Canonical Question - About multiple querystring with similar content

[IanTurner]

I'm using a page that has a parameter which can take any numerical value.

Now I only want this page to appear once in Google - as the parameter is not going to change the content or meaning of the content, just some of the values.

Is the canonical tag going to be the way to go on this one - or is there some other way of dealing with this irrelevant parameter issue as far as Google is concerned.

I have my ideas, really want to get fresh input from others to make sure my thinking is along the correct lines.

[lucy24]

<ot>

As far as your issue goes, why not just fix all the query strings with a couple lines of mod_rewrite and not worry about where they came from?

Well, that wasn't really the point. The point was that g### can't distinguish between a parameter that is part of the page's own name, and a parameter that was appended by the linking page on someone else's site. Especially when the parameter in question is "newwindow" which should be near the top of the list of "Parameters that will always be ignored everywhere".
</ot>

There's no way it can have the opposite effect if it's implemented correctly, because the pages should not ever be accessed, and if they are then you're simply noindexing duplicates of the canonical version.
<snip>
If they don't ignore the parameter for some reason, then both will be found and have the same effect as the "ignore" should.

... and that's exactly what I meant about conflating two different aspects of parameter handling.

[TheOptimizationIdiot]

... and that's exactly what I meant about conflating two different aspects of parameter handling.

Sorry, I misread what you said.
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