Why is google redirecting my site to /de?

Netlify Support Ticket: Incorrect /de URL Indexed by Google

Netlify Site Name: cardanomix.netlify.app
Custom Domain: cardanomix.com
Issue: Google is incorrectly indexing https://cardanomix.com/de/, even though /de/ is not a valid page on my site and is not included in my sitemap.


:hammer_and_wrench: Issue Details & Steps Taken

Problem:

  • Google Search Console shows that https://cardanomix.com/de/ is indexed, even though there is no /de/ page in my project.
  • Googlebot still crawls /de/, and search results display this URL incorrectly.
  • Expected behavior: /de/ should either not exist or properly redirect to /.

What I Have Tried So Far:

:white_check_mark: Sitemap & Canonical URL Checks:

  • My sitemap.xml does not contain /de/.
  • The canonical URL is set to https://cardanomix.com/ (hardcoded in the <head>).

:white_check_mark: Netlify Redirects in netlify.toml:
I tried adding a forced redirect for /de/ to /, but Google still indexed the wrong URL:

[[redirects]]
  from = "/de/*"
  to = "/"
  status = 301
  force = true
  • Result: /de/ don´t redirects to /, and Google still thinks it exists.

:white_check_mark: Checked Google Translate Integration:

  • I use Google Translate, but it is not supposed to create URL-based translations (autoDisplay: false is set).
  • I also blocked /de/ in robots.txt:
User-agent: *
Disallow: /de/

:white_check_mark: Checked Netlify Deployment:

  • The issue persists even after a clean deployment.

:hammer_and_wrench: What I Need Help With

  • Why is Netlify serving /de/ even though it does not exist in my project?
  • Is there any Netlify setting that could be causing /de/ to persist?
  • Could this be an internal Netlify caching issue?
  • How can I permanently prevent Google from reindexing /de/?

I have tried everything I can think of, but /de/ keeps appearing in search results. Any insights from the Netlify team would be much appreciated. Thanks! :pray:


:framed_picture: Additional Info:

:pushpin: Site name: cardanomix.netlify.app
:pushpin: Custom domain: cardanomix.com
:pushpin: Hosting Platform: Netlify
:pushpin: Build System: Not applicable (static site)
:pushpin: Error message: No errors in Netlify logs, but /de/ is incorrectly indexed


:rocket: Thanks in advance for any help from the Netlify team! :rocket:

I don’t see Netlify serving /de. I correctly get redirected to / when visiting /de: https://cardanomix.com/de/ as well as with your custom domain: https://cardanomix.com/de/. If Google is having troubles, this sounds like a Google issue. Netlify is serving the correct stuff.

Yes thanks, i handled it somehow myself. I don´t change nothing anymore.