FlyingGains
Regular Member
- Oct 12, 2016
- 319
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I see some MSN articles get noindex tag for googlebot and others don't. Is this set by MSN? Anyone know what that depends on?
Question about Google index of MSN articles
- Thread starter FlyingGains
- Start date
- Jun 24, 2013
- 2,404
- 3,651
I'm curious to know this too.....I was tempted to buy a guest post from MSN.com .......But I didn't know it was set to noindex.
- Mar 2, 2021
- 4,099
- 1,211
i haven't noticed this at all i think its depends on how MSN evaluates the article rather than being random.
- Oct 10, 2023
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- 360
yes, MSN controls this. It's not random, and the publisher does not control it.
When MSN republishes content, they decide whether the page gets a noindex tag. It is usually based on their syndication agreement with the publisher and their own SEO strategy.
Some syndicated articles are noindexed so Google keeps ranking the publisher's original page instead of the MSN copy. Others are left indexable if MSN wants those pages to appear in searches.
If you are the publisher, you normally can't change this yourself unless your agreement with MSN says otherwise.
So yes, it's intentional. It's not something that happens randomly.
When MSN republishes content, they decide whether the page gets a noindex tag. It is usually based on their syndication agreement with the publisher and their own SEO strategy.
Some syndicated articles are noindexed so Google keeps ranking the publisher's original page instead of the MSN copy. Others are left indexable if MSN wants those pages to appear in searches.
If you are the publisher, you normally can't change this yourself unless your agreement with MSN says otherwise.
So yes, it's intentional. It's not something that happens randomly.
Monkey D. Luffy
Registered Member
- Jun 29, 2026
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Are those MSN articles original content, or are they syndicated from other publishers?
FlyingGains
Regular Member
- Oct 12, 2016
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Syndicated
FlyingGains
Regular Member
- Oct 12, 2016
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- Oct 10, 2023
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Yes. If the canonical points to the publisher, Google treats the publisher's page as the main version. Any SEO value or ranking signals are credited to the publisher's URL, not the MSN copy.
FlyingGains
Regular Member
- Oct 12, 2016
- 319
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Good to know. I guess this way is better for big news sites because MSN may outrank their article. But bad for link juice if publisher URL is garbage
- Oct 10, 2023
- 1,120
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True, but that's just standard, no tactic saves a bad page.
Monkey D. Luffy
Registered Member
- Jun 29, 2026
- 70
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That could explain it. Maybe the original publisher wants Google indexing their own version instead of the MSN copy.
Olaf Meta Agency
Newbie
- Jul 28, 2026
- 25
- 3
could it be based on how the article is submitted. or does msn control the no index on its site ?
FlyingGains
Regular Member
- Oct 12, 2016
- 319
- 143
Some articles have noindex tag and still show on Google. I wonder if some articles start without block and later MSN adds noindex
Monkey D. Luffy
Registered Member
- Jun 29, 2026
- 70
- 62
Yeah, that actually sounds possible. Have you checked the same article again after a few days to see if the tag changes?
hilarioushedgehog0
Newbie
- Sep 1, 2023
- 38
- 5
Yes, MSN can apply noindex based on factors like content quality, duplication, freshness and its own distribution rules. It’s generally an automated decision, so some articles may be indexed while others are kept out.
heemavarii
Newbie
- Jun 29, 2026
- 6
- 1
syndication use cases may become quite complex because everything depends on how MSN handles their canonical nd noindex tags. Let me take a look at a couple of use cases nd see how the syndication works for MSN content.
TechieLurk
Newbie
- Jun 30, 2026
- 7
- 1
this is a variable that, from my point of view, depend on the rules established for the MSN syndication proces . It would be interesting to track some URLs in order to find out whether there will be any difference in the indexable property after the publication proces
SerpStory
Junior Member
- Jun 17, 2026
- 113
- 15
First check whether the MSN page is actually indexed, whether the content is original or syndicated, and whether there are any canonical or indexing signals pointing somewhere else. Google may also choose not to index duplicate or very similar versions of the same article.
IndexWizard
Newbie
- Jul 2, 2026
- 9
- 1
the problem with MSN syndication can be that the signal for indexing would be different according to the publication. I will look into some links at different times nd see if they have canonical, no-index nd google Indexed.