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GeoIP Redirects & hreflang
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Hello,
We believe we've had some issues with hreflang tags not remaining validated due to the implementation of geoIP redirects.
Previously, if a user clicked a landing page on Google search that was not targeted for their territory, they would instantly be redirected to a sub path that targets their territory using geoIP redirects.
We're planning to remove the initial geoIP redirects and have messaging that prompts the user to either stay on the page they've landed on, or be redirected to page that is right for their territory.
However, if a user has selected to be redirected to a sub path that is targeted for their territory, they will have a cookie preference set for the IP location they've selected, and will continue to be redirected to their chosen sub path.
My question is, will a crawler follow and trigger the geo preference cookie, which could potentially cause complexities in validating hreflang tags and ranking of content for the right market.
Thanks.
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This sounds like the best approach. Typically, most crawlers won't save or interact with cookies, so Google etc will just see the site they've requested.
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