Massive Fake 404 Errors in Google Search Console Due to Dynamic URLs in Next.js

Colleagues, I've encountered a significant issue on a website built with Next.js. In Google Search Console, I found about 50,000 404 errors that are essentially false.

Problem Description:​

• We have around 100,000 pages indexed by Google, and there are about 50,000 additional 404 errors showing up in the console.
• These errors are linked to URLs that are generated within the product pages' code but do not actually exist on the site. This primarily involves image paths with a structure like https://example.com/upload/iblock/....
• Users do not see these errors; they only appear for Googlebot and are logged as 404s in the console.

Questions:​

• How critical is this for indexing and SEO? Visibility hasn't dropped yet, but the number of these errors is increasing.
• Are there any temporary fixes or workarounds to minimize the impact of these 404 errors on the crawl budget and overall SEO while we wait for an official fix from Next.js?
• Should I reach out to Google support, and if so, how should I explain the situation to ensure they understand and take it into account?

It could negatively impact your crawl budget, leading Googlebot to spend more time on non-existent pages rather than valuable content. Сonsider implementing temporary solutions such as blocking these URLs via robots.txt or utilizing noindex tags. Reaching out to Google support with a detailed explanation of the problem can also help mitigate the impact on your SEO and crawl budget.

This is a common issue with dynamic Next.js websites. Googlebot is crawling URLs that are generated by your code but don't actually exist on your site, leading to 404 errors. While it's not ideal, it's not a critical SEO issue. Your visibility shouldn't be affected as long as your actual content is properly indexed. Focus on fixing the root cause of the dynamic URLs causing 404s. You can try using a robots.txt file to disallow Googlebot from crawling those specific URLs while you work on a permanent solution. Don't worry about reaching out to Google support for this, as it's a common issue and they won't be able to offer a specific fix.