Redirect or Refresh

[Peter_S]

Hi,

I noticed that, sometimes, instead of using a "redirect" header, some are rendering an HTML page with the meta tag "refresh" (client side).

Why is that?

Is there an advantage of the "refresh" method ?

Thanks,

[keyplyr]

They are different tasks purposed for different objectives. The refresh is often misused & should not be done where a redirect is needed.

[tangor]

Depends on how much js or user input is involved. Most times it is not needed, ie, overkill.

[Peter_S]

Thank you for your answers.

[keyplyr]

BTW - forcing someone's browser to refresh may irritate some users. I try to leave their browser alone.

My end is the web page; their's is the browser.

[not2easy]

About 12 years ago I thought it would be handy/helpful to send traffic on to the "new" page for an old product via meta-refresh. No. Google did not like it at all, and told me about it. I have not used it since. :(

[Peter_S]

@not2easy It sounds like cloaking since a crawler will see the "old page", while a human being redirected to somewhere else.

[engine]

I stopped using meta refresh many, many years back when I realised I didn't like it happen to me.
I cant' think of why it might be useful, today. Having said that, someone might have a suggestion.