[wp-meta] [Making WordPress.org] #4165: Arbitrary wordpress.org subdomains should 301, not 302

[Making WordPress.org]

#4165: Arbitrary wordpress.org subdomains should 301, not 302
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 Reporter:  jonoaldersonwp  |       Owner:  (none)
     Type:  defect          |      Status:  new
 Priority:  low             |   Milestone:
Component:  General         |  Resolution:
 Keywords:  seo             |
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Comment (by jonoaldersonwp):

 Gah. Just wrote, then lost, a long explanation. Thanks, Chrome.

 The short version is:

 - Things which don't/won't exist should return a 404, not a redirect, so
 we're already in weird territory - but I think that the wildcard redirect
 is a better user experience, and this beats the strict standards argument.

 - 99.99% of the possible valid subdomains won't ever exist, and, we'll
 lose more value from having those be 'wrong' than we'll get from minute
 extra velocity of a new site un-301'ing.

 - Most significantly, 302 redirects don't pass equity, so:
   - Value from links doesn't pass through them, so we lose any (minor)
 value from old/redirected subdomains.
   - Given this, it's possible to index subdomains, accidentally or
 maliciously. i.e., there's nothing stopping me from getting
 somenastyword.wordpress.org into the index, and causing a marketing
 headache.

 - 302s are bad.

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Ticket URL: <https://meta.trac.wordpress.org/ticket/4165#comment:4>
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