problems etc...

Google doesn't like search results pages in its serps and suggests in its Webmaster Guidelines that you block search results pages with robots.txt. See further discussion on this here...

Will links to Custom Search results be OK?
[webmasterworld.com...]

You perhaps could do something like changing the title and url for the page when you execute the redirect to the second search, but then you'd have two pages that Google would prefer not to have indexed.

Blocking the results pages from spidering is a much simpler and happier solution all the way around.