: Will Google remove links restricted by the robots.txt from the soft 404 list? I have updated a shop system to a newer version. I now get huge number of soft 404 errors in the Webmaster Tools

@Angela700

I wouldn't worry too much because 404 errors are not penalized. It basically represents files that have been temporarily hidden. If removed, it will clear itself from the search. I usually suggest not blocking Google for any reasons.

As you will see Google recommends 404 pages and noindex tag opposed to blocks.

Make removal permanent'

The Remove URLs tool is only a temporary removal. To remove content or a URL from Google search permanently you must take one or more of the following additional actions:


Remove or update the actual content from your site (images, pages,
directories) and make sure that your web server returns either a 404
(Not Found) or 410 (Gone) HTTP status code. Non-HTML files (like
PDFs) should be completely removed from your server. (Learn more
about HTTP status codes)
Block access to the content, for example by requiring a password.
Indicate that the page should not to be indexed using the noindex
meta tag. This is less secure than the other methods.

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